From the countless Uni parties I have participated in, I’ve come to expect the bare minimum. Red cans will be $3, it’ll be held in one of the rooms around the REF and a playlist of 90s throwbacks will be put on repeat. The EMAS Ibiza Arcane held at UWA was far from any of this.
2,500 punters, 2 stages, Food vans and bars galore and a silent disco. I would never have expected the Oak Lawn to be able to handle an event of such EPIC proportions. Alas, they did it. Organised and run purely by the student volunteers of the Electronic Music Appreciation Society of UWA, it was a sight to behold. Festival standard lighting, an Octopus hanging from the roof, chill out areas, glow sticks, a heaving mosh pit and even a little baby merch tent.
Kicking off at the ripe hour of 7pm, up-and-comers got the decks warmed up in a nice B2B fashion with classic anthems such as Call me Maybe, Shake it Off, Fancy, Teenage Dirtbag and the ol’ YMCA, which garnered an overly enthusiastic sing-along.
It was dab-nation left, right and center, as groups of two-stepping turbos formed circles in the main stage area and provided a good atmosphere to get amongst it.
For some kids, it was clear it was their first time at a festival, and what a taste-tester it was. It was party made by the Uni students, for the students and it was the first festival in a long time where not every kid was bug-eyed. It was clean, drunken fun.
Free shuttle busses after the event shipped off droves of kids into the city to carry on at an after party at Villa nightclub.
As Uni veteran, I relived my youth and wished there was something of such volume and velocity when I was a young party animal. Keep eyes out for the EMAS Miami 2017.
MIA CAMPBELL-FOULKES
