Tourists walking around King’s College must occasionally say things like ‘wow, imagine if there was ever a party here.’ The haughty, fantastical architecture of front court means that a Committee could make any number of blunders without ruining a King’s Affair. Fortunately, this wasn’t the case.

The celestial setting was embellished by the evening’s theme, ‘the Beast Within.’ As one made one’s way from an imaginatively lit front court to the spaces ‘within,’ in appropriately beastly attire, the walls became adorned with drawings and sculptures of carcasses. A darkly atmospheric undertone culminated in the proverbial belly of the beast, King’s bunker, which housed DJ sets throughout the night.

The bold and risky decision to book four headline acts was successful due to the quality of their respective sets. While I hadn’t heard of any of the artists at the beginning of the evening, it was refreshing to listen to a range of lesser-known but genuinely talented musicians, as opposed to the token one-hit-wonders so often booked for May Week gigs. An eclectic array of performers saw Afriquoi, who synchronise steel drums and occasional flashes of contemporary electronics, line up alongside Ghetts, a former member of grime collective NASTY Crew, and Midland, whose languid yet pulsating brand of DJing kept the dancefloor alive come the early hours.

Outside of the music venues, a ‘bouncy castle obstacle course’ (I’m unaware of the technical term) and dodgems added a touch of frivolity to the Affair, even though there is nothing so sobering as being rammed unexpectedly by a pair of cackling revelers dressed as ravens.

The only shortcoming of this event was a slight lack of booze which, combined with the malfunctioning of the male toilets halfway through the night, inhibited the erm… flow… of the evening.

However, circulatory problems aside, this was a glittering, absorbing, fast-paced evening which will linger in the imaginations of all who were present.