Prologue
I was at Haymarket. It was dead for an odd reason. anyway we left for our intended venue – Blue Butterflly @ Arthouse at around midnight. The line was heaps massive (like ridiculous as usual) but we join the queue anyway.
ONE HOUR LATER we are in the front.
30 MINUTES LATER WE ARE STILL IN THE FRONT, while guestlisters and people who know organisers/bouncers head straight in. Frustration!!
It was probably another 10 minutes to go, but friends want to go home. We split and I go to Verandah, for a backup birthday (Oh I know, I’m such a dog). Here we go!
Funky Buddah @ Verandah Bar
Assessment Time: 1.30am – 3am
Website: www.funkybuddha.com
Address: 55 Elizabeth St | www.verandah.com.au
Dress Code / Door Policy: Casual ok. Recently they have allowed patrons with rat tails to enter. So most people from most walks of asia are here.
Entry Fee / Cover Charge: $25
Guestlist: We were too late for guestlist. It is $20 before midnight, $25 after
Inside: There are two separate rooms. Keep this in mind. There is a small curtained off room which is the trance room. The main room is RnB, which is separated somewhat into two regions – the dance region, and the bar/hanging out region, where you stand and mingle with your drinks in your hand.
Cloak Room: $10 for a big bag, its the most expensive cloak rooming service at any venue I have been to, proudly brought to you by Funky Buddha.
Bar: I didn’t drink tonight.
DJ: Normal asian DJs on rotation tonight
Music: RnB and Trance. RnB music was all the modern stuff, not much old school at all besides the West Coast rap stuff. Trance was very dancable here – there is definitely a lack of asian places out there.
Crowd: Asian
Entertainment: Some podiums for people to dance on
Atmosphere: Pretty busy in the RnB room at peak, but when it dies down, it is very noticable because of the open setup of Verandah. Trance room sadly didn’t enjoy as many people – there were only 10 or 15 people most at a time in the trance room, and out of those people, there would be no more than 5 people raving about at the same time. But its pretty pretty dark in here – you can barely see anything.
Timeline
Podium timeshare? NO
There was a dude dancing, showing off his awesome dance moves. OK. He is better than me, that I can accept. But he just kept dancing song after song after song. He was a total podium hog and worse of an attention whore than I was. Finally he got off but someone else got on and started dancing as well. Sigh.
Someones sailory birthday
Theres about 30 girls all dressed up in sailor outfits. Someone’s birthday. It was hot. That is all.
Young much?
Yeah, I felt old as hell – so many young people. Yes, even though I can pass as 18 with my braces, I felt like I was surrounded by 16 year olds. It’s so bad yet so good. Though, I didn’t really get to see any other people with braces on, I could be totally wrong. I DID SEE HEAPS OF RATTIES THOUGH!! I’m sure they are just going through a hair phase, like my brother is right now (he chooses to not go to the same clubs as me). We met a 24 year old girl.. so i suppose its ok for an almost 26 year old to be stil clubbing, right? RIGHT? ….
At Verandah with friends for Funky Buddha. Im in the yellow
Arrivederci
Left once it became too much of a sausage fest.
Summary and Recommendation
I had low expectations but it was not bad.. the Trance room kept my dancing feet satisfied, and the ratio was acceptable. 6.5/10
*Funky Buddha has moved*
Word has come through that Funky Buddha has moved permanently to a new venue – Sanctuary Hotel. It’s a very good location near town hall station, and not too close to chinatown, but is the venue itself suited?
The trance room surely would probably disappear as Sanctuary Hotel is just one massive dancefloor if all the tables and chairs are removed. We shall see how it goes. Sanctuary is definitely laid out as a better venue than Verandah Bar though… those are my thoughts. Will have to check it out soon..