Clubbing with James Tran

NB: Review below is pretty half-arsed

Fridays @ Privilege Bar

I was walking by, when some friends outside saw me. Then they dragged me in.

Assessment Time: 8-9pm
Crowd: Asian
Music: RNB
Atmosphere: Average. It was pretty packed, mostly from the crowd who was here drinking earlier, including myself. I even spotted the organiser from the Bar Europa Fresh Fridays over here! Hmm..

Well here’s a video of Privilege at around 9pm, when the music starts to turn up:
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Related:

• Quick Review: Friday RnB @ Favela Nightclub, Sydney: 7th May 2010
• RNB Superclub @ Tank Nightclub – Friday 4th September 2009
• RNB night @ Home Nightclub, then Pontoon Bar – Friday 21 August 2009
• Candy Paint / Chocolate City @ Havana Club Deluxe (Friday Night)
• Candy Paint @ Havana

A friend’s farewell at Bungalow 8, then we follow on to her friend’s choice of Privilege..

Bungalow 8 – thumbs up
Was only here for about an hour. Basically danced around a bit in the small but very fun dance area. Everyone was in the mood, and the music was pretty good too. I can’t remember, I think it was house-like and upbeat.

People(mostly caucasian) were so friendly here. If the dance floor were a bit bigger it could rival Cargo.

Privilege – thumbs down
So one of the friends wanted to meet a friend at Privilege, so against our inner instincts we went. Josh made a smart choice and didn’t go in.

We paid $20 and when we got in, we were greeted with a scene, and dispersement of crowd reserved only for Pavillion Hotel at 2am. It was basically, an utter crap venue.

People weren’t as friendly. Nobody reciprocated to my barging into their circles and dancing like a lunatic. Music was blaring loud. DJ Isreal was playing. Unlucky he got a bad crowd.

Lesson: Always listen to your gut. Or just dont visit Privilege at midnight on a Friday night.

The end.

Related:

• Candy Dreams @ Havana Club de Luxe Sydney: Friday 26th March 2010
• Shanghai Nights @ Brooklyn Hotel: Friday 26th March 2010
• I Love Uni White Party @ Home Nightclub: Friday 12th March 2010
• Shanghai Nights (Grand Opening) @ Brooklyn Hotel: Friday 26th February 2010
• 11 Quick Club Reviews on a Saturday Night in Sydney CBD – 19th December 2009

On the evening of Friday 30th May 2008..

Lining up – Funky Buddha @ Arthouse
This was probably the most heavily promoted event I had seen in a long time. I sent in a guestlist, and the poster started free entry before 11pm. We lined up… it was 10pm.

10pm – 11:45pm:
We managed to arrive ‘late’ in the line. The guestlist line at Arthouse stretched around the corner about 20 -30 metres back into TGV. Doors didn’t open until 10:45. After at least an hour and a half, we had progressed around the corner and could see the entrance, but there were so many people who had pushed in front of us by then. The lack of ribbon tape to control the line was a disadvantageous move… This was officially worse than lining up at UN / DCM Nightclub. After some delibration we knew we were not going to get in before midnight, so we left the line to walk around..

Coda:
Don’t go to opening events unless you have straight-in access or if you love lining up.

Coolabar
We walked down Pitt St and saw Coolabar, we went up for the RNB event, but saw the ‘Honey’ RNB night posters were for Saturday nights. They were playing some jazz/brazilian kind of music I think. The dancefloor looked dead from the outside. I would have to check this place out some other time. It was free entry.

Pure @ Roof Bar / Skygardens
Tonight there was no line. Our expectations dropped. We were let right in without our ID being photographed even though there was a guy sitting there with a camera waiting to take Photo ID photos. We didn’t even get scanned / frisked, even though there was a guy with the scanner, ready to scan away. Were they desperate? Our expectations dropped again.

A group of people stepped off the elevator as we got on. I asked if it was ‘good upstairs?’. They laughed. Our expectations went to an all new low.

We got off on Level 4, and had a look.. there were people! I was impressed. There were about 50 people all up in in this place.

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Tonight I was drinking at roof bar. It’s my de facto Thursday night watering hole. Around 8pm some people dressed up come into the place. Cheryl recognizes one of them from her high school. There was a dance party tonight, from none other than the UNSW comsoc / lawsoc societies. A few weeks ago myself, Kevin and a friend snuck onto a comsoc party cruise and had a good time, how very funny that I ended up being at the spot of their next event. The host kicked all the students out, but we stayed as we were patrons of Roof Bar. So then the party started…

Event details
Entry: $5 presale, $15 on the door (event was sold out)
Music: RNB
Dress code: Dualities/Doubles. Eg doctor and nurse
Crowd: Uni students, asian.

Timeline
About 9pm people stared coming in. Cheryl spoke to Pearl and Jan. I was introduced along with Ben and Joe, and An. Nobody was dancing yet and music just started so I went down to the floor with Ben, Joe and the girls. Soon enough the crowd warmed up and as more people filed in everyone was dancing away.

I bumped into the girls I met on the cruise a few weeks ago – Amanda, Christine, and a hello to Elizabeth. I really should meet more guys. Anyway,  both seemed to be off their faces!

Anyway not much really happened.. Me, Joe and Ben danced with Pearl and Jan most of the night. Most of the night we would see everyone saying hi to each other and dancing with each other.. lots of fun. It’s much different than to a club venue where nobody knows each other. I wore Jan’s angel wings which was pretty cool..

Coda
We left at 11pm so we could catch the train home, ha!

