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Review: Alfresco Disco, Sawmills – ‘A whimsical experience’
Something wicked this way comes!
The former Scadding Sawmill, nestled in the outskirts of St Jude’s, was transformed into a Surrealist Ball for this year’s Halloween: host to all who embrace the spectacularly eccentric side to the holiday, this party was destined to stay vibrant until the early hours.
The event undoubtedly kept their audience on their toes, revealing its location only days before and simply describing the disco as taking ‘inspiration from the infamous Salvador Dali designed parties of the 1970s’, encouraging all to indulge in their dress code of ‘different, disturbing and bizarre’.
It felt exciting and invigorating, with an even playing field where everyone was discovering the night’s unique atmosphere together – an underrated element at a time where we are so concerned with minimalism, particularly in regards to self expression.
The night was well planned – not overcrowded, spaces for dancing as well as for conversation, and great sound and lighting – photo: Poppy Beresford
The Surrealist Ball fashioned a welcoming space where you could be anyone, no matter how extravagant or other-worldly – a true testament to the Halloween tradition of creating a wholly new character to dissolve into for a single night.
Bustling and lively yet not overcrowded, this fresh new space that Alfresco Disco utilised was very well planned, with two separate rooms hosting two DJ sets simultaneously and a couple of bars with a small yet inclusive range of drinks including premixed cocktails, spirits and cans.
The event is the second Alfresco Disco have run in Sawmills, the first being their Rave of the Decade part 4 in July this year – photo: Alfresco Disco
Despite the solemn autumnal weather, the mixing of indoor and outdoor spaces only added to this wacky, serendipitous atmosphere and allowed parties to naturally mingle rather than keeping spaces separate and isolating.
It also stopped places from getting too stuffy – especially with the addition of quite intricate costuming – and definitely delayed the midnight jaded mindset from kicking in before the party really got going.
But the queuing systems were jarring and could be improved on for future events: most bars and toilets had considerable wait times and spilled out into these communal areas, lessening the nightclub vibes to a more festival approach, which I wasn’t fond of.
The Sawmill provides outdoor and indoor spaces for people to naturally move through and gather – photo: Poppy Beresford
The actual dance spaces were extremely well set up, with my biggest praise going to the sound and lighting systems in use.
They fostered the funky, surreal atmosphere via a good mix of strobe, ceiling strip lights and hazy tones of vibrant blues and pinks – turning characters from across pop culture and nature into one united, alien, community.
Walls were covered in dream-like projections harking back to the Dali inspiration, laying the ground of illusionistic surrealism.
The music was fabulously curated, with tracks seamlessly mixed with minimal beat drops so you just could not help but stay dancing until your feet hurt.
Oftentimes the music at these sorts of events can feel like they drown out the personal element of communal spaces with heavy baselines, but Alfresco Disco successfully balanced house and disco tracks to avoid an intimidating or overwhelming feel, in conjunction with other elements such as lighting and special effects.
The night started out on a house and disco beat, but the music became more generic as the night wore on – photo: Alfresco Disco
But despite the event being fabulously curated, there was a sense of over-production: the tagline of ‘alfresco disco’ invites a more lawless extravagance which I didn’t feel was fully realised, due to elements such as the decoration, staffing and impersonality of the music as the night grew later.
There is potential for this event to be much more three dimensional, whether through more dynamic entertainment or areas of interest such as the bar and gathering spaces which were simply not utilised as I expected.
On the whole, Alfresco Disco was a feast for what a Halloween night out can be: a whimsical experience full of energy, absurdity and reckless abandon. A definite night to remember, and the perfect way to ring in a holiday as absurdly fabulous as Halloween.
Main image: Alfresco Disco
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