Saturdays @ 80 Proof

On March 8, 2014, in 80 Proof, EDM, House, by J T

Reviewed by:
Rating:
3
On March 8, 2014
Last modified:August 10, 2014

Summary:

Good value for a cheap dance and cheap drinks with a DJ. It's a very small venue though and is moreso a backpackers bar than anything, but not as messy. Majority of the crowd are are korean foreigners. The DJ doesn't take requests.

After attending Future Music Festival, it was time to continue the party. We wanted to keep it cheap, so let’s check out the ‘new cheers’, now known as 80 Proof. Here we go!

80 Proof Sydney Punter

80 Proof Sydney Punter

Saturdays @ 80 Proof

Cheers Bar underground is traditionally, the last resort bar of many a drunken clubber in the city. With previously free entry, any unpleasant or tight ass person was allowed in. The place has traditionally smelt like urine and the music playback was poorly played. It was pretty much somebody’s iPod being played on show. It has since switched management and has had a makeover, including the renaming of its underground club from Cheers to 80 Proof.

Essentials:
Opening Hours: (DJ Hours)
10PM – 5AM

Address:

561 George St, Sydney (beneath Cheers Bar)

Venue Website:
http://www.eightyproof.com.au/nightclub.html
https://www.facebook.com/80ProofSydney

Promoters:

Self promoted

Occurrence:

Every weekend since May 2013

Dress Code / Door Policy:

Fairly relaxed dress code. I got in with a plan t-shirt and disgusting denim vest, black pants and black indoor soccer shoes. Everyone else was a mix of smart casual and casual.

Entry Fee / Cover Charge:

$10 Full price entry. Keep an eye on the Facebook page for the guestlist details to get $5 off. 

Passouts:

No passouts after 1:30AM (by law)

Guestlist:
Refer to the Facebook page for guestlisted events.

Cloak Room:
There is a cloak room beside the bar, in the far left corner. Pricing is unknown.

Tonight:
Assessment Time
:
12:15 AM – 2:00AM

Outside Line:

No real line outside

Inside:Walk down the stairs to enter the right-rear of the club. To your left is the single bar and square sized dance floor area holding 80-100 people. At the far front is the new DJ booth. On the walls remain various chairs, stools, lounges, and carpeted areas. It’s a small club.

Bar Prices / Line

Didn’t drink tonight, but the order wait was no longer than 2 people

Bathroom Facilities:

Relatively clean. No urine smell. Big improvement since the Cheers days. 

DJs: This was the biggest change the venue needed – an actual DJ playing and mixing up songs, instead of some boring playlist which would play songs in their entirety with matching video clips glued around the walls. It’s worked well, with the crowd now more huddled to the front where the focus is, rather than the middle of the dance floor where you could be judged for your lack of dancing skills. DJs playing tonight were DJ Nick Kim. Other resident DJs include DJ Dutto, WE R DNA, DJ Day and David X.

Music Style:
Primarily EDM during my time here, with some Top 40 also. No complaints here. The crowd didn’t mind either and danced along.

Crowd:

The crowd has remained a mix of mostly Korean Internationals, other Asian nationalities, but as mentioned before there are less undesirable people. Less than a handful of caucasian people are here. Even the DJ is Asian, so it would be easy to forget you were even in Australia. Ages are mixed but mostly people here are in their mid 20’s.

 

Ratio:

Pretty standard ratio which got worse over time. It started out about 70:30 (guys: girls) and slowly got to 80:20 when we left.

Entertainment:

None during my stay, but apparently there are giveaways

Atmosphere:

Dark with the underground setting and lack of lights, and can get a bit warm up at the front near the DJ. The DJ occasionally likes to get his smoke gun out (it looks like a mini fire extinguisher) and spray smoke to the crowd. The smoke made my eyes water. Because of the ease of which you could heat up, many folk huddled around the perimeter of the dance floor, where there were air ventilation vents. You could just see these people standing in the one spot, moving their arms around dancing. So these guys didn’t want to dance anywhere else but just wanted to stay cool. It was pretty funny because when guys came up to talk to a girl standing there, the girl didn’t really want to run away because she would lose her air con spot.

Video:

YouTube Preview Image

Upon Departure

The effects of dancing really hard at future all day took its toll. Marty and I left at 2AM

Final Thoughts & Recommendation

I don’t mind coming back here. It’s definitely improved since the Cheers times, and the DJ plays some good tunes. Good value for $10. 7/10

 

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