Pop
Fridays @ The Golden Sheaf, Double Bay, Sydney: 16th July 2010
by James on Jul.16, 2010, under Pop, The Golden Sheaf Hotel
Just finished a dinner at Double Bay, and Marty and I walk by The Golden Sheaf. So many times I have heard friends rave about this place, so lets check it out – here we go!
Fridays @ The Golden Sheaf Hotel
Assessment Time:11:00PM – 1:00AM
Opening Hours: 10:00AM – 2:00AM (Friday and Saturday)
Lockout: None
Website: http://www.goldensheaf.com.au
Address: 429 New South Head Road, Double Bay, Sydney.
Dress Code / Door Policy:
Entry Fee / Cover Charge: Free Entry all night
Guestlist: None
Occurence: It’s open every night. Tonights live band act is assumed to be at least every Friday. There is a DJ also on Saturday nights.
Inside: The Golden Sheaf runs over 2 levels. Enter via the bottom level into a hallway. Standard Pub to hold 50 or so people and TAB on the left and pokies room on the right. Walk through the hallway to enter the rear entertainment quarter. It’s a big beer garden and obviously recently renovated. Patio heaters, tables and chairs are everywhere. Floor space of the back end takes up about two thirds of the whole place. On the right rear end corner is the main bar, kitchen and dancefloor to hold about 80 or so people. There is a elevated podium with enough room for a 4 piece band to play. Stairs on the right and walk up to a recently renovated lounge area of about 3 main rooms and another bar, with balcony to look over the beer garden. Walls are decorated with flowery / artsy patterns. You can smell the freshness up here. However in essence the actual dancefloor itself is pretty small in size.
Cloak Room: No cloak room facilities. People who were dancing, simnply dumped their stuff in a big communal pile of jackets and bags at the front of the stage.
Bar: I didn’t buy any drinks tonight. The depth of the line was about 1.5 people deep, so you do have to wait a few minutes.
DJs / Acts: A cover band was playing until midnight – with the lead singer mentioning the crowd to look out for them on the X-Factor next month in August. Well, they hd to be at least decent. After midnight, an assumed resident DJ took over.
Music: (upto midnight) The cover band played a wide genre of songs including rnb, commerical house, classic love songs from the past decades, and pop. There was no mixing here, just songs played from beginning to end in a set. (After midnight) The DJ played a mix of RnB, Commercial House, and Top 40. Yes there was some mixing done up here. The choice of music didn’t really blow me away, and some songs left me standing there wondering why they were chosen. It was a very safe selection, and not really meant to replicate a pumping club atmosphere I suppose. It was however, good enough to get people dancing.
Crowd: One would assume mostly locals, and that’s true. There are also a small component of backpackers here
Entertainment: Tonight it was just the live band and DJ. There are two TVs on the edge of the dancefloor, playing Stephen Chow’s “Kung Fu Hustle” on loop. I have no idea why they have chosen this movie, but its pretty funny.
Atmosphere: On the dancefloor it felt pretty vibrant before midnight while the band was playing. When the DJ decided to rock up, it got a little more dancey, but it wasn’t loud thumping, but loud enough to keep the energy up. Wasn’t packed or dead – it seemed right.
Related:
Funky (Buddha) @ Sanctuary Hotel: 19th June 2010
by James on Jun.19, 2010, under Hip Hop, Pop, RnB, Sanctuary Hotel
Me with one of the fans in the attempt to keep the temperature cool
It’s my birthday weekend, but I really didn’t plan anything for Saturday. A friend has invited me to Sanctuary Hotel – The last time I walked in, the air con wasn’t working correctly for large crowds and it became stuffy and overheated. Since then I have been assured things were ‘fixed’. So let’s check it out – here we go!
Funky (Buddha) @ Sanctuary Hotel
Assessment Time: 12:15AM to 02:45AM
Opening Hours: 10:30 – Unknown
Lockout: None
Website: http://www.funkybuddha.com.au, http://www.phatentertainment.com.au
Address: 545 Kent St - Corner of Liverpool and Kent St, Sydney. Behind 3 wise monkeys.
Dress Code / Door Policy: Casual ok. Hats allowed.
Entry Fee / Cover Charge: $25 standard. $20 on guestlist before midnight.
Guestlist: info@phatentertainment.com.au
Occurence: Every Saturday Night.
Inside: The entrance is not at the normal Sanctuary Hotel entrance. It is via the TAB area further along on Kent St. The room upon entry is where people can have a chat and chill out without actually going outside. Walk in further to the main area, and the large carpeted room has been converted to a dancefloor. DJ on the wall, and a 3 tier podium smack in the middle, dividing the room into two halves. Bar along the far back wall.
