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CiRCA’s New Year’s Party Leaves Much To Be Desired
Review by: Sheldon Purkiss

For over two years in the making and with one of the largest, most advertised grand opening weekends in Toronto’s club history, you would expect CiRCA’s very first New Years Eve party to be something to behold. For a club boasting a capacity of over 3000 people, several floors in a ‘mall-like’ environment, and various rooms to offer different sounds, as well as attracting some of the most beautiful people in Toronto, you would be further pressed to say such a party would be one for the books.

It was with this kind of anticipation my crew and I purchased tickets to CiRCA’s NYE party at $60 a piece!
Getting to CiRCA, between 9 and 10pm, I was surprised at how utterly vacant the club was. I wasn’t concerned though—experience had taught me; when they come, they come in droves. Besides, who knows what kind of pre-parties everyone was gettin’ in on this fine 2007 night?

My peeps and I headed inside and I noted they changed some of the décor… some huge screens to project the count down on, and a few massive white cubes on the main dancefloor to project images upon—pretty cool! But generally, no ‘festive’ decorations decrying the coming magic moment that would change 2007 into 2008. However, they did have a small table with piles of hats, noise makers, tiaras and other new year’s paraphernalia.

The night progressed nicely…the beats were pumping; Addy & Neno in the Sky Cinema Room, Jedi in the Ballroom, and Doman & Pettigrew in the main room (didn’t recognize the fellow in the bathroom bar!). The crowd filled in a bit and as I checked my watch at 11:30pm, noted the club was maybe 2/3rds filled. For a dancer like me, it was great—we had lots of room to dance, and the club was at a great temperature considering everyone was dressed in their Sunday best. We switched between Addy’s set and Pettigrew’s set as the clocked ticked away, and I saw the main floor completely filled, the upper floors semi-filled with smiling people.

At ten to midnight, in a clever trick of sound-tech genius, all the rooms were joined together via sound system.

We heard music piped in from the main room, and Addy, never one to leave simple beats alone, mixed in his own Tribal flavor overtop of the tunes…then the final countdown came in … TEN…NINE…EIGHT…SEVEN…SIX… I looked around with anticipation; the air was crackling with excitement! … ONE!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR! The crowd in the main room exploded, and the relatively sparse crowd in the Sky Cinema room all embraced in a New Year’s kiss. David Guetta’s “Love Is Gone” kicked in and Addy gleefully mixed in some hard beats to give the track more of an edge, waiting for his room’s audio to be returned to him so he could get back to his mix.

So what was missing? For a “normal” club night…nothing was missing. Great crowd, awesome tunes, DJs and people all smiling, and there was that ‘special’ energy in the air that New Years parties bring. All this being said, I think CiRCA really let us down. Here’s a chance for CiRCA to shine again, so soon after the grand opening that brought a really new and progressive club to Toronto’s core… and instead, we were presented with (dare I say) a normal CiRCA with a table full of props to declare the New Year. Don’t get me wrong CiRCA is a beautiful club and caters very well to my music and artsy side.

The visuals, the light show and the people made for a very good vibe and a fun party. In my mind, a club should be at its best on New Years Eve. I don’t feel CiRCA delivered that to its crew that night. A lot of “plus” atmosphere could have been achieved with relatively simple and inexpensive decorations; maybe a few more hostesses and hosts going around hyping up the crowd, wishing them a happy new year.

My first New Years at a club was The Guvernment, where complimentary champagne at midnight was served, and hors d’oeuvres at 3 am (it was Subway!)—all included in the ticket price; On top of their spectacular decorations and all the shooter girls going around wishing everyone a happy new year. They created an atmosphere that really made it a special night—worth the price of admission.

Unfortunately I didn’t feel that value-plus was put into CiRCA. Given Peter Gatien’s reputation for throwing some of the best parties out there, I expected some of that, even a little bit of that, to translate into CiRCA that night. I was extremely satisfied with the club experience, but I was not satisfied at all with the club plus experience I expected to receive that night. It wasn’t worth the price of admission.

CiRCA

CiRCA did upgrade some of its sites and scenes though… massive cardboard artwork towers over the DJ booth on the main floor, and motion sensitive floor-projections populate the hallways. We are never board visiting CiRCA with all the cool technology and artwork they employ on a monthly basis.

Being able to have a great time anywhere, I didn’t let any disappointment wreck my evening. My crew and I partied it up and took in the CiRCA sites until about 3am. The crowd then started producing angry drunks who realized they had no more alcohol to carry their buzz and bouncers had their hands busy. With this and other engagements requiring our attention, we left--but not without giving the dancefloor a good run for its money before retiring.

I look forward to seeing what CiRCA can do this year, the bar is set. Will they give us the party plus experience next year? 2008’s NYE could be legendary for CiRCA.