“We just want to do something different. Instead of just doing something special at the venue, we thought we would do something somewhere else.” While they may have at their disposal one of Melbourne’s most famous venues, the team behind the Lounge decided that in celebration of the institution, they would take the partiers on a trip before a coming home celebration. Gafforini is more than a little excited as he reveals, “We decided on a boat party!”
“I guess the thinking behind it is it is more a gimmicky type of idea. It is something Lounge had never done before and we probably won’t do it again. It is that sort once in a lifetime type of thing. It will be a bit cheeky, have a bit of fun.” With the boat party a break from Lounge tradition, Gafforini is clearly thrilled at the prospect of ensuring that after 22 years Lounge will be the guaranteed talk of the town. His intentions are crystal clear, “To show all the punters and all the people who have been involved with the venue over the last 20 years that we still are the silly venue we were but we’ve still kind of changed our ways.”
While he is aware that people may think it strange that a venue is celebrating a milestone by luring people away from the space, his intentions are clear. “I guess for me the boat is really going to be a showcase of where the venue is currently. Musically it will showcase what all the DJs do at the Lounge on the boat. Then the after party is going to be pretty crazy as well. All the staff will be involved in the boat party, all dressed up and everything like that. It will be a really good four hour cruise. We have these punters locked on a boat and we get to show them what we do for four hours. It is pretty exciting. So hopefully that gets the focus back on the venue as well.”
With punters old and new invited to party, Gafforini is chuffed that the use of an external venue allows the staff at the venue to party too! “On the boat there is a bar that is already staffed by the boat people, so most our staff don’t have to work unless they are going to be working the after party, so they will be down there to party. There is one condition though, if they want to party then they have to dress up and be part of the Aquatic Sea theme.”
It soon becomes apparent that the Aquatic Sea theme is more than a passing notion, but rather an essential element of the proceedings. I can feel the sheer thrill in his voice make his eyes twinkle while he explains, “We are going to décor the boat up. It will look really different. We are trying to convince people to dress up, basically as anything that fits into an aquatic sea theme.” With Gafforini keen to ensure that people partake in the fancy dress element, he details how he’s doing a little passive encouragement, “I have been doing a separate sort of promotion for that on Facebook and Twitter, where I have been posting crazy sea creature costumes or anything from under the sea. I found somebody in America who was dressing up as a shrimp cocktail.” Though he may be providing the masses with a wealth of costume knowledge, the endless list of possibilities is proving a conundrum for Gafforini, as when probed about his own attire he reveals,
“I don’t yet. As I said there are just so many possibilities. The more time I look the more possibilities I am finding. I want to try push all those ideas online and inspire other people to really get on board. I want to see lots of really unique costumes.”
“The after party is more about Party On – Wayne and Garth – Wayne’s World. It is about an era of Lounge that has been lost. It is all about just partying on.” Though Gafforini’s focus has been on the boat party, he wants people to be aware that the after party is as full of promise. He closes with, “We just want people to have fun, take the piss but we also want to show our strengths – our DJs.”
BY JEREMY WILLIAMS
