A birthday at Arthouse tonight. We kind of debated for half an hour outside in the cold, outside the venue, to whether we should go in or not. Of course, we went in eventually. A second visit for tonight’s event, let’s see how it fares:
AJ Rafael performs (1:30AM)
Flirt Saturdays @ Arthouse Hotel – Saturday Night – 11th August 2012
(some content will be similar to last week’s review)
Assessment Time: 11:35PM – 3:55AM
Opening Hours: “10:00PM” – 3:55AM. The quotes are subject to how long it takes for these guys to setup the DJ equipment and venue for the event.
Lockout: Unknown
Address: 275 Pitt St, Sydney (near Town Hall Station)
Venue Website: http://www.thearthousehotel.com.au
Event Website: http://www.fb.com/flirtsaturdays
Promoters: Urban Agent in conjunction with 1nitestand, VIPList, Eso, and others.
Occurrence: Every Saturday since July 2012.
Outside Line: There is a general line and a guestlist line. When we were debating whether to go in or not, there was a line of about 10 people. After deciding to go in inside, the line had been cleared by then – we got in without trouble. Considering the rain, at least they put one small table canopy up for whoever was standing in the front of the guestlist line.
Dress Code / Door Policy: There was no enforced theme/dress code, so casual was definitely okay. I had a long jacket with a double layer t-shirt (Breaking some fashion crimes there) with cardigan, jeans and casual shoes. I looked very daggy, but I was cold, and I didn’t care how I looked today. Half the crowd were casual and half were dressed smart proper.
Entry Fee / Cover Charge: $20 on the guestlist before 12:00AM, otherwise $25. I would recommend getting your name on a discount guestlist.
Guestlist: Send lists to your preferred promoter or check the Facebook page for details.
Inside: Main Room: Enter via the cashier entrance and you are at the back of the room- It’s a large, tall, long-ish room – now split it as such. The whole left wall is lined with lounges, tables and stools. The right wall is the main bar to hold about 5 bartenders at a time, with a secondary “shots bar” with a small selection of shots. This leaves a narrow path in the middle for which people line up and mingle. Right at the front the area widens for what is the general dancefloor area to hold about 40-50 people comfortably. DJ is right at the centre front, with a sight adjustment tonight – there is a large-ish podium in the middle. This was to be reserved for AJ Rafaels performance. Guys and girls were not allowed up on here. Arthouse has gone through a few additions since my last visit, to make it more ‘club’ friendly. There has been a proper segregation between tables/lounges and the mingling area with an open panel wall in the middle – people can dance and others can drink in peace. Also laser lights and squares of LED colour lights have been installed. Let’s also chuck in a few ribbons as well to break up the space – this defintely helps in making the place feel a bit more intimate as the ceiling is like 10 metres high. There is also a common back area for smoking, general chit chat.
Inside: Second Room: Again, the second room had a private party! Luckily the party was to end at midnight so I had the chance to finally get my grubby feet into the House music. Enter the room via cashier entrance and you are at the front. DJ on your right and bar on your left on the far end wall. In between is just dancefloor with lounges lining one wall, with large barrels (literally those barrels you see on pirate ships) along the middle length of the dancefloor to break it up. Also a tall room, and its pretty dark in here.
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Promoters have launched a new event at the refurbished Arthouse Hotel! Lets check it out – Here we go!
Flirt @ Arthouse Hotel – 4th August 2012
Assessment Time: 10:00PM – 2:45AM
Opening Hours: “10:00PM” – 4:00AM. The quotes are subject to how long it takes for these guys to setup the DJ equipment and venue for the event. People were let in at 10:30PM.
Lockout: Unknown
Address: 275 Pitt St, Sydney (near Town Hall Station)
Venue Website: http://www.thearthousehotel.com.au
Event Website: http://www.fb.com/flirtsaturdays
Promoters: Urban Agent in conjunction with 1nitestand, VIPList, Eso, and others.
Occurrence: Every Saturday since July 2012.
Outside Line: There is a general line and a guestlist line. Nobody lining up at 10PM, so we were the very first! A bit worrying as I expected at least someone to be lining up. When the doors finally opened at 10:30, there were about 30 people in line, and I was literally beginning to shiver – it was bloody cold. I felt a bit sorry for the people behind me in line, as I hear the security guy whisper to his colleague “Let them in 5 at a time – keep it (the rate of letting people in) slow” – So it is true! promoters want to keep a visible presence with people outside, while said people freeze outside. I plead on behalf of us payees, please keep us warm with an outdoor heater or something. A general tip for any clubs with separate lines – if you don’t care about entry fees, line up at the general line to get faster access into the club – security purposely let full fee payers go in as a priority, for obvious reasons.
