Clubbing with James Tran

We were smashed, and just left a 21st Halloween party. Looking for a place to go.. Oh look what’s around the corner – the Retro! Here we go! Saturdays @ The Retro Bristol Arms Hotel Assessment Time: Midnight – 1am Website: http://www.theretro.com.au Address: 66 Sussex st Sydney ? Dress Code: Anything goes. Every weekend is a theme night. Entry Fee / Cover Charge: Free if you are dressed in theme. Otherwise it’s $20 (or $25) Guestlist: guestlist@theretro.com.au Inside: 3 levels of dance. Contemporary at the bottom, Retro in the middle, and old school rnb at th etop. We were only on the rnb floor most of the night so there wasn’t much to review about. Cloak Room: None Music: Dance and rnb, Retro from the 90s, 80s and early 2000s Crowd: 20’s and 30’s crowd Atmosphere: Most saturdays they have themed nights where people come in dressed up, and it adds to the atmosphere. Atmosphere is pretty party vibe like, and the nostalgic music gets you going. 360 video: This is of the top level. (continue reading…)

We finished a wedding out west. I am in my tuxedo and I feel awesome. I was also smashed. The city was 1 hour away. I didn’t care. I was in a tux – We were going clubbing!! Luckily I had some friends at Home Nightclub… About Home Nightclub: Location: Cockle Bay wharf, Darling Habour Website: http://www.homesydney.com Inside: All rooms except the mid-wall room was open. Main room on the floor, with upstairs balcony area and 2nd bar. Outdoor smoking area connected to this. A 2nd smaller room on the 2nd level. 3rd level are 2 extra rooms. This place is a maze of rooms. About Homemade Saturdays: Assessment Time: 1.30am-3.30am Dress Code: Casual ok. I was wearing my tuxedo from the wedding. You also get fingerprinted and photo scanned on the way in. Entry Fee / Cover Charge: $25 Guestlist: See website Cloakroom: Yes, at the bar near at the DJ eng. Bar: $12 yaberbombs. Music: House in the main room. Can’t complain, all the commercial house tunes were being played. Actually it was executed quite well here. There was also a saxophone player to add another dimension to the music – much like the Bongo players at Bungalow  and Cargo Bar. RNB room – RNB of course – but I wasn’t there long enough. Party tunes and retro at the top level. They seemed to have combined all the rooms into one major huge event. Crowd: Mixed – Asians, Euros Atmosphere: Party and vibing in the main room. However the other rooms seemed pretty dead. Especially the RNB room as nobody was there – it was the most dead room of them all. There were a hundred other places where you could have your proper rnb fix – and Home Nightclub doesn’t seem to be popular right now as the place to be for it. 360 from the main podium Timeline: Kicked off the podium by the sexist DJ There are girls up at the front dancing. Drunk old me wants a dance too! I went up and danced for a good 50 seconds. Then I hear a: DJ: “OI!” James: (turns around) DJ: “GET OFF THE STAGE – NOW!!!” James: (jumps off stage) Man.. what a cold DJ. Given, he probably has a lot of drunk guys coming up onto his stage, but fuck you anyway Mr DJ, even if you played really good beats. A minute later I have my female friend go up and dance, and there was no objections. Total sexism!!! (continue reading…)

Ly and I are visitng the Gold Coast. We just left The Bedroom nightclub, and we are following girls, being the single men that we are. Somehow, we ended up outside Melbas..  so here we go! Melbas Nightclub Assessment Time: 02:40am-04:30am Website: http://www.melbas.com.au Address: 46 Cavill Avenue, Surfers Paradise QLD Door Policy / Dress Code: Casual OK Cover Charge / Entry Fee: $10. Free if a guestlist was organised Guestlist: Email info@melbas.com.au Inside: Two levels. Ground has lengthy bar in the middle. Stools / tables everywhere. An outdoor seating area. Out the back is a dancefloor. Upstairs is more cosy. VIP area at back for private functions (?), 3 large podiums at the front dance area. 2 Poles to dance with. I can’t think of any place in Sydney that has poles! (The retro might have some but I can’t recall). Long bar on the side wall Bar: Short to no lines, thanks to the huge bar. Pricing unknown as we scored free drinks all night. Music: Downstairs is Retro / Classic music, while upstairs is primarily house but the occasional rnb/pop mashup as well. Crowd: Dominantly White Aussie. I think me and Ly were the only asians here. No problem, as everyone was friendly here. People of all ages were about. It does remind me of The Retro Bristol Arms back in Sydney, but it seemed cooler here. Video Tour: Right after we got inside. Ground level and moving upstairs: (continue reading…)

I met a lady and she laughed at me, when I told her I advised a reader to celebrate her 40th at The Retro Bristol Arms. I didn’t know any other place to recommend, without her feeling out of place while also playing retro music. She said she could have listed at least 4 other places where the birthday girl could have celebrated her 40th. She refused to tell me though, but she hinted at one place where you have dinner and later a DJ comes out and plays some party tunes (somewhere in the Cross), but other than that, she didn’t give me any names. WHERE ARE THESE OTHER PLACES???