The Underground Teaparty

The Underground Tea Party, a recent event in Edinburgh, was a case of excellent promotion for an average night. Months before the event the mighty powers of facebook were put to the test as a mysterious looking event was created to make the mouths of starved ravers in Edinburgh drool.

The promise was, in return for a multitude of members, a party to end all parties, alluding to secret venues and unbeatable line ups. It spread like an epidemic through students, five thousand people signing up and checking obsessively for news. The allure of the illicit, the illegal and the exclusivity of secrecy proved to be more conducive to interest than even the best acts could have mustered.

Yet, will we have learnt our lesson now that the actual night proved to be much less thrilling than the months of build up, at the charming but ordinary venue the caves, a high entrance fee not subsidising the painfully expensive drinks and an arguably poor line up of The X Presidents and Strip Steve hardly meeting the standard of massive names.

There was fun to be had and the numbers to be having it yet the night was mainly a proof of the powers of promotion over the pleasure-hungry mind. Gratifying touches of free cupcakes and fire-jugglers on the entrance weren’t quite enough to make amends and the citizens of Edinburgh may be less trusting to the organizers in future, who I hope made enough money on this one evening to deal with the losses future ones might accrue. Perhaps with their advertising flair they have another equally captivating trick up their sleeve but unless it’s an ace I think this event management group will go down with other one-hit wonders in the list of untouchables.

Rosie Harrison