Happy Halloween!
I’ve been pretty quiet over the last few weeks – that’s because I’ve been preparing for the Halloween party to end all Halloween parties, SUPERNATURAL.
There had been a lot of confusion over where and how I was going to host a Halloween party this year. Originally, I wanted to host a Halloween-themed International Party at LUGGAGE, but they had already been booked by a different organiser. Then I looked at some other rental spaces, but they were all too small and I was worried about the quality that I’d be able to offer without any staff and infrastructure. Then Shooters entered the picture.
Originally, I was against the idea. I really wanted to do a club night for Halloween, and Shooters is a sports bar. I didn’t think I’d be able to create the right kind of atmosphere. Unless… I transformed it into a nightclub for one night.
And when that idea popped up, I couldn’t get it out of my head. It felt like a real challenge, a huge project that would force me to move outside my comfort zone and be more ambitious than anything I’d ever been before. And that was so exciting to me.
So one month from Halloween, I got to work.
I called up old friends Suku and MC Logic (EMP / THE EMPORIUM) to give me a hand with the sound, and boy, did they deliver. They installed the nastiest sound system this side of the city. Bass that shook the whole building. Unbeatable clarity. Just, wow. I haven’t been in a club that sounds this good in a long time.
I enlisted International Party favourites DJ LEAF MOTIF, FRONTIER, and JENN to provide the music, and once the project started rolling, JUSTIN KASE, an OG legend (seriously, we were incredibly lucky to get a DJ of this caliber on the bill), offered to join us, and brought MC LOGIC and HULK along for the ride.
I asked the creative genius Becky Alp to help with the props and design, and we started thinking about how we could transform the space into a Halloween wonderland.
Three weeks later, we’d done it. The place looked and sounded incredible. Hanging rags, webs and giant skulls on the walls, illuminated by UV lights. Disco balls and spotlights, podiums for dancers, EQ bulbs that danced to the music, lasers and strobes… This place was decked out. My personal favourite set piece – the spiral staircase transformed into a spider’s nest, with a four foot arachnid hanging from the wall, fitted with a smoke machine to terrify partygoers as they entered the venue. Reach the top of the staircase and BOOM, an eight foot clown (or Jason Voorhees, depending on when your arrived) jumps out to scare your socks off.
This was a lot of fun to put together.
Over 400 of you guys attended the event. In terms of scale and production, we haven’t ever done anything this big before, and I haven’t had a Halloween comparable to this one, ever. The atmosphere was electric, the dancefloor, dense with ghosts, ghouls and costumed characters, throwing shapes, cutting rugs, tearing the roof off.
Thank you to everyone involved with the production of this event.
That’s our DJs, LEAF MOTIF, FRONTIER, JENN, JUSTIN KASE, HULK and MC LOGIC. To Becky Alp, for helping with the props and design. To everyone who stopped by to lend a hand, even if it was only for 30 minutes. To our amazing photographer, Jim, and videographers for the night, Eduardo and Sebastian. And of course, to Shooters and their incredible staff for keeping everything running and looking after me for the past few weeks – especially to Junior who has been by my side to help out the whole time.
One more special thanks to Suku and Logic for lending me the resources and know-how to turn this bar into a nightclub. I couldn’t have done it without you.
And finally, of course, to the Small World community for always supporting me and attending my events. I often seem pretty stressed, but I love putting these things together and I’m so glad that you’re enjoying what I produce. I love what I do.
Thank you.
Much, much more to come in the future. Stay tuned.
– Matthew
Wow, awesome party, sadly i couldn’t join this time 🥹