Music venue hydration stations

As I told many of you at Asia CanTech, past me clearly thought “what better way to recover from jet lag than to go and listen to some drum & bass music?” 

Last Saturday my husband and I headed to London’s Drumsheds, which is a venue I’ve not seen the likes of before. It’s a former Ikea warehouse and feels like a labyrinth, especially with its low lighting and haze created from all the smoke machines. You can roam all around the old car parks, stairways and various levels. It features three club rooms – X, Y and Z, an outdoor food and bar/hangout area, and a huge connecting room called The Stores with merchandise, photo booths and more bars.  

Throughout, not only was I impressed by the cleanliness, but also by the canned offerings. There was a Jubel truck outside – an excellently fruity canned beer, a White Claw hard seltzer bar and – for those who didn’t want to top up on tap water – Cano Water was available for more hydration, as the Drumshed official partner.

What was the best thing about all this? The staff didn’t automatically hand you a plastic cup in addition to your purchase, as some venues do. It was a breath of fresh air. Some venues use safety as a reason for doing this; they’ll pour the contents into a more open container to avoid people throwing the cans. I will say, despite stereotypes and how the music might sound to some, we D&B fans are probably the most chilled and friendly out of all the crowds I’ve seen, so there was no untoward behaviour where the throwing of cans was concerned!

There’s more often a sense of community and people looking out for one another at these type of events. My husband and I tend to bring small handheld electric fans to gigs now, and they always get passed round to nearby groups who need them when we’re not using them to cool down ourselves. Between that and the cans for hydration, we were well provided for at the weekend!

Alex Rivers (she/her), CanTech International editor
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