WHY throw an ordinary party when you can rock one with a theme?

This month alone, there are at least six themed shindigs.

A fortnight ago, The Butter Factory had its bi-monthly Fash Mob, where partygoers are invited to create wacky party outfits and accessories.

Zouk’s Very Game, which was inspired by popular US reality TV variety programme I Survived A Japanese Game Show, took place that same week.

At least four more are happening this week, including Home Club’s Beat! Monthiversary and Zirca’s Rock Gods Frat Party and Nightclass Reformed!, its monthly school uniform theme night.

Theme nights no longer belong to those special dates like Halloween and Christmas. It’s all about being different from the competition.

Zirca said it expects at least 20 per cent more clubbers at such parties, while Home Club said it sees 25 per cent more at its rock ‘n’ roll themed Monthiversary events.

Clubbers The New Paper spoke to said they welcome such events. Most now want something more than good music and company on a night out.

Or as 24-year-old marketing assistant Cheryl Lee put it, “everyone likes something out of the ordinary once in a while”.

Zouk’s Very Game had construction outfit-clad contestants squeeze through cardboard cut-outs and endure cream pies being thrown at them.

Cash prizes worth up to $2,000 were up for grabs.

It’s all about “delivering new experiences and pushing the boundaries of what is expected of a good night out”, Zouk’s marketing manager Mari Muramoto told The New Paper.

The nightspot’s Very series has been held at least three times a year for almost a decade.

The next Very event will be in October.

Theme parties provide “a natural high” for those into dressing up, said The Butter Factory’s co-owner and director Bobby Luo, the brain behind its Fash Mob.

Those in the challenge are split into teams, each of which get $250 to buy materials to create outfits and accessories.

Mr Luo added: “Life is already stressful and boring enough. So why be normal?”
Home Club’s Miss Q H Yeo, who’s in charge of marketing, said: “It’s a matter of competition. Every club has drink promotions and good music on popular nights like Wednesdays and on the weekends. It comes down to anything you can do to make your place stand out.”

Parties with themes always seem to liven things up, 29-year-old personal trainer Kenneth Ting said.

Adding colour

He added: “Themes add colour to the night and being soaked up in a character and role is like being involved in a game. When everybody’s playing together like one big pyjama party, it’s going to be very difficult for the atmosphere to be dull.”

Mr Ting will be taking part in Rock Gods Frat Party’s two music-related contests on Friday.

The party will be held at Zirca and is organised by local events agency Lumina Live!

Interested contestants can form three-piece bands to compete in the Rock Gods tournament where they dress like rock stars and battle it out on video game Band Hero.

The winning band gets $1,000, adidas vouchers and video game DJ Hero Renegade edition.

Solo contestants can also join Air Guitar Superstar that night, which will have them display their, well, guitar air-playing prowess.

The winner gets $500 and adidas vouchers.

Following that is Zirca’s monthly event Nightclass Reformed! where clubbers who don school uniforms gain free entry to the club.

Undergraduate Hazel Tan, 21, and her group of girlfriends relish the opportunity to dress up in ways they otherwise wouldn’t.

Miss Tan said: “Theme parties give us a reason to dress up and not get weird stares. Dressing up is always fun anyway.

“With themes, people have a better idea and clearer direction of these parties. They know what they’re in for.”

Needless to say, successful parties involve elaborate planning.

Zouk took two months to conceptualise Very Game and spent $15,000 on it, Ms Muramoto said.

The Butter Factory’s Mr Luo said Fash Mob costs $3,000 to set up. It’s also challenging to find like-minded people with the same creative juice to participate, he added.

The investment seems to be paying off.

Whereas the club gets crowded only around midnight on other days, nearly 800 people were there when Very Game started at 10pm, Ms Muramoto said.

Fash Mob can command an average of 15 per cent increase in attendance, Mr Luo said.

Lower cover charges and free entry, albeit with conditions, help to pack them in.

Entry to Zouk that day was $15 for the first 300. Normal charges – $23 for ladies and $28 for guys – applied when that quota was reached.

Those in fashion, art and design get free entry to The Butter Factory during Fash Mob nights.

Otherwise, regular cover charges apply.

But let’s face it – clubbers are a fickle-minded bunch. And some clubbers find such parties gimmicky.

Theme parties lose their charm after a while and dressing up can be a chore, 24-year-old undergraduate Charmaine Chan said.

But clubs are taking that in their stride. Evolving is part and parcel of the nightlife business.

Mr Luo said: “The key is finding new twists to make it fresh all the time so that people will never even get a chance to tire of it.

“Our challenge is to reinvent into something so totally new, that clubbers don’t even recognise it any more.”

This article was first published in The New Paper.