Dress Code / Door Policy: Tonight the theme is a school uniform party – so ties and shirts were seen, but most just wore whatever they had on. Casual was okay. Girls had their one pieces on and guys were a mix of casual and well dressed. It was more of a casual affair though – my impression anyway. I had some old converse chucks, pants, cardigan with a collared shirt and my old “Class Captain” pin from primary school.
Entry Fee / Cover Charge: $10 if you were in school uniform theme. Free entry before 10:30 if you had your student ID! Well, lucky old me had a student ID, so I got free entry. The promo girls were nice to come outside to give free entry cards to whoever was in line just before the doors open, despite it being after 10:30PM. $20 on the guestlist before 12:00AM, otherwise $25. Bit pricey in general but normal for the Asian events – I would recommend getting your name on a discount guestlist at the very least.
Guestlist: Send lists to your preferred promoter or check the facebook page for details.
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After a short period of refurbishment (to which Sweet Saturdays moved to City Hotel as the Kin.ki event), Civic Hotel upper level reopens with a new event. Let’s check it out!
Midnight crowd. DJ corner in the far right.
Yolo (You Only Live Once) Saturdays @ Civic Hotel (Rooftop)
Assessment Time: Midnight – 3:15AM
Opening Hours: Unknown (probably 10:30PM) – 4:00AM
Lockout: Around 2:30AM
Address: 388 Pitt St (oppposite World Square)
Venue Website: http://www.civichotel.com.au
Event Website: http://www.facebook.com/YoloSaturdays
Promoter Website: Unknown, but it could possibly be self promoted???
Occurrence: Today is Grand Opening night and it is to run every Saturday.
Outside Line: Didn’t appear to be a line. We got in right away without much trouble.
Dress Code / Door Policy: Nobody was wearing hats, except for the MC, so not sure on the hat policy. Guys are generally a mix of casual and collared shirts – you could get away with most clothing here. We were also a large contingent of mixed guys and girls and got in without issue tonight. Girls were dressed with their casual dresses and only a handful wore body tight dresses.
Entry Fee / Cover Charge: One of my friends knew someone, who knew someone else, who got us free entry. So lovely of them. Standard cover charge ? we had no idea, but based on past history of Asian clubbing events at Civic Hotel and the cross promoting before the event launched, I would make the educated guess that it was $25 standard entry, with $5 discount if you were on a guestlist, and entered the premises before perhaps 11:30 or midnight.
Guestlist: yolo@civichotel.com.au , or check the facebook website for mobile phone contact details
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We wanted to visit another club tonight but from the outside it looked really, really, shit, so we didn’t take any chances, and went down to the Martin Place precinct to visit one of the clubs there.. here we go!
Front w/ DJ
Luxe (Formerly Vanity) @ Martin Place Bar
Assessment Time: 12:25AM – 3:00AM
Opening Hours: Around 10PM – 4:00AM ??
Lockout: Unknown, but they were still accepting entry fees for people after 3AM for entry.
Address: 51 Martin Place (Elizabeth St corner), opposite hotel chambers.
Venue Website: http://www.martinplacebar.com.au
Event Website: http://www.facebook.com/LuxeSaturdays
Promoters: Urban Agent, VIPList, ESO
Occurrence: Started 3rd March. Previously it was called Vanity, held next door at Verandah Bar, and it has recently moved here to Martin Place Bar.
Outside Line: The line looked long. 30-50 people lining up. It took about 15 minutes to get in. It is frustrating to see other people being able to cut the line and get in beforehand by knowing the promoters et al. , it always is.
Dress Code / Door Policy: Quite a few people are here from Future Music Festival, so the dress code is very relaxed tonight – people in their singlets and outfits mixed up with people who came here dressed up for clubbing.
Entry Fee / Cover Charge: $25 Full entry.
Guestlist:Contact your preferred promoter or use any of the following: Info@eso.net.au luxe@viplist.net.au luxe@urbanagent.com.au
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Someone guilt tripped me to come out at the very last moment tonight. Honest. It was already 11PM at home. Why would I crawl out of my warm home, out into the rain and hit a club on the otherside of the harbour 1 hour away? Well, I still don’t know why.
