Mink Saturdays @ Martin Place Bar

On August 9, 2014, in Martin Place Bar, by J T

I’ve been living in a country town. I’ve made a special weekend trip to Sydney to visit friends, family, and a new club event. Let’s check it out!

Back looking to the front

Mink @ Martin Place Bar

Mink has been running since July 2014

Essentials:
Opening Hours:

10:30?? – 2:15AM

Address:

51 Martin Place, Martin Place, Sydney

Parking:

Come later in the night and you can find street parking within 2-3 blocks around.

Website:

Event: https://www.facebook.com/minksaturdays

Venue: http://www.martinplacebar.com.au

Promoters: Clique: https://www.facebook.com/cliquesydney

Occurrence:
Every Saturday since July 2014. Prior there was another short-lived event, #Fabric run by competitors Syndicate Events

Dress Code / Door Policy:
Theres no dress code enforced tonight. People wore whatever they wanted.

Entry Fee / Cover Charge:
Paid $25 at the door.
There are weekly free entry specials so long as you enter the venue before 11:30 or before midnight.

Guestlist:

mink@clique-ent.com

Cloak Room:
Didn’t use cloak room facilities tonight, but based on earlier events, you are probably looking at $5 / item.

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Embassy Club @ Zeta Bar Sydney

On April 19, 2014, in Hip Hop, House, RnB, Zeta Bar, by J T

The promoters for the old popular Saturday nights at Zeta Bar called it a day, and the gap has been filled by Urban Agent et al, for tonight’s event. Let’s check it out!

11:50AM

11:50AM

Embassy @ Zeta Bar

This review encompasses multiple visits: Grand Opening night (May 2013), various visits in between, and a 19th May 2014 full visit.

Essentials:
Opening Hours:
09:00PM – 04:00AM

Address:
Hilton Hotel, accessed via 488 George St. Zeta Bar is on Level 4, but you need to wait outside in line as the elevator is guarded by security.

Venue Website:
http://www.hiltonsydney.com.au

Event Website:
https://www.facebook.com/embassysydney/

Promoters:
Urban Agent, et al.

Occurrence:
Every Saturday since May 2013

Dress Code / Door Policy:
Encouraged that collared shirt and dress shoes for guys, and at least decent dresses for girls. Not too casual. Quite a number of guys were very suited up / dressed well. No homo.
I got in most recently (20/4/14) with a t-shirt, jeans and my running shoes. I was not planning to go clubbing this particular revisit.

Entry Fee / Cover Charge:
$25 Standard entry if you are coming off the street
$15 before 11:30PM if you submitted a guestlist. Grand opening, I got the $15, then the week after I sent my own guestlist a day before and they didn’t find my list on the night, so I had to pay $25 second time round..

Drinks
I didn’t purchase drinks here.

Bottle Service
$330AUD for a bottle of 750mL Grey Goose with unlimited soft drinks – Only available for reserved tables.

Passouts:
No passouts before midnight.
Lockout laws in place.

Guestlist:
embassy@ua.com.au

Cloak Room:
$5 for any item in the cloak room. The cloak room is just as you walk in on the left wall, at the realms of the dancefloor.

Tonight:
Assessment Times
:
19th April 2014: 11PM-03:00AM
10th May 2013: 11:30PM – 1:30AM
3rd May 2013 (Grand Opening): 11:20PM – 2:30AM

Outside Line:
(19/4/14 ; 11:30PM) Took about 10 minutes of lining up.
At 11:20PM: (3/4/13) It took 5 minutes to get to the front of the line, but at that point in time, the venue reached “capacity” at 400 people. I had to wait a further 20 minutes (11:45PM) before I could be let in. No idea how long the people behind me had to wait but it would have to be had been quite some time.

Inside:
The layout has remained exactly the same. Elevator to take you up to level 4. Come out and turn left to enter the near front of the narrow, marble stone, hallway-like venue. On the right is the DJ set with dancefloor (for about 50 people) and “fireplace” which isn’t really on. There is also the largest of the reserved areas, which is the same size as the dancefloor.

Turn left and walk down the hallway to the rear. On your left is the long main bar which serves cocktails and standard drinks. It can serve probably 15-20 people.

At the far end is the second bar, to hold 10 people at the frontline. In this rear there is a second, “minor”  DJ playing beats separate to the main area at the front.

On the right are small curtained off reserved areas for people who like sitting down in a nightclub.There are about 2 large reserved areas and 3 smaller, non-enclosed areas which are just like sofas. On the far left is the outdoor smoking area / terrace overlooking george st.

It’s quite the long and narrow place and almost resembles Martin Place Bar (where the same promoters used to promote) but more relaxed and classier.

Bathroom Facilities:
Pretty well maintained. The kind where there is a permanent person in the washroom giving you paper towels.

Music Style:
Mostly Rnb, Top 40 and some daring trance / house / EDM tracks. Lots of hands in the air kind of tunes.

Crowd:
(19/4/14) Mostly Aussie Asians. Mix of ages, but mostly people in their mid-20’s late 20’s.
(2013)Opening night it was a mix of Asian and non-Asians who thought it was a regular night. The following week there was pretty much all Asians.

