If there was a mascot for Blarney Blowout, it’d be a green can of beer wearing a baseball cap. They’d call him Blarney, of course, and his nemesis would be Blowout because blowing out the contents of your stomach seems to be a big part of the day for a lot of people. A common theme on social media apps the following day: “Blarney wrecked my toilet.”
Students were not shy about posting the corresponding photos.
To avoid the alcohol induced blowout, revelers had some simple advice. Get a base down before you go out; eat before you drink — and a little nosh while imbibing will help, too.
Sounds simple enough, but every party animal has his or her own of way of holding down liquor in the face of a bacchanal.
Eating a bagel in the Berkshire dining commons at around 10 a.m., Gabby Head, 19, says when getting your belly ready for Blarney, carbs are the way to go.
“Whatever sits in your stomach the longest,” Head says.
On assignment at Blarney Blowout, the unsanctioned pre-St. Pat’s party bash that takes over downtown Amherst the weekend before spring break, it’s clear everyone treaded more carefully this time. This year’s event was far milder than the beer and pepper spray-soaked mayhem of 2014, in which dozens were arrested and police donned riot gear to disperse crowds.
This year the party starts around 9 a.m., when crowds of green-clad students begin pouring out of the Southwest area of campus and onto buses — and the police are ready. The busloads of students and roving green gangs begin arriving in North Amherst only to get turned away by officers — the town is full of police reinforcements from around the Valley.
“The day started off so well,” says Joey Sestito, 19. “We made pancakes at 6 a.m.,” he says, adding that today’s Blarney Blowout is a total “bust.”
With officers keeping the drunken horde on the move, revelers gather at the Mullins Center, where UMass is throwing a free concert — Kesha, Juicy J, and Ludacris.
Here’s where the seasoned partiers stand out from the freshmen. The freshmen are drunk and hungry. The old hands are pulling snacks from their pockets and relaxing in line before the concert.
“I’m kind of hungry — I want Baby Berk but it’s closed,” says a girl named Jessica, who says she cannot give her last name. “I had yogurt and granola for breakfast. Oh, and half a waffle.”
“All I’ve eaten today is eggs,” says Jake Swerdel. “Oh, and some munchkins.” His friend, Nick Howell says the key to today’s nutrition was their 3 a.m. turkey burger feast. They broke out the grill a little early, craving a late-night homemade burger. As for the turkey: “only the most nutritious,” Swerdel says, laughing.
Brett Aponas, 20, eats a Belvita granola bar while waiting in line for the show, saying he’s had it in his pocket all morning. He poses for a photo first and asks questions later. “Am I going to get in trouble for this? Where is this going?”
Ian Fox, 22, pulls out a peanut butter sandwich and an apple from his pockets and munches intently. Friend Dana Brown, 21, says they ate 5 a.m. pretzels and hummus. “That was clutch,” Brown says.
Paul O’Connor, 20, wears a kilt and greets passersby warmly as he waits. He says he ate a “very plain bagel” for breakfast and he’s thankful he ate something.
“I feel like most people don’t eat, which is why they get so drunk,” says O’Connor.
He may be on to something. Having food in your stomach before drinking slows the rate at which the body can process alcohol.
The McDonald Center for Student Well-Being at the University of Notre Dame has this advice: “Always eat before drinking, especially foods high in protein. Having food in your stomach will help slow down the processing of alcohol. A person who has not eaten will hit a peak blood alcohol content typically between half hour to two hours of drinking.” Whereas a person who has eaten will reach their peak “between one and six hours.”
As I head away from the line, a red-faced student runs up to me and asks if I have any tickets for the show. I tell him I don’t. Upset, he holds his face in his hands, saying he lost his two tickets and they’re not giving away any more.
He’s crying now, so I decide not to bother him. But I bet he didn’t eat anything today.•
Contact Amanda Drane at adrane@valleyadvocate.com and follow her @AmandaDrane.
