Meh. Could have been better.
by Lydia on 11/2/21Talking Stick Resort - ScottsdaleD.J. Matoma didn't come on until midnight, so for some of us Gen Xers, that is a little late, and given I had planned to leave the party at the witching hour, I did not hear much of his stuff. D.J. Gattuso whom I heard most of the night played fairly repetitive and boring remixes and didn't do a great job of engaging the crowd. It wasn't want for trying, however no amount physical gesturing and occasionally slicking back of the hair can make up for lackluster dee-jaying. As soon as a recognizable song came on, he stopped it and introduced the same mind-numbing, thumping beat heard in the previous song, and the song previous to that. I actually think the opening D.J. (not sure who he was) was better than Gattuso. Kudos to that guy. The other thing I wasn't too impressed by was the decor/ambience. It didn't look very festive in that ginormous ballroom that was filled mainly with platforms, stereo speakers and equipment. The elevated VIP section looked like a corral. I'm glad I didn't pay the extra $40. Many of those folks ended up "jumping the fence" and joining the rest of us GA peeps. The acrobats on the rings were cool, but they felt like an afterthought. I'm probably being way too critical, but that's just how I saw it. The place was not packed when I left around 12:15. Maybe that was a good thing given the current environment. My friends and I had fun despite everything I just shared in this review, so the event gets 3 stars.