JEDDAH ? It was supposed to be the best bash inside the Funky House, but it quickly became a bust when plainclothes policemen arrested the organizers and killed the alleged gender-mixed and alcohol-infused party in Ubhor over the weekend. The party advertised on the social networking website Facebook.com was supposed to be the eighth one this year organized in Jeddah by three expatriates, and open only for a few select people by networking. People holding their tickets to one of Jeddah?s most exciting illegal events cruised the area carefully, watching the arrest of 30-40 party poopers at the Funky House, according to a source. A big audience of no less than 600 men and women was expected to show up for the party as they did for the last one which went just ?fine? for the organizers. ?I knew it. The public blitz of the party was going to rock it in its heels,? said a young man as he was rolling down his car window to make sure the party was over. Two Pakistani DJ?s of the Funky House DJ Ozzy and DJ Julio, who were also the organizers of the party, were supposed to rock the Tekno vs. Electro party from a relatively high platform in the open facing a dance floor. ?We were busted and arrested. They took our ID cards and they are transporting us to the police station, looks like we are on Palestine Street,? Julio said in a phone call to the Saudi Gazette after his arrest. All his assurances of security to ticket buyers offered no respite. The Saudi Gazette came to know about the party through routine check of Facebook.com. It was a heads-up one, even maybe for the cops. This reporter was assigned to buy a ticket to investigate this underground party business in Jeddah. One phone call to the number published in the ad put the reporter with the organizers who agreed to be interviewed two days before the doomed party. Julio, the main organizer, showed up with a girl to meet the reporter at the family section of a famous coffee shop on Tahlia Street. Julio, or ?The Music Guy? as he liked to be called, introduced the girl as his girlfriend and the saleswoman; an introduction that she apparently freaked about. She was later identified as DJ Ozzy?s sister. As the reporter was talking with the couple about their underground business, two girls who clearly appeared underage showed up to buy their tickets. It seemed to have all the makings of an underage drinking party in a country that prohibits all forms of drinking. As the word went public on Facebook.com, locals on the website hailed the party. Singles were not allowed, but the Gazette reporter was given an exception to look around and report the story had the party not been busted. Julio said he organized similar parties in Riyadh before moving to London and coming back to Jeddah. The Saudi law has strict rules on alcohol and gender-mixed music parties, but Julio sounded confident about the security of their business. When the question of safety and confidentiality was raised as they were advertising their business publicly and selling the tickets at public places without even checking the identity of buyers, Julio said ?your English accent says it all, man.? ?Fortunately we have had no problems with the authorities. We?ve stayed away from the riffraff,? he said. But does anyone with native-like English qualify to be a ticket buyer? The two said that their business targets people who have been outside the traditional and conservative Saudi environment. There are a lot of them in Jeddah, and they have to be entertained, they said. The lucrative underground business appeared to be well put together. A glance at the SR100 ticket gives a feeling of a ticket sold at the door of a Vegas nightclub had it been printed on glossy paper with flashy colors. The locations of the parties were carefully selected to be manageably turned into a club. ?We have certain places that we rent in order to throw a party; sometimes the owners would raise the rent without prior notice. But it is OK,? Julio said. For DJ?s, a party wouldn?t rock through the night without women and booze, prompting the group to post alleged photos of alcohol being served and women and men mixing in a tingling atmosphere in their parties in Jeddah on Facebook.com. ?See, we are musicians. If you take our dope, booze, and girls, we are left with no inspiration,? he said when asked about the illegality of his business in the Kingdom. ?But even if they block Facebook.com, we no longer care,? said Julio. ?We already have the contact numbers and emails of all our clients, and we can contact them if we arrange any party.? On their page on Facebook.com, the party was announced to take place on Thursday. But that was a hoax. ?The announced date on Facebook.com is never correct,? Julio confirmed. ?Ticket buyers are informed of the correct time and location of the party just a few hours before the party actually starts as a precaution measure,? he said. With that bust, a page of illegal entertainment activity has been closed in Jeddah. But yet there might be other party poopers still networking to start a new page over. There seems to be no end in sight. __
