May 30^th found us uber excited!

Firstly, over a grueling business lunch at PC, we had closed a major deal for Partylicious and (secondly), to celebrate our success, we were heading down to one of our favorite party venues in town to witness the mysteries unfold at the LABYRINTH MASQUERADE BALL!

It goes without saying that Nirvana Events’ last club-nite: GLAMOURAMA was nothing extraordinary. Our review spoke volumes as to why we thought so. Thus you can imagine our excitement when we heard about LABYRINTH. Were our advices taken seriously by this budding event manager? Would we be seeing something a whole lot different this time around? We just couldn’t wait to see!

Joining hands this time with Sakhi were Nucleus Events from Islamabad led by an entertaining & hyperactive young girl Rabea Qureshi. We honestly do not know much about her (or her work) to date. We’ve heard they have organized weddings and parties in Islamabad but never have had a chance to witness any. That was yet another thing we were looking forward to – how well will Nucleus bring the I-Town flavor to Lahore!

It was around midnight when we entered the venue. Here’s something we’d like everyone to know on record: having witnessed the scarcity (or lack) of décor and quality ambiance at GLAMOURAMA, we were in awe at what was done with the place this time around! Straight to the point, classy, and very PARTYLICIOUS! The hosts had definitely put in their creative juices to maximum spin and weaved out a sophisticated and sexy theme for the night. Might we also add how wise a decision it was to move out of Royal Palm for a change as the place was getting far too boring and common!

While the invites specifically mentioned the dress code being tux and gowns (it was a masquerade ball, remember?), majority of people were dressed casually for a clubnite really. Having said that, it was indeed heartening to see the two hosts and their respective teams leading by example; elegantly dressed with masks on and making quite an impact. Kudos to them for setting the trend and boldly following it in style too!

Stepping inside to where the action really was, the first thing that caught our attention was what they had done with the lights! As Public Enemy’s rapper Chuck D had rapped, “Once again, back is the incredible,” and although you can be rest assured he’s never been to a clubnite here in Lahore, but had he been, he’d have the same to say about the amazing light-work on display! The sound system did it’s job perfectly well although the music seemed disjointed at times, making sense and then again not making sense. It was just not in unison with the theme of the night but then again, neither was majority of the crowd. People had come that night to have a good time and dressing up for most of them to support the masquerade mood was definitely not on priority. Nevertheless, we can’t take it away from the organizers that they did a fantastic job at providing quality entertainment.

Rabea’s Islamabad entourage had indeed traveled down to Lahore with their dancing shoes on! Led by the lady of the night herself, they gave us a superb impression of what I-Town’s finest are made of! We’ve always heard and opinionated that Islamabad’s social scene is not as vibrant and open as that of Lahore’s or Karachi’s but with the quality they brought to the dance floor, it was va va voom baby! Talk about being infectious! *wink*! You’re definitely in our radars now Rabea!

The bar at Chez Nur had been moved from its traditional place at the right hand side of the main hall to the back courtyard, occupying the space of what usually comprises of one lounge’s space. Not bad but not an ideal location to be honest! The approach to the bar was a tricky bottle neck- affair as standing space at the counter was minimal and pretty crowded. Female bartenders behind the counter that night! And contrary to popular belief, they were doing a pretty amazing job at mixing cocktails and keeping up with the pace at which the demands were pouring in. We found out that these usher and bartender services are being provided by an energetic team of Lahore based students led by Yousaf Durrani. Yes they were the same folks who were at Black Valentine by Carousell Events back in February this year at Royal Palm in case you were there! Unique and promising indeed!

Let’s talk about the crowd a bit now. With the oddest of varieties we had seen at Glamourama (sorry for the continuous reference but it is needed to make you see the difference), the crowd this time around was A LOT better! There is always room for improvement of course and maybe that can start with shunning sales-on-door policy! We agree that it’s a lucrative practice in a city such as Lahore where virtually everyone gets to know of a party happening in town on a Saturday night! But entertaining those with an overwhelming desire to party at the gates comes along with the risk of a rowdy and below average crowd. Not always the case maybe but most of the times for sure. Result: a few rotten eggs spoiling the mood, making your prime socialites and celebrity crowd leave prematurely, and (worst of all) gate crashing and cheap escorts flooding the place! With anywhere between 450 to 500 people in rotation that night, we’d say the good to bad ration (crowd-wise) was 70-30: a figure that definitely needs to change in the future.

By and large, Labyrinth was an entertaining affair. Sakhi and Rabea along with their teams had indeed put their heart and soul in to night and their efforts glimmered with brilliance! While it shed light on what Nucleus Events from Islamabad is capable of bringing to L-Town, it remains to be seen how Nirvana Events will do with their next solo venture!

Will they up the standards they have set at Labyrinth or will the absence of Nucleus Events show us who really was responsible for the success of that night!

Time will tell and as always, yours truly: Partylicious will be there to tell you the story of how it unwraps!

Till next time party people!

toodles!

-WHAT WORKED:

• Sexy and sophisticated decor
• Energetic hosts and bartenders, working up a festive and fun-worthy mood for all to follow
• The choice of venue
• The light-work! Simply marvelous!
  

-WHAT DID NOT WORK:

• Most of the people not following the theme as it was. Perhaps it was the weather or alternative priorities
• Multiple gate crashing with on-the-door sales. Below average crowds making their way through and failing miserably at blending in (no surprises there!)

WHAT’S NEXT FROM THEM?

No known joint venture by Nucleus and Nirvana events is in the pipeline as of this moment. However, Nirvana Events are planning something for next month; the details of which can not be disclosed just as yet! Stay tuned and we’ll be filling you in soon!

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