Big day out

Creatures of the night, take note. DJ Ruby and promoter Andy Schouten agree: daytime parties are definitely better for you. Your body clock is out of kilter when you dance all night and go home at four or five o’clock, says Ruby.

At a day party everyone is fresh and ready to go. The atmosphere is more fun and relaxed. The strain on your body is less, Schouten says.

Ruby and Schouten are the guys behind Toybox, a new day party happening slated for the Metro on Sunday 22 June. Toybox begins at midday and finishes at 8pm.

We planned the party deliberately for a weekend with nothing else on -“ it is not another trashy recovery, Schouten says. There is time before the party to fit in a leisurely weekend breakfast and time after for a good night’s sleep.

Ruby is a famous figure in Sydney party folklore for his memorable Ruby parties at the Midnight Shift and Ice Box. Schouten brings to the new venture his involvement in Ruby and the long-lasting, sadly missed, Frisky phenomenon. So Toybox may be a new concept but it’s one with an impressive lineage before it even begins.

As Frisky and Ice regulars know, The Metro Theatre provides a unique party setting. Once there were banks of seats: now there are uncluttered tiers rising from the main dancefloor, so that everyone in the venue is on eye level with the DJ -“ everyone can engage with the mirrors and lights.

Ruby thrives on this kind of contact with his audience.  

I dance about in the box and wave my hands. I get the mood off the floor -“ a good mood comes at you in waves. The Metro will give me more access to that mood.

Ruby will begin the day, before handing over the DJ box to Neal Crawford. The parties are very planned. I plot a curve of where the crowd’s mood will be -“ I know where I start and finish and join the dots.

Ruby, who has made his name with his own blend of euphoric trance promises to start with pretty, light trance, and later in the set move into huge production with lots of instruments.

His job at Toybox will be to get them ready for Neal, then he can send them through the roof.

It’s a similar goal to the one set at the Ruby parties, which are celebrated for the way the DJs build on each others’ sets. Rather than different DJs working for different people, they will all work together to create a complete musical journey.

But that doesn’t mean only one style. Alex Taylor and Jake Kilby will also be working in tandem, pumping out their own brand of uplifting -“ dare I say hands in the air -“ vocal house on the second dance floor.

The Metro’s foyer will be transformed into a games room -“ there will be opportunities for role-playing and dancefloor Twister. Party-goers are invited to think laterally -“ to run with the toybox theme and take a role in creating the party.

There is so much latitude to be creative. Ask yourself, -˜What does a toybox mean for me?’ Schouten says.

So dress up, dig out old frisbees and teddy bears, or perhaps you might have more adult toys in mind!

The dancefloor will be themed as an opened toybox filled with sparkle and surprise, thanks to the lighting and lasers guys from CLS and Oracle who somehow seem to outdo themselves every time they take on a new gig.

Part of the psychology of a big party is to get people as a group into the same head space, says Ruby. The themed, silly aspect is great for that.

Make a booking and bring a playmate. And remember to share your toys. Safely of course.

Tickets for Toybox are $55 plus booking fee: they go on sale 10 May at Bayswater Fitness, Caf?omity, One Stop Dee Jay and So Music. DJ Ruby’s CD Ruby Trance Volume One will be launched Sunday 8 June at the Midnight Shift. It goes on sale 9 June.