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Photos: Tom Wooldridge
Coming to the Summer Ball as a second year, I couldn’t help but fear I’d stand out from the crying third years saying some of their final goodbyes before they depart to better prospects or, for the unlucky ones, the awkward return to sponging off the parents. We arrived at the Racecourse after the dinner at 9pm and, classically, my eye was immediately drawn to the chocolate fountain. I’d been told last year it was more of a free for all – instead I found myself queuing for the best part of ten minutes for one piece of chocolate coated shortbread, which didn’t really seem worth the £35 ticket.
Yet it was the acts that were the main draw for me. Most of the early ones, including Bluey Robinson, had already gone onto the stage by the time I’d pulled myself from what I was convinced was an invincible winning streak on Blackjack, about the only card game I can ever get my head around. Though others had complained, I’d always thought Feeder were a pretty big coup for York, especially compared to the lesser known Subways last year. Everyone got into the band’s classic ‘Buck Rogers’ and ‘Feeling the Moment’ sets, and it felt good to see a band in York I could actually partly sing along to (albeit if I remember the words from listening to them in secondary school).
I couldn’t help but feel the atmosphere was only really in the middle though, with everyone else at the edges (perhaps quite understandably) looking a bit too prissy about getting their suits muddled up to dance. In retrospect perhaps I should have done the same, because I spent the rest of the night with a dramatically wonky bowtie, a sweaty face and hair puffed up in every possible direction.
After Feeder, the crowd for the live acts thinned out dramatically. Stooshe limped their way through an okay performance, but the live band drowned them out at times and there was no doubting that they got the best reception for their cover of TLC’s ‘Waterfalls’. As expected, by this point most people had migrated to the silent disco or local band stage upstairs – or, more likely, the rides outside.
The rides were pretty impressively squeezed into the venue and were a good mix, though the queues meant you were looking at the best part of an hour to get on all three. My one remaining qualm stands with YUSU’s commitment to the Racecourse as a venue; whilst fairly fancy and thus suited to the occasion, the drinks are expensive and simply not very good (the wine was worse than the cheapest in the Hes Road Spar… and cost the same as a bottle for a small glass) and the venue itself lacks any sort of major dancing space to accommodate over 1000 students meant to be attending. Whilst I don’t think these are major issues when you’re there, in retrospect they did detract from the event itself.
Despite this, stumbling round the Racecourse drunk and vomiting slightly after being targeted by a sadistic ‘spinner’ on the Waltz meant overall I had a pretty good night well worth the money – from what I can remember. The night was rounded off by an excellent performance from the live band and singer, who belted out soulful classics from Stevie Wonder to the Jackson 5 and got perhaps the most intense dancing of the night as the diehards clung on for the survivors photo. The impression I got from all I spoke to was that it was a good night, hindered somewhat by cutbacks and for me personally by being out of that departing atmosphere the third years must feel.
So au revoir class of 2012, I hope you had a blast at the Ball and I will certainly return next year when its my turn to face the freedom (and fear) of graduation.