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“NZ’s polysexual dance extravaganza” last weekend took
full advantage of the bigger St. James venue, attracting many more partygoers
than last year. Early reports suggested that around 2,000 people were in
attendance – party organiser Michael Modrich says he’s still waiting for
exact numbers to be confirmed, but admits “it wasn’t quite 2,000, but it was
more than last year.” In 2006, 1,495 people packed the 1,500 capacity
Galatos.
“The door sales were a bit lighter than what we’d expected,” says Modrich.
“We attribute that to the Boy George gig the night before. People who were
going to buy their Hero ticket at the door and had a big night at Boy George
probably didn’t think they could handle another big night.”
And it seems we all behaved ourselves. “There were no complaints from the
council in relation to noise, and no complaints about the liquor licensing.
So it ran pretty smoothly,” says Modrich.
A ‘party pill’ company was one of the sponsors of the event. “We didn’t have
any people pass out from alcohol, party pills or any other drugs,” Modrich
assures us. “St. John ambulance staff told me that they only had one person
with a slight upset stomach, and that was attributed to what she had eaten.”
The Community Alcohol and Drug Service was there handing out lollipops and
safety guides, and the NZAF were there with big buckets full of condom and
lube packs.
Douglas Jenkin, the Team Co-ordinator at Gay Men's Health says it's not
always easy to get casual volunteers for events like the Hero Party, which
many people want to attend.
“Gay Men's Health Promoter Edward Cowley was at the party as Buckwheat,
handing out condoms from the start of the party until 1am,” says Jenkin.
Jordon Harris, the Kai Mahi/Health Promoter with the Hau Ora Takataapui team
was also there from midnight till 4.30am, handing out condoms and making sure
key locations like the bar and toilets were stocked up.
Attendee feedback from the event seems generally good – some GayNZ.com
readers got in touch to say they were happy the event was popular and that
the vibe in the St. James was fun and funky. As usual, DeeZaStar’s over-the-top
appearance caught the attention of many who asked, “who the fuck was that?”
His mirrored, shimmery ‘Spaceman’ outfit was ‘fabulous’, ‘stunning’ and
described by one partygoer as ‘scary’.
Others thought the shows on stage were noticeably lower key than in previous
years. There were some technical issues with Mika’s show on the main stage at
2.30am, says Modrich. “We had hard-drives crash, and tried to rebuild the
imagery for the show. The production people had put a lot of work into
creating the stuff to make the show more elaborate – and then for it not to
have worked, it was frustrating.”
The ‘transgender zone’ on the Mezzanine floor, featuring live shows by Cindy
of Samoa, Ramon and many more, was a popular and busy area for those who
wanted a break from the intensity of the main dance floor. And the ‘Flirt’
space seemed to be a hit with the girls. “It was good,” says Flirt space
organiser Kelvery Longopoa – “the new DJ (Miss Eleni from Melbourne) was
awesome.
“The lesbians loved the couches most. They love to sit down, have a beer,
hang out with their girlfriend and just listen to good music.”
However, the many stairs to get up to the woman’s zone were “a pain in the
arse,” Longopoa laughs. “Quite a few flights of stairs! That was hard for the
girls who smoked. And it got quite hot in there – no air conditioning! It
would have been nicer if we were closer to everyone else. We felt we were far
away from the main dancefloor... But our space was huge this year. We had
some good feedback about that.”
As a Hero Party ‘go-go boy’, Jarred Foster, 22, was on the main stage
bopping, posing and generally fooling around in his underwear for a couple of
hours. “For those of you who didn't know which one I was, I started off
second in from the right,” he tells us.
“It felt great to be on stage, hundreds of people watching you dance. I'm
just glad I had the opportunity to help entertain the crowd at such an
awesome event - and I must admit I wasn't nervous at all. I had a great bunch
of people dancing with me, and I was only out to have fun if anything.”
The party was awesome, says Foster. “I met heaps of new people, even found an
old friend. People backstage were awesome, whether they were gay or straight.
I'd definitely insist if you haven't been to a Hero Party before to go to the
next one… and the one after that and the one after that.
“I'd like to say a big thanks to all the people who cheered us on - the extra
encouragement made me dance even more. Also a big thanks to the other
dancers, you guys were hot!”
Numbers most be crunched before Hero organisers can tell our community how
much money the party raised, but Michael Modrich is confidant, saying the
Hero Party always raises money, even during the ‘difficult period’ of the
early 2000’s.
It seems it’s the little things that keep Modrich going through
nerve-wracking times. “I had someone come up to me on the dance floor and say
‘I’ve just been told you organised this’. I said ‘yeah, why?’ and he said ‘I
just wanted to thank you, because I didn’t realise anything like this
existed’. They were from up north, and said they’d be back next year.
“You only have to get one person saying that, and it makes all your work
worthwhile.”
ENDS
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