By Chaos, Freelance WriterD.A.R.K. Entertainment's 'Twisted Spiritz' was held at the Liguanea Club, New Kingston last Saturday. At 1 a.m. there were almost as many people outside as in, but within an hour, they had all filed into the venue. Liguanea Club was never packed, but a decent crowd was on hand to listen to the musical musings of Leftside and Esco and later on, Kurt Riley. Getting into the venue was easier than usual, with the security guards on hand doing their jobs politely but efficiently.
'Twisted Spiritz' was a 32-drink-inclusive event, with bars featuring Smirnoff, Appleton and Mudslide mixed drinks with names such as the Cosmopolitan, the popular Screwdriver and others with sex-themed names such as the 'Pure Orgasm'. A smattering of rain threatened to put a damper on the proceedings, but the scare was a brief one and the only thing that flowed was alcohol, alcohol and more alcohol in any number of incarnations.
The bars were popular, to put it mildly, and suffered from a shortage of bartenders. At one point in time one admittedly sexy young lady, complete with body painting courtesy of Eon and Robby, asked the crowd on hand to be patient because there were a short number of bartenders. This was one of the odd points of the night, because if one is putting on an all-inclusive event, it is only natural that an adequate number of bartenders be at the bars. This was not to be for whatever strange reason, with the young lady in question not even deigning to serve a drink until at least half an hour after her plea for patience. Nonetheless, there was rarely a body without a plastic cup firmly attached, often accompanied by a cigarette.
One of the highlights of the night were the midriff-baring 'Mudslide' girls, many of whom had the names of their products 'bodypainted' on to their lithe forms.
As has become the case at events such as these, the concept was as much about 'profiling' - seeing and being seen - as much it was about dancing. While some of the crowd did the 'Tall up tall up' at the behest of the selectors, most were content to look their best and ensuring that, especially among the women present, their hair did not get mussed.
On the other hand, there were a few couples who did make the most of the night. One took up a spot at one of the speaker towers, using it as support as they 'wined' as if there was no tomorrow. Selectors Leftside and Esco were at the top of their game, even if they did tend to speak too much instead of letting the music do the talking. They meandered between the '90s to the present day, delivering hip-hop remixes of songs from deejays such as Elephant Man, with people doing the 'Tall up tall up' and 'Pon di river, pon di bank' at their behest, as well as songs such as Snow's Anything For You to great acclaim, with people singing along word for word.
To one side, those who were hungry could partake of some jerk chicken, which, however, was not part of the all-inclusive deal. As the night went on and more liquor followed down many welcoming throats, the vibes got better and more people started dancing and doing any number of odd things, which in one particular case saw a winsome young lady flat on her face, with her 'friends' laughing their heads off as they helped her regain her unsteady feet.
At around 4:30 a.m. the night's entertainment were brought to a close by some smiling policemen, citing complaints from hotels in the near New Kingston vicinity. As patrons made their sometimes wobbly way out of Liguanea Club, Kurt Riley bade them take care and drive home safely.