Cloak Room: Cloak room is located upon entry. Not utilized tonight but I would imagine it to be the same rip off pricing as of previous nights at the previous Verandah Bar venue.
Bar: Did not utilize tonight, but the wait was a bit longer than usual. Line was 2 or 3 deep. Bar closed altogether at 2:30AM, in a safe assumption that too many fights spoil the bar.
Music: RnB, Pop and some House mashup
Crowd: Mostly Asian. Mostly teenagers or early 20′s. You can tell via the baby faces and hair styles. I fit right in.
Entertainment: Podium dancers throughout the night. It’s good enough.
Atmosphere: It’s setup to encourage lots of dancing, which is good. The humidity of the last time I was here is gone – Fans are installed and air con is setup just right for a danceable experience. People are not as friendly but what else do you expect from 18 year olds. Carpeted area gives the place a more friendly vibe as well as the second room to allow people a breather is also good. It’s also pretty busy on the dancefloor itself, enough to have your own dance, but not sardine packed.
Podium dancer - Funky @ Sanctuary Hotel
Fights: I saw two fights break out tonight. One you may see typically at a club, but two in one night is bad. Ha. Teenage angst and alcohol.
Videos:
Walkthrough of the dancefloor area. 
360 View
Related:
Saturdays @ Ivory Bar, Wollongong NSW: 17th April 2010
by James on Apr.17, 2010, under House, Ivory Bar, Pop
Crowd at The Ivory, Wollongong NSW
Four of us are here to check out the Wollongong nightlife for one night – We just left The Harp Hotel, and we are off to the next club down the street – it’s Ivory Bar, so here we go!
Saturdays @ Ivory Bar
Assessment Time: 11:30PM – 12:30AM
Opening Hours: 8:00PM – 3:00AM
Lockout: None
Website: No website could be found.
Address: 77 Crown Street, Wollongong NSW
Dress Code / Door Policy: Probably safe to dress smart casual here. Most people were dressed smart, though casual was allowed you would be probably looked down upon. No hats allowed. No photography allowed.
Entry Fee / Cover Charge: $10 flat charge all night
Guestlist: None
Inside: Imagine The Establishment in Sydney, but without the back room, and half the size of the main room / bar area. This is exactly what you get at the Ivory – You walk into a lengthy room with one bar to the left adoring the wall. There is a section behind this wall for smokers. DJ booth (I cant even remember if there was a DJ booth) should be at the front. There is a big LCD screen displaying random messages set by the people here partying tonight. Lounges near the entrance and to the right hand side. Main dancing area is at the back.
Cloak Room: None
Bar: I did not drink here tonight. The bar specializes in cocktails, so you can imagine the prices at this bar to be of the upper end range.
Music: House / Funky House
Crowd: Older crowd, but dressed up nicely, so as to keep up with appearances. Mostly late 20s, 30s, and some 40s and 50s were spotted here. A lot of good lookers. Entirely Caucasian.
Entertainment: No extra things to keep the vibe going. It held up on its own for a bar.
Atmosphere: Music is loud, the venue seems new and the vibe amongst the dancing patrons is pretty good. People are dancing and drinking away. In terms of dance space, it is a little cramped, but not sardine packed. It’s enough to survive an hour here, but I would not imagine an entire night here.
Video: Walkthrough Video
Related:
Fridays @ Sin City Nightclub Gold Coast: 2nd April 2010
by James on Apr.02, 2010, under House, Pop, RnB, Sin City Nightclub
Sin City Nightclub Gold Coast
It was panic after booking the plane tickets – Clubs in Sydney were closed on Good Friday. But what relief to find out the clubs in Surfers Paradise all opened after midnight – score! So off we went to Sin City nightclub – here we go!
Easter Good Friday @ Sin City Nightclub
Assessment Time: 12:30-3:00am
Opening Hours: 12:00am-5:00am (Special opening times due to Good Friday)
Lockout: 3:00am
Website: http://www.sincitynightclub.com.au
Address: 22 Orchid Ave, Surfers Paradise Gold Coast, Queensland Australia
Dress Code / Door Policy: Casual ok.
Entry Fee / Cover Charge: $15 standard. $10 or possibly cheaper on guestlsit
Guestlist: See website. They have events everyday to which you can submit guestlists to.
Inside: Walk in with a bar on the left with podiums for girls and tables. On the right is the main dancefloor and DJ area. Dancefloor holds about 100-150 people. Elevated platforms around the columns. Balcony like area, and second bar as well on the far end. VIP lounges in the back corner. Everything is carpeted except for the dancefloor.
