Tight Crew’s New Year’s Eve Retro Bash

On New Year’s Eve, Tight Crew will be throwing a “Retro Rewind” Party, taking up three floors at the Hope Artiste Village. For those who like to rave all night and bask in the glow of the black light, their events are the local gold standard.

Providence punches above its weight when it comes to New Year’s Eve festivities, and Tight Crew’s Retro Rewind will be no exception. This is not watching your cousin DJ in your aunt’s basement; it’s a huge production, complete with immersive lights and video (check out the photos from their website if you need proof). There will be music featuring DJ Venom, Sneaker & The Dryer, Jimni Cricket and tons more. Judging by past events, there’s a slim to none chance that this thing won’t sell out, so get your tickets ASAP.

To find out more, I spoke to Tight Crew’s Shane Burke, who operates Supreme Sound & Lighting, responsible for the sound and lighting at the event.

Jake Bissaro: What are you most excited about?

Shane Burke: We’re pumped about the retro theme; we’re going to have vintage video games set up, and old-school bowling (from Breaktime Bowl and Bar) comes with the ticket price. We’ve also made a pretty epic lite bright board. And The Met is always great.

JB: It seems like there are a lot of moving parts; what does it take to put together?

SB: All our sets are custom built, so it’s a big job. The crew has around 30 active members, and we have even more than that who help out. If we’ve done the theme before, sometimes it’s just a matter of putting fresh paint on some of the props, but for this one, everything is from scratch.

JB: Does the retro theme mean people should dress for a particular period?

SB: The things we’ve set up reflect the vintage video game era of Pac Man and Space Invaders. But I think generally, “retro” means different things to different people, and we like to have people be creative with the theme. I expect we’re going to see things from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s.

JB: It’s pretty cool that you guys have been able to consistently sell out these huge spaces.

SB: Yeah, our last two events sold out a week in advance. We’ve been able to build an amazing community of supporters. On the other side of it, it’s unfortunate that some people who want to can’t come, but our fans have been able to set up ticket swaps online that have worked out well.

JB: After the NYE event, what’s next for Tight Crew?

SB: We generally take a winter break, and we’ll be back for our Toy Story event at Fete in April. We’ll also be getting ready for our annual beach party that takes place at the WindJammer in Westerly.

Tight Crew’s Retro Rewind happens on Dec 31 at The Met, 1005 Main St, Pawtucket from 6pm to 3am. The event is all ages, 21+ to drink. Get your tickets here.