Night Out Receipts: Experimental Techno, Euro Ketamine, One of Melbourne’s Best Winter Park Parties

Ana, 29, Northcote.

Friday: I have a ticket to a very epic audio-visual gig inside a huge, iconic Melbourne venue that isn’t normally used for live music. I paid $91 for first release. Four live-electronic international acts are playing with a massive visual display promised. I’m excited. All my friends are going. And the rumour mill is on fire with talk that one of the acts is playing a rave later. I already know this is going to be an expensive night. 

$91. 

5pm: A friend from Sydney is visiting for the weekend and is staying about a 10-minute walk from my house. He also has a ticket to the gig so we arrange to meet up for a drink beforehand. The only problem is the first act is on at 6. 6????? In Melbourne??? We’re all still hustling and grinding at 6. We’re pressed for time so I book my housemate and I a rideshare to meet him at a wine bar in Fitzroy North. $8.75. 

I order a fancy French cider that comes in a wine glass. $15. It is fucking yum and I drink it in about three minutes, so I order a glass of Chardonnay, also for $16. 

$130.75.

6pm: My friend’s friends have joined us and I’m getting anxious about the time but hey! Fuck yeah! One of them is driving and there are five of us so we pile in their tiny car. It has a jelly belly airfreshener on the air vent.

6:30pm: We meet two more friends outside and they hand me a little pot of mushroom powder. I lick my finger and eat a couple of dips. 

We get inside and holy fuck this place looks insane. There are thousands of people here, the first act is already on and killing it. The sound, the lights, the mega screen with abstract visuals dancing metres overhead – it’s all extremely overwhelming in the best possible way. 

I make a B-line for the bar and buy a yuzu gin soda thing. $14. It’s good, I guess this will be my drink of the night. 

$144.75.

7pm: The second act is about to start. I don’t have any drugs tonight besides amyl, which I’m naturally offering to literally everyone. Someone offers me a bump of MDMA in return, I am stoked and tell them to have as much amyl as they want. About a minute later my friend spills half of it on the floor. Luckily it was a fresh, full one so there’s still plenty to go around.

7:15pm: The second act is on. They’re not the headliner but they’re who I’m most excited for. Within seconds, I’m hooked, and the MDMA and mushrooms are hitting all at once. I could not have timed this better if I tried. 

The visuals are absolutely melting my mind. The music is so fucking good and the amyl makes it all sound better. I haven’t felt this good in months. I’m hugging everyone and shaking my ass. 

8:15pm: One of the best sets of my life. I love live music, I love bass, I am so lucky to be here. The crowd disperses before the headliner comes on and I haven’t had a drink in a while so I head to the bar. I get another yuzu drink ($14) and regroup. I find friends further back in the line and join them. May as well get another tinny before the music starts. $14.

$185.75.

9:15pm: The headliner was awesome but it was pretty experimental so the energy has calmed down a bit and I realise I haven’t eaten since 2pm. Someone mentioned a hotdog stand in the building – I have no fucking idea where it is but after a furious and frantic text convo with my friend who’s in line for food, I find it — and them. I get a hot dog with cheese and pickles ($13), which I absolutely inhale, and another yuzu drink ($14). Yum. 

$212.75.

10:45pm: The final act of the night is playing and it’s time to think about our next moves. I’ve lost a few friends in the crowd but the five I’m currently with decide to bolt before the music finishes and get a rideshare to my house 10 minutes away, where there’s a fridge full of beers (which neither I nor my housemate paid for) and an amazing heater, plus it’s relatively on the way to the park party. Plan. 

I book one of the cars for the 10-minute and my app tells me I can get a free XL upgrade. Upon checking my receipts I discover I must’ve dreamt this free upgrade because it was $36.47 to go about 2km. 

$246.22.

11pm: We get to mine, open beers and other friends arrive and order pizza. It has been confirmed that this big international artist is in fact playing the rave –  at 12:30.

12:30am: Ok, time to go, but sadly the pizza and chats have ended the night for a few of my friends. My friend from Sydney and I are the only ones left so I load a tote bag with beers and say my goodnights and order a car ($12.33). I accidentally order a pool and have to apologise to the driver, who is worried if another rider books they’ll complain. We fucked it. Another rider does book but OF COURSE they are on their way to the same party as us. Instant friends. I no longer remember their name. 

$261.55.

12:50am: We arrive. Amazing location. Maybe 100 people – busy but not hectic – music is high energy and so am I. I find a couple of groups of friends, and one of them offers me some ketamine. I normally hate ketamine and the last time I had one single bump on a night out a few months ago it threw me sideways and I fell into a bush. But she promises it’s good, from Europe, her friend is the dealer and it’s clean. I acquiesce and damn, she wasn’t kidding.

3:30am: The party is still heaving, I’ve had a few beers and a few more bumps of K but after one of the DJs finishes, the music shuts off. Is that it??? Surely not! Maybe this was just an early party???? 

Confused, my friends and I mill about the dancefloor area trying to figure out what to do and whether or not we should kick on. After about 10 minutes of quietly hoping the music will start back up again any moment, I see a line of blinking white lights off to the side of the stage. 

Ohhhhhh, the cops are here. I didn’t clock them because I’m so used to cops at raves being aggressive assholes, yelling at everyone to fuck-off home and physically pushing and dragging people. I guess these cops realise they can just stand around, take their overtime and wait for us to wander off ourselves.

We walk out of the park and miss the path to the road so end up on a lovely scenic stroll through the trees. I book myself a car home and my friends live kiiiind of close so they all just jump in mine and then make their respective ways home from there. $13.14. 

Total: $274.69. Look, it’s a lot, but it was one of the best nights out I’ve had in ages. And that’s priceless.

See more Night Out Receipts here.