Orange Rooms turns 8!
So what do you get if you combine eight years of the laid-back coolness that is Orange Rooms with the funky madness that is The Mighty Boosh? One incredible night.
From the outside, nothing but a couple of balloons hinted at the mayhem within. As I arrived at just gone eleven and there was no queue and very few people outside smoking. My first thought was that this night was going to be a flop and no-one had wanted to celebrate Orange Rooms' eighth birthday. I was wrong.
Inside, garlands of brightly coloured bunting and enormous yellow smiley face balloons were strewn around like some sort of party bomb had been detonated. The normally mellow interior of Orange Rooms had been transformed into a neon coated disco ball and it looked amazing.
The staff had abandoned their normal 'orange rooms' logo t-shirt and were instead dressed in smart black shirts, birthday badges and the occasional shaman stylee turban. A specially prepared, Boosh-inspired cocktail and shooter menu showcased some delicious (and some deliciously vile) drinks that complimented the evening perfectly. As for it being dead? Not at all. The place was heaving. It would appear that the combination of Southampton's trendiest bar and The Mighty Boosh's Naboo Djing was just too good to miss. Naboo had just started his set as I arrived and the dance floor was crammed.
Dressed in a Rolling Stones lick t-shirt and bright red skinnies, Mike Fielding was almost unrecognisable from his Boosh character Naboo. Gone was the turban and brightly coloured tunic and in their places, a trilby and a moustache that conjured images of a Mexican maraca-player.
Although there was never a moment when the dance floor was empty, it would be a complete lie to say that Mike Fielding was a genius when it came to the decks. There was even a point when the sound turned off completely and the room went entirely silent. However, with a selection of indie and electro hits that were guaranteed floor-fillers, MGMT, Lady Gaga and The Kaiser Chiefs to name but a few, the room was smiling and dancing all night long. He even had time in between mixing to sign a few autographs, much to the delight of the group of girls in front of the decks.
Towards the end of his set, a couple of gorilla-suited Bollo lookalikes stampeded the dj booth and added a further amount of craziness to the already surreal evening. It was clear throughout that Djing is a massive passion of Fielding's, regardless of the odd flaw in his set. The music, although a very safe selection, made the crowd happy and kept the audience spilling out over the floor. The night appeared to be an absolute success: packed to the brim and an enormous amount of fun. Always to really be expected from a birthday from such a comfortable and popular bar in Southampton.
Victoria 'Tora' Baker
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