Thursday, June 21, 2012

Samsung Galaxy SIII Launch Party @ Skylight Studios, June 21, 2012


There was never any doubt in my mind that Samsung throws the best events. If there were ever a problem with throwing amazing events constantly, it’s that you (have to) raise the bar every time, to outdo your last party. The last Samsung event I went to was at Irving Plaza, it was a free Santigold show with a complete open bar and more food than anyone there could eat. Simply put, quite amazing. I knew this one would be insane, just based on Samsung’s past exploits, but also because it was the launch party of their amazing new phone, the Galaxy SIII. One would assume the event-throwing masters would go all out…they did.

Before I tell you how it was, I must say this about the launch party, it was an easy 5 out of 5 event. Simply put, they did everything right basically. Lets start at the beginning: check-in. You can tell a lot about the organization of an event just by checking in on the guest list. If it takes a while to find your name and there’s a whole ordeal just to get inside, you can pretty much rest assured that the event itself will be sort of on par with that. Last night, with the line formed, there were two people coming down the line (before 9pm, which was when the event started) checking people in. After they found your name, you got a wristband. After that, a security guard came down the line to check everyone’s ID, to make sure we were all legal drinking age. All of this was done BEFORE the doors opened. So by the time they did, which was right at 9pm, you just walked right in. Simple.

Upon entry, you see than the Samsung people decked out Skylight Studios so you knew you were there to party in the name of the SIII. They handed you a little pouch with these little squares in them. You use these squares to play games on the new SIII and win prizes. AWESOME! Once you were really inside, there was a little basketball hoop where you could take cool photos looking like you’re dunking on none other than Stephen Curry, who is a super nice guy by the way. Walt Clyde Frazier was there as well but he left soon after we arrived. Ah well. It happens.

DJ Craze was mixing up the party music, and everyone was heading to the respective SIII stations to try and win stuff. I won some light up glasses (which I surely was not leaving there without) and also a stuffed frog, which my friend named Pedro. It was one of those kinds of nights, because Samsung had a fully stocked bar and the bartenders were churning out drinks with the quickness. You could just order whatever you wanted, or, you could order from one of the Galaxy SIII phones that was attached to the bar. They had specialty cocktails that you could select, and then the bartender gets the order through a device they had, and makes it for you! It was like partying in a spaceship!
Sebastian Ingrosso was the first DJ to take the stage. Sebastian, who is one of the DJs of Swedish House Mafia, jumped into his usual mix of house and techno tracks, getting the crowd rocking as only SHM can. On the invite I got, Samsung said there would be a surprise guest performance. Earlier yesterday someone who is usually in the know ruined that surprise, and they told me that the surprise performer is Skrillex! After Sebastian heated things up, Skrillex hit the stage and burned it down. I was so close to the stage at that point that it was hard to see all the visuals going on behind the dubstep master, but there were some cool ones. Confetti falling, air blasts going off, and just all around pandemonium were on the bill for Skrillex’s set, which was much longer than I thought it would be and also far more diverse than I thought it would be. I was expecting him to play a heap of dubstep, and mostly his dubstep stuff, but that wasn’t really the case. He played a lot of dubstep (obviously), but not only his stuff, plus he played Drum & Bass and techno tracks as well. The dude can really mix it up. They had the AC on in the place but I was sweating from all the dancing, especially since Skrillex was on the tables for so long too.

After his set was done, DJ Craze got back on to finish off the night, but some people had already left by then. I don’t blame them; it was really late at that point (I think the event officially finished at 1am). As I made my way out, Samsung had one last awesome surprise up their sleeve: free glasses! They were giving out Samsung beer glasses that light up. YES! Parting gifts make parting way sweeter sorrow. Another 5 star event in the bag for Samsung, and another awesome phone on the market, that you should surely pick up.



Clint ZER0

Twitter.com/clintwwcd