Olivia Chow, popular Toronto city councillor was there. So was her husband, Jack Layton, federal leader of the NDP. Your auntie.com, decked out in the way only she can pull off, was there.

But where was the rabble?

After extensive promotion for last night’s rabble.ca benefit, we have to admit to being a little disappointed.

“Malheureusement, it was not the great turnout,” lamented auntie.

The night we’d anticipated for weeks has passed, scoring a small crowd at Fressen Restaurant in Toronto — among them, some personal friends and a couple of loyal babblers, Michelle and Andrea.

We raised a couple of hundred bucks, from cover and a raffle — not too bad, considering the turnout. Our supporters were very generous.

And what was lost in having a small crowd was made up for by the music. Jason Sanders, aka DJ General Eclectic, held his own last night. Heck, few can sit down to James Brown or funky Nina Simone! The jet-lagged auntie.com got up to bust a move and amused the onlookers.

Fewer people meant better chances of winning prizes fromPages bookstore, Toronto Women’s Bookstore, Soundscapes music shop and Good For Her women’s sex shop. An oil and watercolour canvas, donated by Amanda De Simone, was part of the grand prize that included gift certificates from Pages and Soundscapes and was won by one of the bartenders, Jenny.

Perhaps rabblers have to get up early. A lot of partiers left around 1 a.m., which is understandable for a Thursday.

But auntie had the last word: “The place looked great, the music was fab, the door prizes were awesome, the energy was good. All and all, it was a totally rabbly event.”