Ratio:
Not too favourable. There were plenty of guys to go around the place. Best guesstimate 1 girl to 3 guys.

Entertainment:
No extra MC’s or dancers

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A bunch of Asians walked into the Casino. Haha. But this time its Marquee Nightclub that these younger Asians are heading to. So rather than losing money at the Sic Bo or Roulette tables, these guys invest their money into entry fees and expensive drinks. I don’t want to miss out, so let’s check it out!

OPM Fridays @ Marquee Nightclub Sydney (The Star)

Main Bar // 1:30AM

This event is now Every Friday night. It used to be on a Thursday.

Essentials:

Opening Hours:
10:30PM – 4AM

Address:

80 Pyrmont St, Pyrmont. It’s within the Star (Casino) Entertainment Complex. Walk in through the main entrance on the Eastern side, and the entrance to Marquee is immediately to your right.

Venue Website
: http://www.star.com.au

Event Website:
http://www.fb.com/OPMSydney
http://www.urbanagent.com.au

Promoters: Urban Agent

Occurrence: Every Friday since early 2014, and previously ran on irregular Thursdays from mid-2012

Dress Code / Door Policy: Casual clothing is allowed tonight, but don’t risk it despite the dress code being relaxed significantly since the grand opening of Marquee Nightclub. Most guys are wearing collared shirts at minimum, while girls are pretty glammed up.

Entry Fee / Cover Charge:  $25 at the door, but a friend was asked to pay $30. The highest cover charge price you’ll pay for a Friday night.

Table / Bottle Service: Starting at $1,600+ for a 10 person table including entry and the equivalent price for drinks. Higher packages can reach $3,000+ . Welcome to Australia

Guestlist: See event website or contact your local promoter

Cloak Room: $5 per item. The cloak room would be right at the entrance to the club after you go up the escalators

Tonight:

Assessment Time: 11:00PM – 4:00AM

Outside Line: Arriving at 11:00AM and expecting long lines, we were surprised to see a line of about 10 people. It went by quite fast. It could have been because all the other Asians were at the Jay Chou concert tonight On previous nights I’ve spent from 1 hour and another time, 3 (three) hours lining up in the pre-paid line from 11:00PM to finally get in at 2:00AM due to capacity issues. So be aware when buying pre-paid, as general lines (who pay more) get faster access.

There was also a guestlist line, a general line (for people who just rocked up), and also a VIP Bottle Servce entry line. Four lines in total! The line roping is almost as big as the club.

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Since Kinki @ City Hotel stopped, two events have popped up. Fabric, and tonight’s review – Taboo. We were at a booze cruise earlier, a bit tired but still keen to club. Lets check it out!

Taboo @ Verandah Bar, Sydney

Taboo used to run, years ago, down beneath Mr B’s hotel, then I think it popped up at Equilibrium / World Square Pub,  before going into hiding again. It’s finally made a return to Verandah Bar.

DJ booth

DJ booth (yes that’s a purse)

Essentials:
Opening Hours:

9:30AM – 4:00AM (?)

Address:

55-65 Elizabeth St
Entry is only available from Elizabeth St for the club event.

Venue Website:

http://www.verandah.com.au

Event Website:

http://www.fb.com/TabooSydney

Promoters:

Kick On Entertainment, Got Game Entertainment, X, As One Ent, B Diamond

Occurrence:
Tonight is the public grand opening. There was a VIP only soft launch the previous week. The event aims to run every Saturday from March 2014

Dress Code / Door Policy:
“Strict Dress Code Applies” is encouraged.  I got in with black pants, shoes, and a daggy striped jumper. My female friends wore simple black dresses. One wore flats, other heels.

Entry Fee / Cover Charge:

Paid $25 at the door full entry.

$20 on guestlist. Unknown what time the guestlist expires, but typically a guestlist will end at 11:30PM or Midnight.

Passouts/Lockout:

1:30AM Lockout applies tonight to this venue

Guestlist:

info@taboosaturdays.com.au

Table / Bottle Service

Available on enquiry. Prices unknown.

Cloak Room:
$5 Cloak per item, $2 for recheck

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It’s a grand opening, some friends were going and I had some time – so let’s check it out!

#Fabric Saturdays @ Martin Place Bar

It appears the promoters Syndicate Events and their friends have decided to end the old Kinki event and go with two separate events next door to each other. Tonight let’s suss out the offering at Martin Place Bar – #Fabric (One assumes the hashtag is silent)

2:15 // Main Room

2:15 // Main Room

Essentials:
Opening Hours:
10:00PM – 3:00AM(?) unconfirmed

Address:
51 Martin Place

Venue Website:
http://www.martinplacebar.com.au

Event Website:
http://www.fb.com/ClubFabric

Promoters:
Syndicate Events, Colab

Occurrence:
Every Saturday since March 2014

Dress Code / Door Policy:
There is no longer a dress code recommended or enforced tonight as per previous events here. Half the crowd was casual and the other half, smart casual. I got in with just a t-shirt, pants and shoes. My friend Marty got in wearing his hat. It would probably be too much to ask patrons to dance to EDM in a business shirt. Or is it?

