An animated Shrek – who has been given a toned green ogre body and wears a speedo – is shown on a large screen above the stage of the Shrek Rave in the Amsterdam nightclub Panama. The big monster spreads his arms and looks down at the club full of costumed young adults moving in ecstasy under the light he emits to the Top 40 hit Sorry by Joel Corry. The excitement swells when the lyrics “I didn’t know how much I really miss you” are heard.
On Saturday, enthusiasts danced at the sold-out party inspired by the cartoon Shrek (2001) from DreamWorks in the characters’ costumes. The 22-year-old film has been very popular among young people for years thanks to the many memes (internet jokes) circulating about it online. The party was repeated on Sunday in an edition that was also sold out.
In private WhatsApp groups and popular meme pages, young people share jokes about the green ogre (an ugly, human-like monster) whom they see as an antihero, a kind of internet version of Shrek that has become separate from the monster from the DreamWorks films. Online videos, pictures, stickers and gifs often portray him as a sexy god of internet-using millennials and Gen Z. And last weekend’s party was exactly like the Shrek from those memes: wrong, weird and inspiring.
A man clumsily in a half-deflated inflatable dragon suit slides across the dance floor past another dragon dressed in a red leather S&M outfit. Every hour, the MC (master of ceremonies) welcomes the big stars of the evening to the stage: professional performers dressed as the characters Shrek, Fiona and Donkey. They sing the film soundtrack, choose a best-dressed partygoer and have a competition to see who can bite the most out of an onion; a reference to a scene from the film in which Shrek tells Donkey that ogres are like onions, because they are both said to have multiple layers. Every gesture that the man in the suit of the big, ugly Shrek makes provokes euphoric cheers from the ravers.
A number of Fiona’s are smoking in front of the club. Beth Dodds (28), a partygoer from Utrecht who is dressed as Shrek’s lover, does not have to think long about an answer to the question of what Shrek means to her: “Shrek is love, Shrek is life.” That is not a reference to the original films, but to the title of a popular meme that young people collectively experience as horrible; an internet video from 2013 by an anonymous internet user, in which an animated nine-year-old boy has erotic fantasies about his idol Shrek, whom he finds sexy. “I’ve always liked Shrek, but I’m especially a fan of the memes,” Dodds admits. Throughout the evening, the words ‘Shrek is love, Shrek is life’ are repeated on the large screen, just like a sensual reinterpretation of Shrek.
Joke
The party is organized by British event organization Like It Love It Events, which organizes themed parties throughout the United Kingdom. They did not expect that the Shrek Rave would be a success, says Peter Preston, the promoter present from the organization. “It started as kind of a joke. I’m not going to lie, this was a weird idea that we tried out by making a tour poster and distributing it,” he says. When it became a success within the UK, they announced a European tour in Budapest, Barcelona and Stockholm, among others. The first Amsterdam rave took place last May and was completely sold out. Other organizations host Shrek raves in North America and Australia.
Also read: How Shrek became a sexy meme god
Nostalgia is the driving factor behind the popularity of the Shrek Rave, according to Preston: “The Shrek movie has a great soundtrack with popular songs that people know from their childhood.” The DJ plays the songs as All Star by Smash Mouth, while the young audience sings along at the top of their lungs. But the party is strictly for 18+ and that is noticeable: the Fiona on stage dances to the youth sentiment of Bad Reputation by Joan Jett and raises her skirt and shakes her buttocks to the lyrics “I don’t give a damn about my bad reputation”. The many men dressed as the big bad wolf from the film, in short old-fashioned nightgowns, imitate her.
ABBA
Fiona (played by 24-year-old singer and dancer Abby Furness from Brighton) says she was asked for the role by a casting agency when she performed at an ABBA brunch. James Humphreys, 33, who plays Shrek, says he is actually an opera singer and regularly performs in London. Donkey, played by Marcus Ayton (34), treats the audience to a pure and strong song Livin’ La Vida Loca by Ricky Martin. He is a musical performer and has previously played Donkey in Shrek The Musical in London.
Ayton: “It’s a nostalgic show to perform and it turns out to be a very good idea to say: let’s rave and drink to it.”
Furness: “Some people prefer not to go out among the standard clubbers. This party helps people come out of their shells because most of them are there because they like Shrek. This gives them the confidence to be themselves and have fun with their friends.”
The result is a pleasant party evening full of references to the online fan culture that grew up around the cartoon they loved as a child.