I think the Millennium thing killed it for me and lots of people my age – it was the most over blown, over hyped, profiteered bag of bollocks I’ve ever suffered – on one hand it was a ‘big one’, there was a great sense of optimism at that time, we’d been through a nasty recession – harder than this recent one, but much shorter of course. Living in Wales and Cardiff especially it was a positive time – the dirty derelict docks had been pulled down, the bay was thriving, we’d just hosted the Rugby World Cup on the other hand there was actually a real thought in the back of our minds that Y2K would happen and somehow we’d all die of it – we were all going to party like it was our last day on earth.
In the end, it was the same as every other NYE, it was cold, wet, people drank too much, punched and kicked each other, threw up and generally acted the arse – it was £50 to get a ticket to a club, £50 for a taxi home and double for drinks etc – forget hotels or restaurants!
It was shit, the anti-climax of the anti-climax that was NYE.
The year after I was in Sydney, which was a great night out, big party on a roof garden, just after the Olympics. The biggest differences is the weather, middle of summer, warm evenings with cool breezes infinitely better than shivering in the drizzle at home.