Cloak Room: None offered.
Bar: 12 Tequila sunrises and 12 Chatreuse shots for a total of $243
Music: A mix of modern rnb and commercial house. There is also some top 40 music.
Crowd: Being surfers paradise, mostly backpackers or people holidaying this weekend up in the Gold Coast. Most are of caucasian background.
Entertainment: All the waitresses are dressed in corsets and really short skirts / lingerie. Enough said. There are also permanent podiums for dancing on.
Atmosphere: Considering it was Good Friday, did not expect a big turnout, but since it *was* Surfers Paradise – there were a billion backpackers looking for a place to party!
Video: 360 of Sin City
Related:
Fridays @ Star Bar: 19th March 2010
by James on Mar.19, 2010, under Pop, Star Bar
Star Bar 19th March 2010
Friends of Marty have forced me to go to Star Bar, after leaving the dismal Shark Hotel. I have only 3 passes this year to visit Star Bar as part of my new years resolution, and after tonight, I will only have one left. So Marty and I go in for a dance.. here we go!
Related:
Puls8 (Pulsate) @ Shark Hotel: Weekend 19th and 20th March 2010
by James on Mar.19, 2010, under House, Pop, RnB, Shark Hotel
So after the renovations at Shark Hotel about a year ago, they have finally formally introduced a clubbing night again for Friday and Saturdays. Marty has invited me to check it out both nights – so here we go!
Puls8 @ Shark Hotel Sydney
Assessment Time: 11pm – 1am (Friday), 11pm-3am (Saturday)
Opening Hours: Early in the day. Music starts up 10:30 for a 3am close.
Website: http://www.sharkhotel.com.au
Address: 127 Liverpool St, sydney
Dress Code / Door Policy: Casual was ok in here.
Entry Fee / Cover Charge: Free entry all night.
Guestlist: None, due to free entry.
Inside: Shark Hotel is quite a big place, but most of the area is carpeted – Half of it for stools and lounges, the other half for pool tables. The dancefloor sits in between both of these areas. It’s an elevated floor about 50cm off the floor. The DJ is also elevated along with the floor. There is also a small ‘buffer’ dancefloor zone of 2 metres on one side of the dancefloor closer to the ba
Cloak Room: None
Bar: One bar to service everyone. 2 Sminoff Black Ice’s for $18.50. $3 drinks before midnight. This place has probably the cheapest drinks anywhere.
DJs: Unknown
Music: RnB, House, Top 40
Crowd: Most are asians, but there are also indians, euros and some aussie locals.
Entertainment: Photographer
Atmosphere: Friday – Dead, it peaked with about 10 people on the dance podiumm, but died after that.
Saturday – The dancefloor was busy the whole time we were there. The surrounding areas of stools and lounges weren’t so busy.
Puls8 (Friday) @ Shark Bar - Peak Time.. pretty not busy.
Walkthrough Video on a Friday – Very dead
Previous incarnations of clubbing nights at Shark Hotel bring back memories of a dark room at the back, full of people dancing, and ALWAYS ending up in a fight, complete with chairs and tables being flung in a multitude of directions. Will tonight be the same? Keep reading to find out…
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Bar Europa, Pavillion Hotel, Scruffy Murphys: Friday 12th February 2010
by James on Feb.12, 2010, under Bar Europa, Live Band, Pavillion, Pop, Rock, Scruffy Murphys
Related:
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Hello! I'm James. This subjective blog serves to post every dance event I attend to. I go out clubbing once or twice a week. I may include some stories as well. Feel free to join the discussion by leaving comments - Thanks for dropping by!
James' twitter
- bought the last 4 kettle chips at the north sydney 7-eleven... bwahahahaha
- train died at waverton indefinitely. too many people at north sydney, so catching a bus home. weeeeee
- i have had a strange day today, and i don't feel real at the moment. I am, however, full of Habibs chicken!!
- OMG YOU ARE SO F*CKED UP. I TRUSTED YOU WITH MY SECRET. BUT YOU HAD TO OPEN YOUR BIG MOUTH!! YOU TOLD EVERYONE! NOW EVERYONE KNOWS IM SEXY
- Look for me at Haymarket Hotel this Friday and Verandah Bar this Saturday
- Asian lesbians, what a concept! And what an excuse to cancel dinner on me.
- they changed my street name from a PDE to RD.. how strange
- you made a bad move trying not to sit on me, and your left buttcheek made big contact with the armrest. was it worth it? Nup I bet it hurts.
- I love finding lost things in my pocket!!
- youtube notes to self: double rainbow, masterchef, cityrail, pirates ... watch this space over the next few months!
