The Absolut Artini party was a bizarre event to say the least. As the time of the party was approaching I was keeping an eye on the storms that had been building all day. They were just about to hit, so I climbed in the car and proceeded to drive about four blocks to the party. Lightning was starting to pour. I had a bad feeling about the entire thing and was really tired, but I’d paid for the ticket so off I went.

As I got to the parking lot I was a bit early, but things were up and running. As I stepped out of the car the rain broke free from the clouds. Torrents of rain. Buckets. I made it in to the ix building which used to be a textile manufacturing plant. I was basically an old warehouse with many missing walls and a roof that had a few leaks.

People started trickling in. Everyone was dressed up. The bar at the center of the warehouse poured drinks at a non-stop pace throughout the evening, and the lines kept getting longer and longer. Waitrons were also walking around with trays full of martinis, so if you were lucky you could snag one as it walked by.

Several local bars had created special drinks and were competing to see which would be the most popular. Everyone got to vote for their favorite. Over the loud noise of thunder, crowds, and music I’m not sure who won things, but I seem to recall Bang won top honors.

Artini Party 2006

The evening jammed, and the rain slowed. The breeze had noticeably cooled off and the long white drapes hanging from the ceiling were no longer billowing up and moving around like giant ghosts. Some of the eclectic art (beds, couches, etc. draped in lights) was surrounded by pools of water. The voting stations had been moved out of the front entrance (aka swamp), and at the end of the night the registration table was left alone within a lake. It was a fitting end as I made it home through a heavy drizzle.

Will something like this ever happen in the village again?

Lots of fun photos are up in the Artini Bash photo set on Flickr.