New Year's Eve at Slowdown: It was damn cold

What did you do to ring in the New Year? I skipped quite a few parties on Friday night (New Year's Eve) to head over to Slowdown. They were (once again) hosting the Happy GOO Year dance party.

It was a fun time with good music, flowing drinks and a lot of good people.

Once I arrived at the club, I waited outside for just under 20 minutes, like a ton of others trying to get inside.

To be clear, the line was moving. It was just taking a long time.

Now, most nights that wouldn't be a big deal. But on Friday night into Saturday, temperatures with the wind were in the "minus 10 to minus 20 degree range," according to an OWH article.

In plain terms, it was brutal cold. And people had to stand outside while wind blew the icy cold air really hard, and it was not like people were wearing heavy winter gear. Lots of women were in skirts and short dresses. Some people weren't wearing coats.

The following was posted on Slowdown's Facebook page in response to one irate customer:

"Sorry, but we were getting people in as fast as we could. Unfortunately everyone likes to show up to a new years party at the same time, and even more unfortunately it was very cold out. No one with a ticket was denied admission, so sorry if you were given that impression by anyone in line."

I'm also told that it was a big problem between 10:30 and 11:15 p.m., when everyone showed up at the same time and created a line at the door.

I feel like there has to be a way to get things moving faster than that. That it took 20 minutes for people who had already purchased tickets when it was that cold out was pretty bad. I understand that it's up to us clubgoers to wear heavy clothing (and rest assured that I certainly will do so next time), but I feel like it's also up to the club to get us inside in a timely fashion, especially when the weather's really bad.

A lot of people who had bought tickets told me they left after waiting in line as long as 20 minutes without being let inside. Some left because it was just too damn cold.

That said, once inside, I thought it was a great time. Lots of people dancing, having a good time.

The GOO crew of DJs included Jacob Thiele and Todd Fink of the Faint, Brent Crampton and Derek Presnall of Tilly & the Wall/Flowers Forever. They did an admirable job cranking techno-ish beats as well as remixed '80s and '90s songs (mostly).

My favorite GOO DJ of the night was Fink. In a black suit, he was also decked out in a gray and black masquerade mask and spun a lot of old '80s-ish stuff, mostly remixed with an electronica beat.

Free champagne at midnight was also treat (I snagged a couple glasses).

I thought it was kind of weird that and most people filtered out of the club shortly after the midnight countdown. The place was packed at 11:45, but by 12:30, it seemed sort of empty.

Other than the cold wait, it was a blast. I'd love to do it again next year. From stories I heard, we seemed to have a much better time than some friends who had house parties or spent NYE at other bars.

Myself and some friends were already talking about buying tickets to the club next year, even though that's some time away.