Where to begin with New Year’s Eve? One of the biggest dates on the clubbing calendar, it quite literally consumes all in its path unless one is prepared. There is so much to consider if you want this potentially momentous to live up to its potential.
Knowing how to party afresh 12 months in really is a fine art. Even more so if you’re new to the experience, out of practice or, these days, a stay-at-home misery guts. To follow are 10 straightforward pointers that will help ensure NYE ‘out’ raises your roof like never before and remains an essential moment in your annual dancefloor diary.
Ready? Deep breath and let’s begin…
Music
It’s a pretty essential place to start bearing in mind that wherever you are, NYE will be loud and you’ll find it difficult to share meaningful banter with your mates. Music is king, as it should be. Musical consensus is hard to achieve among a large group of revelling friends so maybe look for a night that offers broad and thoughtful line-up across several rooms with which to best peak and trough your night – not everyone will want it ‘full throttle’ for 12 hours.
Venue
Location, location, location… Music is one thing and the environment in which it blasts quite another. The two go hand-in-hand to ensure a quality night so venue is hugely important. Ask yourself – does the party and/or promoter have a track record for dressing and theming its spaces in different and thrilling ways? Or perhaps it’s a venue you know well, where insider knowledge of everything from bar layout and toilet location to sound system is major ‘home advantage’. 2015 has seen a major movement towards clubbing in unique spaces like disused warehouses and bombed out churches, savvy promoters resisting the growing pressures of competition away from the conventional club scene and suffocating homogeny within it by standing out with new ideas. Those ideas will be in full effect on NYE but don’t discount the established clubs whose continual evolution often ensures they remain top dog.
Friends
You need your own party at the party, without a doubt. Clubbing is community and what better community than your closest crew? Make sure everyone is fully engaged and signed up well in advance. This way you’ll reduce the risk of costly last-minute dropouts and the unsettling chaos of finding willing substitutes. Also make sure any of the less ‘electronic’ minded of your friends is fully prepped on who’s on, what they sound like, what else is on offer, and when everything ends - NYE is a particularly hardcore night out so they will need extra-prep and reassurance. There’s nothing worse than if some of those around you feel duped and don’t fully enjoy themselves – you won’t enjoy yourself either!
Timing
You’ve rounded up your posse, so now comes the shepherding. Bigger social flocks have a slower turning circle, so you’re well advised to meet up earlier than necessary and allow decent time to drink beforehand, travel to the party (under the influence of said drink – no driving please!) and avoid lengthy queuing AFTER midnight! For DJ devotees, it’s also worth checking official venue websites and social feeds earlier in the day in order to confirm when your favourite players are on and in which rooms. Agree your highlights and set your timers accordingly.
Pre-game pacing
Which kind of ties in with the timing thing really. You’re likely to pamper yourself beforehand, and meet friends early on, all of will surely put you in the kind of comfortable mood conducive to smashing it during daylight hours. That’s fine but how on earth are you going to make it through the wee small party hours that follow? You’re not basically. And kiss goodbye to any memories of the music, your friends and cheeky interactions with strangers – that’s if you even make to the club. Oh, and don’t blame anyone the next morning (well, maybe make that afternoon…) if you wake up feeling like a dead sloth’s armpit and the toilet bowl is your only tangible point of reference.
01 January: Part One
New Year’s Day is almost as important as the night before. Your body is a temple but after an all-nighter of epic, hedonistic nastiness it’s more than likely to resemble a ruin. Prepare for the fallout now so as to, truly, maximise your New Year experience. You will need:
- A seriously stocked kitchen – brightly coloured fruits and veggies like bananas, kiwis and spinach are stacked with potassium, an important electrolyte for the body depleted by alcohol consumption. You could always blend these up with a little yoghurt for a superb hangover-bustin’ smoothie – quick and easy enough for a destroyed reveller to make. Feeling bolder? Ensure key ‘Full English’ components such as bacon, sausages, eggs and baked beans are in your fridge ready for frying pan action
- A seriously stocked lounge – consider Blu Ray boxsets, key holiday sporting fixtures and other such TV programming and games console paraphernalia with which to pleasantly spend your recuperative time collapsed on the sofa.
- Water – you’ll want a couple of two litre bottles close to hand. If not water, then a preferred brand of soft drink. Oh, and snacks. Lots of crisps and stuff….
- Smartphone – for obligatory post-match punditry and analysis, as well as general New Year greetings to your wider network of non-partying friends and family. Text, Twitter, Instagram, even ‘phone’…it’s all at your disposal. Bonus points for those with ‘smart home’ apps also installed – when you really are too mangled to even get off the sofa, the ability to control heating, lighting and home entertainment from your shiny handheld is a thing of particular, early adopting beauty.
01 January: Part Two
Alternatively, completely ignore the point above…you're missing other parties. The trend of recent years has been towards New Year’s Day events rather than just NYE ones – this one is as much down to promoters wanting to try something different as needing to cut DJ and venue costs (with the NYD knock-on to revellers of lower admission prices and cheaper taxi fares). Therefore, double-check both 31 December and 01 January as part of your ‘New Year’ mission, and absolutely guarantee the best clubbing experience.
After-parties
This could get confusing – another wave of parties sandwiched tastily between the hearty bread of New Year’s Eve and Day. But there really are some goodies to sort through. Best advice is to engage with others at the main parties you’re attending to grab the lowdown on the secret ‘follow-ons’. If you and your crew do decide to pursue an after-party, simply know when to call it a day. You’re not invincible (though lost in the middle of a 6am rinse out of Lil Louis’ ‘French Kiss’ you’ll think you are…) so consider the condition of your friends, what else you have coming up in the hours and days ahead and, in all sincerity, your immediate health, safety and sanity.
Go with the flow
Build some flexibility into your New Year excursions. The best laid plans can go awry, whether that’s late public transport, early alcoholic casualties (see above) or even, heaven’s above, cancelled parties. Is there an alternative venue you can channel your disco spirit into at short notice and without hassle? Or someone’s party-compatible pad? Or maybe, acknowledging the sheer unpredictability of winter weather, it’s just a case of having ‘plan B’ travel arranged and the relevant resource to back it up – all to ensure your disco goes twirling on….
And finally... Introducing Bobby McFerrin
In the immortal words of multi-Grammy-winning US jazz vocalist Bobby McFerrin – ‘don’t worry, be happy’. New Year is always an outrageously hyped spectacle and, if you’re not careful, it’s easy to let that hype dominate you. Yes, so there’s the pressure to make New Year one of the best nights of your annual clubbing life but please…relax! When all is said and done this is just another night out. And you’ve already been on plenty of successful Ibiza trips, A-grade warehouse adventures and festival pilgrimages that are more than a match – in terms of occasion – for one little night (or day) at the very end of the calendar. You’re going out again, and going out is a lot of fun. Why should you worry? Plan a little, yes, but ultimately just roll with it, and all will be well.
Happy New Year!!!
Words: Ben Lovett
Defected In The House is at Ministry of Sound this New Year's Eve - full line-up and tickets
