It was that time of the year again the 2010 edition of the Tech Data Customer Appreciation Party on Thursday July 8th. As usual the party was held in Toronto at The Guvernment Night Club and this year the surprise entertainment was Faber Drive. The theme for this years party was a British underground and many people had varying ideas of what that was :).
Attendance was down this year as our posey dropped from 10 or so people down to four but we made the best of it. The night started out with the four of us getting our theme items at the door, all of us all took hats that the English bobbys wear but they also had rose coloured glasses, union jack bandanas that were popular with the ladies and a few other little things.
When we first entered you could immediately see that the decorators once again did a great job as there was a double decker bus, phone booths throughout, an area which acted as a night club, another as a small cafe, and many other small areas that resembled little pubs.
The band usually doesn't start until 8:30 or 9:00 but as we explored the great theme areas we came upon another band warming the crowd up. The Caveners were playing and sounded great. The Caveners are a tribute band for The Beatles. They were very good so good that we stopped exploring and watched as they finished their set. At first I thought they might be lip syncing but it then became clear that they were just that good.
Everyone seemed to like the food being served. With a British theme they served for the most part four different types of sheppards pie and for dessert, custard with a small bit of berries in each dish.
8:30 rolled along and on came the mystery band Faber Drive. I have to admit before the show I caught a glimpse of their set list on the floor of the stage and googled them to find out who was playing. They sounded very good but you would have to sound good to make it in the music industry. It took about three or four songs before the crowd started to get into it. First the younger intoxicated ladies strated to dance and jump around then into the more mature ladies and older gentlemen I kicked in for the last song of the set.
As Faber Drive wrapped up their set the mass exodus from the concert stage to the roof top patio began. We were some of the first to hit the roof so we had our own section reserved. Of course, being the great guys we are, we shared it with various groups throughout the night. It was still a little humid out at 10:30 but I think over looking the water helped a little bit. The crowd dispersed a little earlier this year then in past years but in all it was still a great night out with some friends.