Celebrities at Skateville?!?
Many of you heard the recent news reports about our celebrity visitors, Kacey Musgraves and Katy Perry, in August and have been curious about it, so we thought we would provide a few details for those who are interested.
Apparently Kacey had done some research online about where she might be able to have her 26th birthday party while she was in town as an opening act for Katy Perry. (There are A LOT of skating rinks in Texas, where she is from, so maybe she skated as a “kid”….) She liked what she saw about Skateville, and her reps contacted us in July about the possibility of hosting the event. We set up the details with them in the same way we would for any private party. We were told Katy had been invited, but that’s all we knew at that point. (Much closer to the event we were told she had accepted the invitation, but, to be honest, we thought so many things could come up that we thought it might be a 50-50 chance she would actually show.)
The day of the event, two of Kacey’s associates who had set up the party details and were coordinating the event came to Skateville and purchased a pair of rollerskates, pink laces, and a pink skate case for Kacey’s birthday present. (Kacey later posted a couple of pictures showing what she called her “new bubblegum birthday skates”.) Shortly before the event was to start, they hit up the dollar store and returned to put out a few plastic tablecloths and birthday decorations. They also brought in assorted glowsticks and party headbands and hats for the guests to get in the spirit. In the meantime, a couple of Katy’s security people showed up to check out the area, where all the entrances to the building were, etc. It was interesting talking with them.
Kacey and some of her friends/family/band/tour dancers arrived very soon after the scheduled start time, coming in their tour buses and an SUV with a driver. Kacey looked very pretty in a pink sequined top, with her hair down and crystals on her face. More guests arrived shortly, making about 50 people overall. They ate regular Skateville pizza, nachos, and drinks. Some of them were good skaters, and some of them just made a brave attempt, just how it is with most groups that come. It was a warm evening, so one of the dancers bought a Skateville T-shirt and used a scissor to make the arms and bottom into fringe so she could take her sweater off and wear that instead. It looked really cute on her!
About 45 minutes to an hour after the party started, Katy arrived. She was wearing a rainbow iridescent halter top, a gray skirt, and had her hair pulled back into pigtails wrapped into little buns or knots. But what we really loved was her shoes! She had white platform tennis shoes with green LED lights running around the base of them…so fun! Flo (one of our managers) added the light-up glasses to her outfit, and she wore them most of the night. Just like the rest of the group that had arrived earlier, she was very nice and gracious. When one of us approached her, she would stick out her hand to shake ours and say, “Hi, I’m Katy.”
Kacey and friends were dancing, skating, talking, eating, and taking pictures “just like regular people” having a birthday party at Skateville! Four round layer cakes were brought in, each a different flavor, and at one point Kacey blew out the candles and cake was served. We even played the traditional Skateville birthday song in the background.
Katy took a liking to the inflatable green alien at the Stuff Shop, so we gave her one of her very own, and she carried him around part of the night. She even shot and posted a cute video with him on her Instagram account, which we have also shared on our Facebook page. She also spent a good amount of time looking carefully at all the sticker and tattoo machines and purchasing a whole stack of stickers and temporary tattoos. She even took a ride in the kiddie car in the lobby. Kacey and Katy both often had their phones out for taking selfies and videos.
A good time was being had by all, so they asked if they could stay an extra hour beyond the time they originally set up, and we were happy to accommodate them. Toward the end of their stay, one of Kacey’s associates asked us if we would like to go see the show the next night. We were thrilled and grateful! Eleven of us went to the Target Center the next night and saw opening act Ferras, opening act Kacey Musgraves, and headliner Katy Perry.
During the show, Kacey mentioned how she had spent her birthday the night before at the skating rink in Burnsville and how much fun it had been, and that even though she had her knee pads on, she didn’t fall once! Katy talked even a bit more about it, mentioning the name Skateville and how it was one of the best mom-and-pop rinks in the country, very nostalgic (“which is a good thing”, she said), with super nice people. She told everyone she got a bunch of stickers and tattoos. We couldn’t have asked for a better shout-out!
To be honest, although we of course play Katy Perry’s music here regularly, many of us were not too familiar with Kacey Musgraves, as she is newer to the scene and more in the country genre. We became familiar prior to her arrival, however, and we very much enjoyed her set at the concert. Her nice personality and her good music have earned her some new fans! And Katy could not have been any sweeter as we tried NOT to fawn over her. They both allowed us to take a group shot with them before they left. We honestly thought we would need a photo as proof they were here, not realizing it would be plastered across the news the next day! Not being celebrities in the social media world, we had no idea how much attention one tweet or Instagram shot could generate.
So it was a great experience. We do regret we couldn’t have all our staff here to participate, but that would not have been the authentic “normal” experience that we think they were looking for and that they got. Truly, what they did was the same type of party anyone can have when they reserve the rink. We did not charge them extra or do anything out of the ordinary, nor did they do –or ask to do—anything that anybody would not be able to. We want EVERYONE who has a party or event here to have a good time, famous or not. Whether that happens or not often depends on the attitude people come in with, but these people came to have a good time and they did….and this little mom-and-pop shop is very glad about that.