There’s A Sold-Out Party Playing Disney Songs. What Does That Say About Our Club Culture?
Can Disney anthems fit on the dancefloor? (Credit: Zack Dilaroca)
The DJ’s on the decks, the floor is stuffed shoulder-to-shoulder, and everyone’s belting along to… the lyrics of High School Musical? Imagine a unified mob of Gen-Zs raising their fists to “Hakuna Matata”, baring their souls with “Let It Go” and pummelling their chests to “I’ll Make A Man Out Of You”. It’s a shameless parade of Disney fanaticism, bound by the shared roots of nostalgia and a love for rekindling childhood memories. No house, no EDM, no hip-hop – but a resounding yes for saccharine pop numbers sprinkled with the magic of Tinkerbell’s fairy dust. Strange as it sounds, this is no fantasy.
Not an April Fool’s joke (Credit: CULTURE)
On 1 April – and this is apparently no joke – there’s going to be an event called Far Far Away, dedicated to the adoration of classic-slash-modern-day animations and live-action hit series from the likes of Disney, Pixar, and Dreamworks. Also on the lineup are popular throwback numbers from the noughties with similarly effervescent energy that soundtracked the teenhoods of many. Originally slated for 31 March, the event received overwhelmingly positive support, to the point where it was quickly upsized with a new date and a bigger venue at Luxe Club. While standard tickets for the party are already sold out, there are still table reservations available in case you’re keen and you have money to splurge, or you’re a fellow old-timer who prefers the preciousness of personal space.
The gist of it is – the landscape of partying is willing to acclimatise to the extremes of Disney territory to pander to the appetites of modern-day clubbers. And from the looks of this one-off (for now) instance, it’s a party trick that works.
Past CULTURE events have seen huge turnouts (Credit: Zack Dilaroca)
Yet this modus operandi of hopping onto the pillars of pop culture isn’t something new when you consider this party’s orchestrators, a collective aptly and simply called CULTURE. They’ve resurfaced during the post-pandemic renaissance with several events with a heavy pop slant, showcasing themes ranging from Taylor Swift song-a-thons and Hallyu tributes, to TikTok nights that even featured local celebrity (and polarising personality), Steven Lim. Their foray into the House of Mouse is another pounce into the pop consciousness of its patrons, producing a pay-off that even they couldn’t originally anticipate. Party promoters, pay attention. Are they onto something? Or is this an affront?
Purists might brush off such events as sell-out cash-grabs, sullying the sanctity of a club floor with ‘children’s songs’. But at the end of the day, partying is truly about one thing isn’t it? And that’s bringing people together with the spirit of camaraderie and music. The peeps who rock up at this party might dress up as Disney princesses rather than hip-hop hypebeasts or techno troopers, but that’s their expression of fun. No pretentious auras. No debates between genres. They practically have every right to sing Toto’s “Africa” as much as The Lion King’s “Circle Of Life”.
When was the last time the DJ played your favourite song? (Credit: Zack Dilaroca)
Not to mention, the history of playing to the crowd – no matter how ‘cheap’ it is – runs deep in our local party circuit. An arguable role of the DJ is that they are tasked to play what people wanna hear (this is a debate best saved for another feature). You have the indie anthems of Eatmepoptart and the emo heartbreakers of EMONIGHTSG, and establishments like OverEasy that had its Guilty Pleasures nights. And of course how can we forget the cheesy but endearing phenomenon of Zouk’s Mambo Jambo? The chasm of crowd favourites is a deep hole. The question is: how deep are promoters willing to burrow and how much is the scene ready to accept?
The search for new realms of opportunity in the party space – even in Disney’s magic kingdom – has its risks. But given that the scene’s beginning to reach a state of saturation with a rising surplus of events and overlapping concepts, perhaps it could do with some diversity, no matter how odd it is. Breaths of fresh air are needed to invigorate the event space every now and then.
I’m not necessarily saying this is it. But if this has the possibility of attracting new audiences to the endlessly expanding world of club culture, we’ve gotta acknowledge its supercalifragilisticexpialidocious contribution.
Where can we go from here? I hope to be surprised.
(Credit: Azfian Anuar)
If this kind of party is up your alley, you can still purchase table reservations here. Otherwise, follow CULTURE on Instagram to stay updated with their activities.
