By Heather Rosen, Contributing Writer

Though it’s been over a month, we’re still thinking about Pew Pew’s preview party in Miami on February 5th. But Pew Pew isn’t just a party. According to co-founder Nate Long, it’s “a dreamland where the curious, the creative and the whimsical can experience the unexpected.” New York’s irreverent, experiential gaggle of creative shapeshifters is moving to Miami for the month of April and opened their doors in Design District last month to a sellout crowd of over 900 guests for a preview party meant to tease their upcoming April residency. 

Modeled loosely after artistic gatherings of the ‘60s like the Fluxus movement, Pew Pew began as a group of friends who felt disenfranchised by the New York club scene. Guests don’t just flock to Pew Pew events to enjoy live performance art in a nightlife setting; they show up to become a part of it, as it happens. The mind-expanding crew sees their events as a way to push the boundaries of what nightlife and performance art can look like, with connection and community at the forefront of their goals. Every happening that Pew Pew orchestrates contains varying levels of spectacle, social interaction, and participatory activity designed to evoke childlike wonder and make guests unlock their inner creative spirits.

Exploring the theme of surrealism, the preview party spared no attention to detail, with live theater elements involving immersive actors whose primary role was to “mildly harass and entertain” guests, giving them small keys which could be used to unlock a deeper experience in the party.  Around every corner, imaginative elements were thoughtfully placed for those curious enough to find them, each aimed to delight and incite play. For instance, at the center of the venue’s main indoor space, guests could tickle the ivories of a grand piano covered in sculptural greenery against the backdrop of a subtly animated moon; while others found themselves in a curious mirrored space where they could scrawl naughty thoughts in lipstick. Elsewhere, guests happened upon a series of chance encounters — in one space, guests were beckoned to gamble with Frickfrack Blackjack (where you can bet anything but money); in another, partygoers were invited to take a small podium and try their hand at live nude figure drawing. Their model? A woman wearing nothing but a dinosaur head and stilettos. The organizers even took a quixotic approach to the shallow, twenty-foot pool in the center of the venue’s outdoor courtyard, outfitting it with a small gondola that guests could briefly captain to get from one side to the other, while whole pineapples and a massive disco ball hung suspended from the branches of the sprawling tree above them. A machete-wielding ninja would later carve up the pineapples and serve fresh fruit to hungry patrons.

Throughout the evening, guests were treated to roving performances by a cast of characters so colorful, it would make even SNL’s Stefon swoon. This party had everything: silk aerialists, fire eaters, rollerskating painters, drag queens, burlesque dancers, neon artists, a kissing booth, and even a secret motel within the party (Pew Pew partnered with local experience + media production studio Supernatural Haus to host a “party within a party” that had its own special guests, including Amanda LePore). The night culminated with outstanding live DJ sets by Goldcap, La Payara, and Manumat.

If the soft launch was any indication of what’s to come, guests can look forward to a calendar of events that will “delight the senses and let your imagination run wild” all at the intersection of emerging music, multidisciplinary art, unique performances, wellness, and community.

Curiosity piqued? Good.  Pew Pew’s month-long residency in Miami begins this April. 
Don’t miss it. For event details & tickets, follow their instagram — @pewpewpresents