Almost didn’t make it to ZoukOut 2008, as I had absolutely NO kaki to go with! Things just aren’t the same compared to when I was younger. Back then, there were always buddies up for all night noisy outdoor parties. Doesn’t help that I’ve just move down to Singapore and don’t have many friends here either. Luckily, Niki confirmed that she was interested in going…

If it was just another rave, I guess I wouldn’t mind giving it a miss. But I’ve heard about ZoukOut countless times during my raving years, mostly quoting it as THE party to attend in the region and I’ve always wondered what made it so special.. here’s what I found out:

• Well organized. The entrance was wide, and there was sufficient security personnel to conduct checks without causing congestion. Drink stations did get a little crowded at times – they could have sped things up without requiring us to purchase coupons, but there were plenty of stations to go around. There was enough LIT toilet booths too. Even at the end, there was free bus services to fetch the tired crowd all the way back to Harbourfront.
• 26,000 happening people attended! Although mostly youngsters, I caught a few aunties and uncles partying away. Everyone was dressed to have fun, in sandals and sneakers, shorts and bikini tops (sexyyyy). Girls would love the hordes of well built topless guys (although it was hard to differentiate the straight ones from the gays – I saw two kissing), guys were equally enjoying the bikini clad bevy of beauties. Thorough mixing pot of all races with lots of foreigners coming down just for this event, including friends I did not expect to meet there!
• Unique Mambo Jambo stage. Populated mostly by the Singaporean Mambo crowd from Zouk, this stage was packed as it span retro and pop hits non-stop through the night. It was downright weird hearing Abba and Backstreet Boys played at a rave. It was also amusing to see everyone was doing synchronized para para dance moves to the familiar songs although it was quite sissifying to see the guys pulling off those same emo hand maneuvers.
• There are loads more, from the great music and international line up, to the extravagant party costumes, great lighting / laser effects – including the spraying of tens of thousands of little paper pieces into the air to diffuse the light (god knows how they are going to clean the mess), laser and light equipped kites flying in the night sky (they looked like a swarm of UFOs), fireworks, trampoline bungy rides, the sea breeze, etc..

Anyway, just as I got off the monorail, me and Niki bumped into Ash and his friends. We split up at the entrance, hoping to find each other inside later, but we never did haha. Met a bunch of other friends inside as well, all of whom were there with their own groupies.

FoOie & Tanya

Niki with her devil horns

FoOie & Chak

I arrived at the Main Arena while Henrik Shwarz was spinning, but haven’t yet got in the mood to join in. Retired to Mambo Jambo for awhile before moving on to the Velvet Underground stage. Vicarious Bliss was on the decks then, and he was amazing with his hard hitting indie psychedelic fusion of electronica and rock.

Waited for Sasha to start at 3am and eagerly squeezed ourself into the packed Main Arena for him. But despite being the top DJ at the event, he was thoroughly disappointing. Left after about 45 mins to get drinks and rest. Went back in at around 5am in anticipation for Above & Beyond. The wait was well worth it – Above & Beyond was without a doubt the BEST SET for Zoukout 2008. They spun some amazing blend of uplifting trance (the sort of thing that puts a smile on your face as you jump along with the crowd), all the way till dawn at 7am..

Above & Beyond starting their set

My first rave till dawn experience

FoOie & Justin

Sorry guys, for not having more pics of chiqs haha. If you really want to see some, the site below has some nice ones, (including piss drunk girls and people making out haha).

AsiaOne Multimedia – Zoukout 2008

This other site below has a bunch of links to external photos of ZoukOut 2008.

Angry Angmo – ZoukOut 2008 – The Best Picture And Video Collections (flickr, youtube…)

And there are MORE photos should you care to search. Club.stomp.com.sg is one of em.

Despite feeling too old for this, I don’t think I have any good reason to miss the next Zoukout if I have friends going then. Well, until 2009!