It calls me everytime I drive by the sign… Jamrock! it says. JAMROCK! When would I ever have a chance to check it out ?

Prelude: We’re lining up at Civic Hotel for the “Taboo” event for a friends’ birthday. Marty is caught wearing a t-shirt, which is deemed too casual and he is rejected – AFTER he paid for cloak room services for his blazer while lining up. Paying for cloak room and then being rejected is pretty shit, when I was allowed in with a collared blazer with a t-shirt underneath.  A group of about 20 guys for a bucks night were also not going inside, because one of them didn’t have a collared shirt. This event was actually enforcing their dress policies! They are being picky on finding reasons to cut the high numbers of men attending the Taboo events (as my sources say anyway).

We can’t leave Marty behind in the cold so .. this provided the opportunity to visit the Jamrock! event, so here we go!

Dance corner (12:30AM)

Dance corner (12:30AM)

Jamrock! @ 202 Broadway , Sydney

Assessment Time: 11:40PM – 02:30AM
Opening Hours: 9:00PM – ~3:00AM
Lockout: No lockout
Address: 202 Broadway (Corner of City Road and Parramatta Road, Broadway, Sydney)
Venue Website: http://www.202broadway.com.au/
Promoter Website: Event Group on Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/jamrock.australia ; Website – http://www.beatelement.com/
Occurrence: Every Saturday since January 2010
Outside Line: No line, we got in right away.
Dress Code / Door Policy: Hats allowed. There was no dress code encouraged by the promoters, so it was a mix of everything tonight from very casual to smart casual. Being close to winter, most people were rugged up in jumpers/jackets if they weren’t in their t-shirts or one piece dresses. You would definitely stand out if you put on a LBD in here.
Entry Fee / Cover Charge: $15 during peak hours while it turns to $10 after 2AM. Entry also includes a mix CD of the current month’s latest compilation of contemporary Reggae / Dancehall music. Pretty cool.
Guestlist: jamrockcluboz@gmail.com or see Facebook page.

Continue reading »

Tagged with:
 
We on a boat - sydney harbour bridge cruise

Sydney Habour Bridge - 'We on a Boat' Cruise


Friends invited me onto this cruise – A reggae/funk dance cruise – I’ve never been on a day cruise and I’ve never been to a reggae event – so I put on my Mexican outfit and off we went – here we go!

We on a Boat – The Lady Rose Catamaran
Website: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=318543987561
Cruise Times: 1pm to 6pm
Course sailed: Departing King St Wharf, Darling Harbour, the boat sailed north then East under the harbour Bridge, past the Opera house to hang about Jackson’s bay, circling around the entire course twice before coming back to King St Wharf.
Weather Conditions: Sunny throughout the entire cruise. Humidity low and it was warm enough to not be afraid of massive sunburn.
Dress Code / Door Policy: anything goes. Most people wore casual shirts, shorts. I had worn a mexican sombrero complete with my homemade poncho
Entry Fee / Cover Charge: Tickets were available from Moshtix for $35 plus booking fee. At the door they were $40 or $50 I believe.
On Board Inside: This was a 2 level boat with a 3rd roof top level. Today, as the event was not sold out, only the bottom and rooftop level were open.
Cloak Room: None available. There were not many people anyway so there wasnt too much risk in leaving stuff lying around.
Bar: Didn’t drink today.
DJs: Nick Toth, JC, Levins, Fasmwa, Naiki, Di Tha DJ, Mickey Morphingaz
Music: Reggae and Dancehall on the top level the whole time. On the bottom level was also the same, with some funk and old school rnb thrown in.
Crowd: About half the crowd were Africans, and the rest of the crowd were split between whites and a contigent of asian dancers who were here, I am guessing, for the modern rnb, but of course, did not get it. Various ages between young and old. Mostly late 20’s or 30s.
Entertainment: There were MCs on both the rooftop deck and the bottom level. Often the MC would call upon the ladies to jump in front of the DJ to participate in games such as booty shaking competitions, grinding competitions, and reggae dancing styles. It’s truly amazing to see girls out there willing to participate in these games sober. All the men love it.
Atmosphere: Top level was relaxed party. People are dancing about on the chairs and on the floor, but in a way that can only be achieved by playing reggae and dancehall. (It’s hard to explain, you probably have had to be there to know what I mean) Most of the people were here for a dancing good time, and only a handful of people were sitting down the whole time. On the bottom level was different, as it was totally dead for most of the cruise. There was on average about five to ten people at the same time on the floor. At peak, the asian dance contigent started to dance when the funk music came out, and they pretty much had half the boat attendees gaping in awe as they go about their dance moves.

Top Level

Top Level - We on a Boat Reggae Cruise


Breakdancers Bottom Level

Breakdancers Bottom Level


Continue reading »

Tagged with: