A Review of Cogs Agency’s Summer Party, by Alex Foreman
Twice a year at Cogs Agency, we wait in anticipation for two very special occasions – the Christmas and Summer parties!
Since our Christmas get-together at a superb Burlesque / Cabaret evening, there had been a feeling of excitement in the office over what the Cogs bosses had in store for the Summer do…
Well that day of reckoning came when it was confirmed to everyone’s delight that we were in fact, going to experience the VIP package at the Lovebox Festival – result!!! Like opening your Christmas stocking before your main present, it appeared we would also be treated to free food, luxury toilets, crazy golf, table football, waitress service, and everyone’s favourite – FREE BAR ALL DAY in the luxurious Manor House Bar. Boom! Game on…………..
(The Manor House – Free bar)
For all the sports fans in the office, the day got even better when Lovebox announced they would be showing England’s crucial EURO 2012 group match against Sweden (however as I write this, we’ve just been knocked out so we’ll leave that bit for now).
So, fast forward to Friday 15th June, and the office was buzzing with excitement. Party outfits came in a number of variations between shorts, wellies, skirts, dresses, ponchos, vests, jumpers, and even a pair of high heels – yes that’s right – heels, (no names mentioned Kelly…cough, splutter…..)
Come 2pm and time to go – the weather gods hadn’t quite decided our fate though, so there was still an air of suspense. However luck was on our side and we only had a slither of rain all day to contend with.
A quick pre-pint at The Cow near Victoria Park, and we were ready to get our boogie on. Upon arrival, queue times into the event and gaining access to the VIP village proved very irritating, but a quick trip to the free bar and the issue was a distant memory forgotten by all.
The VIP village was great, with a very friendly crowd, and lots of entertainment including crazy golf, croquet, head massages, water features, table football, and of course the luxury loos – which were actually very impressive (for a bog anyway).
So onto the event itself – with acts such as, Crystal Castles, Gilles Peterson, Hot Chip, Jaguar Skills, Magnetic Man, Shy FX, Sub Focus, The 2 Bears, and Getting Ghetto to JME (really James???) on the Friday line-up, there was pretty much an act to suit everyone’s taste.
With all these international acts on show, unanimously it was decided that Chris and Maggie (our senior management team) would ‘give it some’ in the VIP Hip Hop Karaoke tent – and this proved to be the festival highlight – Move over Jay-Z and Missy Elliot!!!
After a few more free drinks and a good feed on chorizo bangers, the day was in full flow.
Some of us watched the football, with thousands of huggable, beer-drenched strangers, and some of us made new festival friends whilst others were still flexing their vocal “talents” in the hip hop tent. As a matter of fact, one of us didn’t even leave the VIP arena once…AND only just remembered he’d been to Lovebox today.
So, come Monday morning there were no serious incidents to report. Ollie broke his umbrella 30 minutes into the festival; Mark took a slight detour home walking on the wrong side of a dual carriageway; and Harry bruised his leg (and his ego) after a little tumble. But apart from that everyone reported back for duty unharmed.
After a thoroughly enjoyable day out, I’ll leave you with a few of our highs and lows of the day. We thoroughly recommend Lovebox and look forward to hopefully attending next year.
Highs:
- Free beer (obviously); the hip-hop karaoke double-act; Luxury loos; Leanne crying on the Vortex ride; the Irish guys we met using a croquet mallet to beat us at crazy golf; Mathieu’s festival rants about large hot pants, the standard of free massages and believing that France lost 2-0 to Ukraine; and Liam turning into a gangster every time he put his sunglasses on.
Lows:
- Ollie’s broken umbrella; queuing times to get in; home time; the two girls who ruined hip-hop karaoke attempting So Solid’s 21 seconds; the rude boys fighting in one of the tents; Damien becoming a bit too amorous with a giant foam vegetable; and of course the day after.
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