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FYI: Toronto Star Article
For those wondering about the reporters outside guv thurs morn, here is the article published in the Star
Their motto: dance till you drop
Some New Year's Eve revellers stay up all night
While others prefer sleep and go to bed early
NICOLE MACINTYRE
STAFF REPORTER
Emerging into the light with a red clown wig on his head and a royal cape draped across his back, Todd Walker ended his New Year's celebration yesterday at 8:30 a.m. His birthday celebration, however, continued in full swing.
"I'm going to stay up 40 hours on my birthday," said a jovial Walker outside the Guvernment nightclub where he'd just spent the last 10 hours dancing.
Forty years ago yesterday, Walker was Hamilton's second New Year's baby, born at 3:30 a.m. To celebrate the occasion, Walker tries to stay up as many hours as his age. Last year he made it 39 hours and this year he was determined to hit 40.
"It's a great way to ring in the new year."
After closing down the dance club along with a couple hundred other revellers, Walker was heading home with friends. "Then the party begins," he said, adding he'd yet to feel tired. He knew, however, that the wall would come.
Jimmy Reedyk, 29, a friend of Walker's who came from Kingston for the all-night party on Queens Quay, was doubtful he'd be able to cheer the birthday boy on till the end.
"I'm going to have a nap," he said, a tad embarrassed to admit he wasn't up for the challenge. "I've got to work Tuesday."
But despite acknowledging an energy crash was imminent, Reedyk was still bubbling with energy as he talked, albeit with a quietly disappearing voice, about the night past.
"I was hooting and hollering," he said, proudly showing off his multicoloured pants that light up along with his massive gold belt. "It's a passion. I love to dance."
Most of the people left inside the club, which closed at 9 a.m., weren't out to booze up but just love the energy and excitement of dancing till dawn, Reedyk said.
The "lightweight" partiers leave after last call between 3 and 4 a.m., said Zsolt Schuller, who still looked polished in dress clothes and shades despite arriving at 10 p.m. the night before. Those who are really there for the music and company stay till the end.
"It's basically the crowd that makes the event," he said.
When the last stragglers had left the club to be carried away by one of the dozens of cabs lining the street, security staff Adrian Marshell surveyed the parking lot littered with uneaten hot dogs, tossed water bottles and a couple of vomit stains.
The crowd, estimated at 5,000 — including those in the many bars in the complex — was well behaved, he said, adding they normally are.
Most nights the club closes a few hours earlier, but Marshell said he's gotten familiar with seeing the shock on partiers' faces when they walk into the light. "They're amazed that the sun is out."
It's not just youngsters dancing the night away either, he adds, describing the doctors, dentists, government workers of all ages that he's met over the past few years.
"This is their escape."
A short drive away, hundreds of people were refusing to give up their escape or New Year's celebration.
A line of about 30 people was steadily growing outside The Comfort Zone, which opened in the middle of the night and allowed revellers to keep dancing throughout the day.
"When you walk in here it doesn't matter what time of day it is, there's a party in here," said Tara, 30, who had been at a dinner party New Year's night and arrived at the after-hours bar at the corner of College St. and Spadina Ave. around 3:30 a.m.
Surrounded by men who had stripped down to their jeans and women wearing only bras because of the heat in the crowded basement club, Tara admitted the atmosphere was a little bit nuts.
But she said it's a great way to get away from what's happening outside — holiday or not.
"It could be 2 p.m. and sunny outside, but it's midnight in here. It's always midnight."
As long as the music is still pounding and the bodies still moving, there's no reason New Year's should end, said Mark Carre, a 21-year-old student who had spent the night drinking before coming to The Comfort Zone.
"I don't see why it should stop."
Jennifer Hill and Peter Knox may beg to differ.
They too partied it up to celebrate the arrival of 2004, but at 10 a.m. while the die-hards were still at it, they were enjoying breakfast — after a solid night's sleep.
"I've seen enough sunrises," said Hill after polishing off some eggs benedict at the Tulip on Queen St. E.
At 21, she said, her body just couldn't handle all-night parties any more.
They used to go till dawn but prefer a more "mellow" celebration now, said Knox. While going to bed at 2 a.m. isn't anything to brag about, it is easier to live with, he added.
"It doesn't ruin the rest of your week, that's for sure."
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1072998608456&call_pageid=968350130169&col=969483202845
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yelling at lights?