Related:

• I Love Uni White Party @ Home Nightclub: Friday 12th March 2010
• UNSW Bsoc Comsoc Cruise 2008
• Pajama Party @ Docks Hotel (26th June 2009)
• UNSW BSOC BSXC @ Home Bar (21st May 2009)
• Bamboo @ Martin Place Bar: Saturday 17th July 2010

Why did we go?
Usually mention Privilege and me and Joe laugh. Some people love this place. Joe, An, and myself however have certain reservations about it. A while ago I saw my uncle here. The last time I tried to enter with my “free before 11pm” pass, it was rejected as it was 11:10 on her mobile phone while the time on my phone (and watch) said 10:50.

We were at St James having a drink and chatting up Ashley and Srey. They mentioned Privilege. Me and Joe laughed. Then they stood up and started to leave for Privilege!! I had a sick feeling my stomach as we obediently followed them to Privilege..

About Privilege Bar (Club Level)
Location: 70 King Street (Corner of King & George Streets), Ground level of Blacket Hotel
Websites: http://www.theblacket.com/hotel_nightclub.asp , http://www.myspace.com/privilegebar
Inside: Walking downstairs, we are presented with the bar. On the left is the DJ, some podiums. On the right some seats. In the middle is the crowd. The entire place is dark, the music loud, and hot.

About Lotus
Music: RnB
Crowd: Asian
Dress Code: Casual. My dirty white shoes got in.
Cover Charge / Entry Fee: Free before 10:30, $15 Guestlist, $20 non-guestlist
Atmosphere: Dark, loud music with some seediness thrown in. Fun when the dancers come up to perform.

Timeline
Arrival
Ashley knew an organiser and we managed to skip the line and go straight in. Joe had to stay in line and joined us about 30 minutes later.

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Related:

• Fridays @ Privilege, Fridays @ Cargo Bar, 28th August 2009
• Quick Review: Friday RnB @ Favela Nightclub, Sydney: 7th May 2010
• RNB Superclub @ Tank Nightclub – Friday 4th September 2009
• RNB night @ Home Nightclub, then Pontoon Bar – Friday 21 August 2009
• Candy Paint / Chocolate City @ Havana Club Deluxe (Friday Night)

It was Hanh’s friend’s birthday. It was also the 2nd open night of Pure. It was also free entry. We were slightly disappointed last time at skygardens, due to the layout of the venue.. maybe if it’s free it’d be better?

About Skygardens
Location: Level 4, Skygarden Shopping Centre, 77 Castlereagh Street Sydney
Website: http://www.roofbar.com.au
Inside: On entry via the elevators you walk onto the dance floor, with a carpeted area between you and the DJ booth about 10 metres long. On the right are some pool tables, and tables/seats in an elevated section. A wooden area sits between these two areas where people usually dance. On the far end lies the bar, while at the very end of the bar is the outdoor smoking area.

About Pure
Occurence: Every Friday and Saturday Nights
Music: “Rnb, hip hop, slow jamz”
Crowd: Mostly Asian
Dress Code: Casual
Cover Charge / Entry Fee: Free
Atmosphere: Bustling.. hard to describe.. I thought it was okay for a free club, my friends didn’t enjoy.

Timeline
Getting in
Theres the normal line and the guestlist line. The lady goes around and asks for our names for the guestlist. We say our names but she can’t find it. Hanh didn’t get our names on the list. She said “Dont worry, its free entry anyway” .. so what’s the point of the guestlist? Probably in case this place reached capacity.

Starting to dance
Since we were first in, it was dead. I wanted to dance, but Joe and An were quite sober. After a few drinks Joe joined me in that ‘booya booya booya’ song. I had the afro on, and not many joined us. Just the two hot girls and guy who were dancing earlier. Soon Hanh, Jon and Kim join us. We keep dancing near the big concrete column separating the carpet from the wooden floor.

Another bride to be gets sandwiched
Spotted a bride celebrating her hens night here… This only meant one thing. She needed a bride sandwich. Joe and I proceeded to sandwich her to the amusement of her friends. She seemed happy then after a while of continuous grinding she kinda felt a bit creeped out and just stepped out lol.
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Related:

• Bamboo @ Martin Place Bar: Saturday 17th July 2010
• Pure @ Macquarie Hotel, Liverpool, Sydney: Saturday 1st May 2010
• The Market @ Haymarket Hotel Sydney: Saturday 6th March 2010
• Lavish @ Watermark Bar: Saturday 2nd January 2010
• Static @ Pumphouse – Saturday 29th August 2009

Friday night. One of the remaining ‘Asian’ rnb clubs that I had yet to visit. An and Joe went a few weeks earlier and liked it, so I went along this time.

About Cherrijam
Location: 16-18 Cross Street Double Bay
Website: http://www.cherrijam.com.au
Inside: You are led upstairs where everything is. On entering the top floor, on the left are some sofas.. the right is the dancefloor area and 2 bars. Enough bars to not wait long. The dancefloor area is medium sized.. its good except the concrete poles are in the way near the back. The DJ area is along the far wall with a short, but wide elevated podium (to hold 10 people) in front. There is also a smaller sectioned off room in the far corner with its own bar for private parties. Along the walls are lounges. A classy looking place indeed.

About Fever @ Cherrijam
Music: Rnb
Crowd: Asians, plus a group of older white ladies
Dress Code: Casual. The white sneakers got in.
Cover Charge / Entry Fee: $25. Guestlist $20 (?)
Atmosphere: Sparse

Timeline
First impressions
11.30pm, and forced to line outside… It was a line of 3 people. Should be good. We soon got in, expecting a jam packed place. It was quite empty.. and I simply went straight to the podium to do a dance in front of the 10 people dancing and the 20 or so standing by the sidelines. Right away one of the pretty girls started to touch my wig.. the hair looked very cool. We were right in front of the speakers so there wasnt really a chance of a conversation happening. Some of the older white girls had a few glances at me… i decided i was going to dance with them later. (continue reading…)

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