In the current climate of hundred-dollar events that sell out before you’ve even heard of them, and are only full of scene queens pretending to drink while listening to bland rubbish anyway, it’s a relief to find a night that’s the absolute opposite of this. One that’s free to get into, is full of all kinds of party freaks drinking cheap cocktails till their brains leak out of their noses, and all to a soundtrack of kick-ass electronic music.
It’s called High-Jinks, and it’s been running at almost-regular intervals at the Sly Fox in Enmore for a whole year now, with its first birthday party planned for this Saturday, the 18th December. “I met Chris at FBi one night last year and we both found that we liked the same music, which wasn’t really getting much of an outing in this town,” says Simon, one of the so-called ‘High-Jinks Three’ who founded the parties. “We met Bryn – at the Sly Fox funnily enough – who felt similarly, and so about six weeks later the first High-Jinks was thrown.”
The Sly Fox in Enmore/Newtown worked as the perfect venue for the night, as “it opens late, it’s down the road from us so we can stagger home, the beer’s cheap, and it has fabulous soundproofing so we can go really loud if we want,” says Simon over videophone from his top-secret Mediterranean island mansion. “And the bar staff are excellent too,” adds Bryn via a telepathic link from his underground meditation chamber. “Even though a lot of them are Irish!” he adds, in an entirely unprovoked racial attack which will surely lose him a lot of fans. The Sly Fox has been working well for other nights, such as drum & bass success Protein, and always attracts a diverse, fun-loving bunch of people, with High-Jinks quickly securing itself a crowd of regulars, who can often be found propping up the bar, laughing and dribbling beer out the corner of their mouths, and cheering loudly at the DJ whenever they play any acid.
“We get professional party people,” says Simon of High-Jinks’ clientele. “Folk who’ve been around the traps for a while and like to have a good time and be stupid at parties, as opposed to hanging around looking flashy.” The High-Jinks Three are no strangers to this being stupid lark, and will often be “that embarrassingly drunk guy over there” at their own parties. “I can usually be found at the bar, on the dancefloor, asking the DJ ‘What the f**k is this track? It’s amazing!’ and talking shit to anyone who’ll listen,” admits Simon. “And occasionally behind the decks.”
While the night’s more about drinking, listening to some great music and having fun than grinding your teeth, frantically throwing shapes and idolising the DJ, their first year’s worth of parties have thrown up some great sets which have morphed the innocent Sly Fox Hotel into a full-on sweatbox. “James Bond back in June,” reminisces Simon wistfully. “He dropped a Duran Duran track in the middle of all this old-skool acid, and from nowhere some floppy-haired new-wave boy popped up and started pogoing around like a lunatic. Nobody knew who he was or where he’d come from. As soon as James dropped the next track – back to the acid – the floppy-haired bloke disappeared, never to be seen again! I think he’s a freelance new-wave gatecrasher who wanders the streets of Sydney listening out for 80s throwback tracks.”
To celebrate making it to a whole year old without being shut down by the police, or being directly implicated in any alcohol poisoning-related deaths, this Saturday will see the “High-Jinks 1st Birthday Party Candy Rave”, another free night of “beautiful musics” and all-round daftness. The guys have invited back every DJ who’s played over the last year, and amazingly 22 of them agreed to come back and each play a 20-minute set. “We had a few ideas for the birthday party, but this one seemed both the silliest and the most sensible,” explains Simon. “The DJs have been a fundamental part of making High-Jinks what it is, and to pick just two or three of them just didn’t seem right. It’s going to be a logistical nightmare.” Bryn, however, reveals the true reason in equation form: “22 DJs x their friends = a decent-sized crowd, and reduces our advertising budget too!” The conniving bastard.
On top of 22 DJs ploughing through every kind of beautiful party music from house to techno to dub to electro to hip-hop to drum n bass to booty and beyond, everyone’s encouraged to dress up in their best fluoro raver gear and dance like a bloody idiot, with cash prizes being awarded for the best outfit and the best dancing. So get your ass along there and wish High-Jinks a happy first birthday.
For more details check out ITM Whatson.