Courtyard area (just the front bit)
Wonderland @ Greenwood Hotel, North Sydney
Assessment Time: 12:10AM – 3:00AM
Opening Hours: 8:00PM – 3:00AM
Lockout: Unknown
Address: 36 Blue St, North Sydney
Venue Website: http://www.greenwoodhotel.com
Promoters: The claim was 17 promoters joined in the fun to make this event. The main promoter was Syndicate Events, GTB, and Colab – the same promoters for Perfect Nights @ Pontoon Bar.
Occurrence: Once off event for Australia Day
Outside Line: There were about 5 people in front of us, but we quickly got in
Dress Code / Door Policy: Relaxed dress code. Most things were okay. Most guys wore t-shirts but girls still glammed up.
Entry Fee / Cover Charge: $25 full entry. Pre-paid tickets unknown.
Guestlist: N/A
Inside: Enter via the rear via the ramp where the register is. Pay your dues and walk down the ramp to enter the courtyard where the DJ is on the left with a standing area in front for around 100 people. There are tables, chairs and stonewalls for people to sit on to get their smoko on. The whole building looks like it could have been a little church (and it probably was), considering the large sandstone bricks that make its walls and the general architecture of the building. There are four separate door entrances along the walls to each of the 4 internal rooms. The right most room is “the clinic” room, a small room with a bar, lounges and a small dance area to hold 15-20 people. The next rooms are the chillout room and the Mashup room – mashup room has a bar along the wall and a wall cushion bench thing with a slightly larger dance area with DJ in the far corner. The chillout room is just that, with music supplied just outside from the courtyard – saloon style lounges and bar exist in here. The “Black Label” room is the largest of the rooms with DJ on the far right and dance area for a good 100 or so people.
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Here for a friend’s birthday. To keep status quo happy (Asians), Pontoon is the chosen venue tonight, so let’s go!
Upstairs
Perfect @ Pontoon Bar, Darling harbour, Sydney
Assessment Time: 10:10PM – 1:15AM, 3:15AM-3:30AM
Opening Hours: Downstairs: (Open earlier in the night for dinner – 4:00AM) Upstairs: 11:30PM – 2/3AM?
Lockout: No known lockout, but entry is closed to the general public at 3AM, while stampholders are still permitted re-entry rights at all times, though you have to line up in line AGAIN if you want to get back in. Totally sucks.
Address: Listed as 201 Sussex St, but access to the place is more or less via The Promenade at Darling Harbour’s Cockle Bay Wharf. The main entry is now via the ground floor where you will usually see a line of people. After 11PM you can also pay for your entry upstairs and get stamped as well – so there are two effective entry points.
Venue Website: http://www.pontoonbar.com
Event Website: http://www.theperfectnight.com.au http://www.facebook.com/perfectnights
Promoters: Joint promoter companies: Colab, Syndicate Events, GTB, and an extra promoter “Forever Fridays” tonight who are hail from Melbourne – they brought over their MC and a Melbourne based DJ.
Occurrence: Every Friday since Mid-April 2011
Outside Line: We arrived a little earlier than I would usually like, but there were no people in line. As we debated whether we should go in, about TWENTY people jumped in line. Oh my god. We joined the line eventually and got in after about 10 minutes. Upstairs opens at 11PM, and despite having stamps already, we have to line up AGAIN amongst the other people who haven’t paid entry to get access! Bloody ridiculous. It’s the same as well downstairs, once you go outside for whatever reason, you have to line up to get back in. Luckily for the smokers, there are “open” areas on each level where you can puff and stuff your lungs with tar. Later in the night around midnight it took a friend 30 minutes to get in. Tough love.
Dress Code / Door Policy: Smart Casual is promoted here tonight, and pretty much most people here are compliant. Not sure about the hat situation but the last few times I was here, they were okay to wear. Most guys are in pants/jeans and a collared t-shirt, and girls have managed to not wear casual tonight.
Entry Fee / Cover Charge: Standard full fare Asian clubbing price of $25 tonight. If you were on the guestlist and arrived before 11:30PM, you got a card that entitled you to $15 entry. Brilliant, except during a moment of absent mindedness, I forgot to use my card and inadvertedly paid $25 without even realising it. I simply gave the discount card to another friend so they could enjoy the benefits of me lining up early, while they didn’t have to.
