Another feature of Macworld that is often left off the radar in show reports are the evening events. Each night there are a variety of private cocktail parties, user gatherings, and usually one large party. Tuesday night used to belong to Apple’s Developer party which was a massive event featuring mind numbing talent over the years. I’ve seen the Wildflowers, James Brown, Herbie Hancock, Smashmouth, and numerous other bands over the years.

A few years ago Apple abandoned this party and in its place now is a Macworld sponsored event. Initially, I was appalled that tickets to the event are $40, as compared to Boston’s party which was only $20.00. I didn’t understand why the party was so expensive, until I arrived to find the band Cheap Trick rocking the house. Each ticket came with two free drinks, and needless to say a very attentive audience danced, rocked, and swayed to the 80s sounds. The event was a great success and capped off with a raffle of products, mostly in the iPod arena.

The big event Wed. night was Mac Observer’s Cirque du Mac party. The All Star Macintosh Band rocked the packed house. I must say that the band was infinitely better than in previous years. The crowd was a great mix of speakers, attendees, and vendors. The sounds covered decades of music and everyone had a great time. The 6th Annual MWSF FCPUG SuperMeet was held at the same time, and judging by the number of people who were supposed to attend both events, but never made it to Cirqe, I’m guessing the Final Cut meeting was also a great success. Once I crawl over to the show floor today, I’ll make sure to ask a few folks how it went.