One day, seven cities, over 100 bartenders – winner takes all
You might not guess it to look at us, but BarLifeUK has a musical past.
We’ve played the Marquee Club and the odd festival, and have seen terror in a bandmate’s eye as he steps on stage in front of a baying crowd of drunk hooligans.
We’ve felt creeping numbness in our fingers and know the fear of a sudden blank mind when stage fright robs you of the ability to do something you can normally do in your sleep – all in front of an audience.
Competing in Rematch Beeyatch is worse.
We’ve witnessed it on three continents, and have seen some big bold boys fall apart under the pressure. So whoever wins the latest iteration of the Rematch Car Crash will be the owner of some pretty big cojones (even if it is a girl), and a large pile of money.
For the uninitiated, Rematch is a Tiki speed comp. Initially beginning as a way of settling some trash-talking between Paul Mant and Tim Stones, it grew into what is now a world-wide competition.
There are no sponsors, just bartenders with £50 in their pocket. You pay your entry fee, receive the drink specs and smash them out on the night as quickly as you can. The winner takes the pot and probably the biggest rights to bragging in the industry. Until someone younger and fitter beats your time.
Rematch Beeyatch has been quite mercurial of late, with the odd heat popping up in Australia and in the US at Tales of the Cocktail.
However, they have got their shit well and truly together this year, and have organised a co-ordinated, international frenzy of heats, all taking place on May 14th. There are seven cities involved around the world, with the UK Rematch taking place at London’s Trailer Happiness.
Each heat winner will get their stake back, but the bartender with the fastest global time will win the pot. There are spaces for over 100 competitors, so the pot will be substantial.
It would be pretty tragic if the overall winner isn’t a UK bartender and Rematch goes the way of football, cricket and all the other sports we invented – dominated by foreigners.
So your country needs you.
To enter the UK Rematch Beeyatch, contact Max at Trailer Happiness, keep the 14th free and start practicing your four-bottle-pours.