Guestlist: Guestlists are no longer valid after 11:30PM. Guestlists to be sent to info@syndicateevents.com.au
Inside: Ground Level: Walk past the easy-to-miss cloak room and cashier to enter the middle part of the floor. To the left is the main bar with about 2-3 staff as well as the entire outdoor area. The are large wooden tables and stools, chairs, lounges about, where people were once dining hours ago. This outdoor area could hold easily 100 people or so. The dancefloor area on the right is a slow covered transition from the outdoor area where also 100-200 people can dance here. The DJ booth sits in the far corner near the toilets. There is little furniture bar a lounge at the rear of the dancefloor. Upstairs: Walk through the chillout/smoking area where there are many lounges, with a view of Darling harbour – continue on into the depths of the dancefloor situated on the far end of the room, as where the DJ is. The setup has slightly changed from last time, where the DJ was in the middle. I think this is a good thing as it is as far away from the smoke as possible, though at risk of the area overheating quickly. The walls are lined with squarely setup lounges. Bar is on the right
Cloak Room: Cloak room downstairs – $5 for placing an item, while it is $2 for rechecks. Pretty reasonable.
Bar Prices / Line: $15.70 altogether for a Gin and Tonic, Orange Juice and coke. $12.90 for a Vodka+Red Bull in a tall glass. At 10:15PM there was no waiting time. At 11PM the wait increased to about 5 minutes. At around 1AM, the wait was timed at about twenty five (25) minutes on both levels up and down.
Bathroom Facilities: Fair, could be a little bigger.
Eviction Count: None spotted, but I wasn’t paying attention.
DJs: Resident DJ’s plus guest DJ Mich from Melbourne
Music Style: Mostly Contemporary RnB downstairs, while upstairs did play some more of the older ‘throwback’ rnb songs. Oh yes, throwback is a word im going to use now.
Crowd: Dominantly Asian, and mostly local Aussie Asians. I don’t think I ran into one international Asian here tonight. Most of the ages were young. Company was of course lots of 21 year olds. That said, the crowd was mostly young 20’s to mid 20’s, as far as I could tell.
Ratio: You know its always going to be more guys then girls, but it was good. A lot of the girls looked their best surprisingly tonight, and I ain’t complaining.
Entertainment: There was no real special occasion except for having the MC and DJ from melbourne to do a set.
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Just dropping on by to have a dance with some friends.
[I was originally not planning to write a review and so no photos/videos were taken as I was pretty tipsy. I have no idea how I managed to get in. Then I just literally decided just now to write a review up at the end of the night, for record keeping sake… so it’s just a quickie]
Quickie: Taboo @ Civic Hotel (Level 1 Rooftop), Sydney
Assessment Time: ~1:30 – 4:00AM
Opening Hours: Unknown – 4:00AM
Lockout: Unknown
Address: Level 1, 388 Pitt Street (Corner Goulburn Street), Sydney.
Venue Website: http://www.civichotel.com.au
Promoter Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/TabooSaturdays
Occurrence: Every Saturday night.
Outside Line: There was a line of about 12 guys and 1 girl upon entry. Keep in mind that this line is combined for both the Taboo event upstairs and “The Clinic” separate event happening downstairs. Took about 5 minutes before we got in.
Dress Code / Door Policy: Pretty okay door policay. I had my mini afro-wig on. Most people wore smart casual. Girls wore dresses and looked their best here. hats are also allowed here. Saw some gentlemen with hats.
Entry Fee / Cover Charge: $25 is the full cover charge. Apparently guestlists were still valid at this time, but I wasn’t acknowledged as on being the guestlist. I be sad.
Guestlist: taboo.saturdays@gmail.com
Inside: Just the upper level of Civic Hotel is used on a regular night.
Cloak Room: None.
Bar Prices / Line: Didn’t drink tonight, I already had pre-Christmas party drinks. Drinking four nights in a row isn’t good for me at all.
Bathroom Facilities: Not utilised.
Eviction Count: None spotted.
DJs: Unknown
Music Style: Mostly RnB, Top 40.
Crowd: Pretty much all Asian here, with less than a handful of Caucasians here. Ages ranged from 18 year olds to 30+ year olds I met. You can’t tell what is what anymore when you look at the Asian genes of youth.
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