Feedback wanted on our camp...

[Nancy Jest]

Greetings burners, and welcome back to the drudgery of the next 354-odd days 'till BM '05 ~

I, Mr. Jest, sadly was unable to attend this year, but helped my friends in the construction of our Theme Camp, "Spike's Vampire Bar".

Through some astonishing glitch, we wound up in Center Camp. Early reports from the crew (currently basking in the afterglow while trying to make the RV "Deposit Refund Ready" while drinking all the leftover alcohol) say the camp was a complete success, but freely admit that the reviews were limited to those who they spoke to, out of the many more who attended our little spot of darkness on the Playa.

So, because I'm lazy and my eyes are glazing over from searching the web for early reports of the event, I decided to go straight to the source so to speak, and ask y'all if you visited our little bar, if ya liked it or not, and if you'd like to see anything else out of our intrepid crew next year (yes, it'll be Spike's again, but we have a whole year to think up additions, changes, refurbishments, bug-fixes, etc...).

Any and all suggestions or criticisms welcome... be gentle, it's my first time!

[Gothalot]

Awe baby you missed an awesome week. I was the bar tender. Easy job really. The whole gang pretty much thought of everything and made it easy. We were packed most of the time and the big comment people said to us was that they felt at home there. I loved the whole crew and miss them already.

Hope to see you in October.

Fangs a lot , Gothalot

[clairedad]

I had a great time at Spike's. I was there twice, once on Thursday night and again on Friday night. Thursday was more low-key and we drank some "blood" and watch a Vampiress work the pole and stage. Friday there was a band in there that was just off the hook. They were so cool! The people we brought there loved it. I'd like to know the name of the band. They had a great Tom Waits kind of vibe. All in all, I'd say that Spike's was a huge success. If I had to change one thing, I would say add some ventilation. It did get rather smoky in there.

[Nancy Jest]

Yeah, I think adding more thermal fan vents is already on the list - although there was some concern that the one that was installed was gonna spin right off it's mounting during the wind storm!

[Gothalot]

Vents? You want vents? Come see me at the bar and I'll ventalate yer neck. Wuhahahahahahhahaha.

Lurking in the shadows.

Gothalot

[Mark Hinkley]

For what's it's worth...

I'm not a drinker and didn't personally visit Spike's, but the nice people who hosted it might be pleased to know that the talk around town reminded me of the buzz about this little place called "Pinky's" circa 2002. It's a tough town to stand out in, and you kids did it.

Mark

[TheMuse]

Oh those guys sucked! They were all assholes... oh wait, that was my camp. I had a fucking fantastic time, thanks mostly to our wonderful performers. Those of you who did some amazing shit onstage know who you are (I still have dreams about your fire show ZigZag!). Hopefully we will have some pictures up on the website in the next few weeks, until then... http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=fzshwya.rs ... 1&y=p41hcq

[jbelson]

I liked spikes. The decorations, hosts, and feel was right on. I did leave a little earlier than planned though because It got too hot in there for me wed. evening (I think that was the night). Also, not a big wine drinker, but I love that it was served in the IV drip bags. Definately a cool camp.
A bloody mary would be a cool drink for spikes.

[Nancy Jest]

Ooooo!!! We got buzz??? Wow!
That's soooo cool; thanks for letting us know!!

The gang packed in literally more than a TON of wine (yes, we weighed it), and mixed drinks were briefly considered before being discarded due to time/money constraints & practicality of mixing in the bar environment.

I can envision pre-mixed bloody marys to a certain extent, but there may be some issues WRT how much tomato juice constitutes "food" (the handing out of which to the public is verboten, at least technicaly). There was a great "juice debate" on some other venues involving this; more research and of course taste testing will have to take place over this next year, I think...

-Mr. Jest

[Gothalot]

Didnt Reagan say Tomato juice was classified as a vegetable? We have presidential sanction, even better a dead president! Tres Goth dont you think? Food be Damned its a Grimly feindish. But seeing I'm supposed to manage next years bar I can do without the stink of spilled tomato spooge on the top of the bar.

[Mark Hinkley]

I haven't personally travelled the health department road, but my understanding is that food distribution is not forbidden, it only takes some kind of license or permit. That imposes certain sanitary conditions for storing and handling food. Those conditions are not unreasonable, and depend on the kind of food being served. I would think that tomato juice fresh from the bottle would not require difficult handling. My point is only that you should look into the process before concluding you can't live with it.

[bartholomew]

I was walking by with fiends one night, dressed in flaming doublet and wings, when the fire juggler you had out front hauled me in for a drink.
Great atmosphere, appropriate infrastructure, loved the coffin tables and the IV wine bags! You guys did a great job, and the idea of having fire artists outside to attract the passersby was a brilliant stroke. This was one "theme camp" that actually acted like it was interested in interacting with the world (unfortunately, not that common this year).
My only real question is: with the required gloomy expressions on everyone's faces, how can you tell if Goths are having a good time?


Congrats and thanks,
Bartholomew

[Gothalot]

Ya Mark, I'll look into it. Im not worried really of the food handling issue its just the tomato juice smell no matter how easy and little we spill of it is just plain nasty for the next day. It really smells like death warmed over the next day. Still Im concidering the Bloody Mary as a viable option for next year.

[Gothalot]

Goths having a good time? We do smile but try not to. It scares the victims away to early and we need the doners. What do you think is in those IV bags anyway WINE?

I was walking by with fiends one night, dressed in flaming doublet and wings, when the fire juggler you had out front hauled me in for a drink.
Great atmosphere, appropriate infrastructure, loved the coffin tables and the IV wine bags! You guys did a great job, and the idea of having fire artists outside to attract the passersby was a brilliant stroke. This was one "theme camp" that actually acted like it was interested in interacting with the world (unfortunately, not that common this year).
My only real question is: with the required gloomy expressions on everyone's faces, how can you tell if Goths are having a good time?


Congrats and thanks,
Bartholomew

[Tuatha]

When the guys at our camp said "Where going to a Vampire bar" I was pretty un-enthused, but I figured, hey could be a good place to start.
Had I known The fun id have there, I would of been banging down the doors on the first night!,
You guys had one hell of a bar going, it was fun, looked great, and most importantly the people there were really cool!
I look forward to seeing spikes next year!

[geekster]

We were packed most of the time and the big comment people said to us was that they felt at home there. I loved the whole crew and miss them already.

I was going to say just that. A friend and I stopped in one night for a little while. I felt completely at home there. Very nice vibe, thanks so much. I didn't have a lot of time to kick it there and I intended to come back again. I got back around that way once but you weren't "open" yet according to your sign and so I just kept riding by. Hope to see you all there next year.

[Tabula Rasa Mistress]

My husband and I LOVED Spike's... We landed there Monday 9/30... and listened to Dead Can Dance... We journeyed there again on Friday night... Your camp and GIFT were my two favourite camps (Spike's was my husband's) and I did not get one damn picture... I think I was too busy enjoying myself... We were camped a street and a half away and the comfort you gave was incomparable... Thank You!!! (Next year I'm pole dancing!!)

[TheMuse]

We are taking this wicked show on the road (well at least to the SF decom anyway). So come by and give us your feedback or simply hangout and view the pictures from the Playa while feeding on the last of this year's blood supply.