Lesson learnt: Never go in Dri
Oliver Benton covers the first non-alcoholic Union event of the year
The Union held its first ever alcohol free club night – “Dri” on Monday 13th. Unlucky for some; most likely the bar manager’s profit margins, and anyone who turned up. A full complement of security staff were on hand to deal with the rowdy non-crowd of non-drinkers, and with lime soda priced at 20p to lubricate the masses, the chance of breaking even was always going to be slim. An anonymous Union source said: “We literally had to turn people away, and people kept asking if this was a regular thing”.
On offer throughout the evening were several giant games, a selection of mocktails and the kitchen was also open an hour later. However, when customers found out they couldn’t buy alcohol, “they literally turned around and walked out.” The budget for this year’s event was £3000 less than a normal Monday night when alcohol is available, although the Union never intended for the event to make a profit in the first place. It is reassuring that the Union aims high when organising events however; Alex Savell, Deputy President (Finance and Services), said that the event was ran as “not for profit; we ran it as a service.” Around one hundred people are thought to have attended the evening in total. The highlight of the evening was easily DJ Sue, who, in fairness, spun out some absolute classics across FiveSixEight.
Despite her smooth grooves at one point it was “literally the bar staff and the DJ.” With Metric empty apart from those who had just served time on the Union Council and FiveSixEight populated by those few who live in Beit and can’t cook for themselves, the atmosphere allegedly “left a lot to be desired.” Chris Kaye spoke to Felix about the event afterwards.
As one of his manifesto pledges to provide events for non-drinkers, Chris was a key driving force behind Dri. “I personally think this night was not unsuccessful. We were able to provide an event that was suitable for not just non-drinkers, but those students that are under 18s, which, due to licencing restrictions, couldn’t previously enter the Union bars. It is difficult to get people into Metric at the best of times, especially without liquid lubrication.”