Entry Fee / Cover Charge:

$20 Full cover charge, and $15 for guestlist entry! Wow, no longer $25 entry? $20 is back on par with other ‘premium clubs’ (barring Ivy/Marquee) but these guys were previously charging  $25 for other events. Perhaps people are getting tired of clubbing, or perhaps there is lots and lots of competition. Perhaps they make all the money with bottle service.Perhaps paying $20 for a small venue like Martin Place Bar is more appropriate.

It’s probably a mix of these factors and, in the end, the average tight ass punter wins. 

Passouts/Lockout:
Passouts/Stamps to re-enter are fine. However 1:30AM lockout laws apply to this venue.

Guestlist:
Visit the Facebook page for details.

Cloak Room:

$5 for checking in your item
$2 for recheck.

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Kin.ki @ City Hotel

On January 19, 2014, in Mr TIpplys, RnB, Top 40, by J T

A birthday tonight, its time to revisit this place!

James Tran and Mario Sydney

Kin.Ki @ City Hotel (updated 2014)
(Review combines visits on 20/5/2012 and 19/2/2014)

About: Coming from the same promoters who do the “Perfect” @ Pontoon / “Flow Fridays” event, the name “Kin.Ki” is based on its location on King St. Regardless, word was that this place was getting popular, so here we go!

Assessment Times: 12:10AM – 3:30AM (20th May 2013), 11:25PM-2:30AM (19th Jan 2014)
Opening Hours: 10:00PM – 3:30AM (on expected busy nights it may extend to 4:00AM-5:00AM)
Lockout: Unknown
Address: 347 Kent St (Corner of Kent and King St)
Venue Website: http://www.cityhotel.com.au
Event Website: http://www.facebook.com/Kinki.Saturdays
Promoter Website: http://www.syndicateevents.com.au
Occurrence: Every Saturday night since February 2012
Outside Line: We arrived a bit late, but lucky for us the line is barely there, and we got in within 5 minutes. (We did try coming here on an Easter Weekend, and the line was about 2 hours long and we gave up – so be careful. ) It was quite cold tonight and I was pretty happy to actually pay this amount, just so I could get out of the cold. If you were on the guestlist, you had to actually wait a bit longer (to time you out of discount entry).
Dress Code / Door Policy: Guys are expected to wear at least collared shirts and jeans/pants to fit in. Girls are expected to look “chick”. i.e. dress your best. Most are dressed well. No hats, thongs, singlets, runners or dirty shoes allowed. Clean sneakers appear to be okay. I had jeans / sneakers / skinny tie / collared shirt.
Entry Fee / Cover Charge: Guestlist entry $20 before midnight. I paid $25 full entry. For a special guest appearance night (e.g Mario) it is $30.
Guestlist: Send them to your preferred promoter (not me) or kinki.saturdays@gmail.com ,
Inside: Walk inside to the atrium area where there is a second room up the stairs on your left. Seating and the main bar are right in front of you and serves as the non-smoking chill out area, while the DJ and dancefloor are on the other side of the bar. The bar is of circular configuration against the right wall. It takes up about half the width of the floor space.

The dancefloor itself is just a big square floor with lounges along the walls with the DJ booth in front. Overall it is  of medium size, but compared to other “Asian” oriented events, the floor relatively larger, and can enough to hold about 150 people or so. Continue onto the rear outdoor smoking area where there are numerous more tables, couches and a second mini bar on the outside serving limited variety of shots.

Front of the dancefloor

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Thursday Nights @ Ivy Bar Sydney

On November 28, 2013, in EDM, Ivy Bar, Old School, RnB, Top 40, by J T

I wanted to review another club tonight on my own but my friend has somehow gotten me to join him for a farewell party at the Ivy. It was free entry, and what do you know.. I stayed here all night:

Main room

Main room (view from the rear)

Thursdays @ Ivy Bar, Sydney
NB: This review is for the regular Thursday nights in the main building, and not for Pool Club Thursdays, held in Building 2

Essentials:

Opening Hours:
Ivy is open all day, but the clubbing tone (and volume of music) is turned up at 11:00PM

Address:
330 George St. Entrance is via a side entrance and through the back.

Venue Website:
http://merivale.com/ivy

Promoters:
Self promoted

Occurrence:
Every Thursday

Dress Code / Door Policy:
No dress code enforced. Any attire is accepted here tonight. Girls did their most part to dress well to impress while guys were a bit of a mixed bag of smart casual towards dirty casual (thank you backpackers)

Entry Fee / Cover Charge:
Free entry all night. Amazing for a place such as Ivy

Passouts:
No passout rules enforced

Guestlist:
Not Applicable

Cloak Room:
Cloak room is free, and is accessed in the second building at reception

Tonight:
Assessment Time
11:15PM – 2:30AM

Outside Line:
There is a constant stream of people walking into the Ivy, however because there’s no cashier to collect money, there wasn’t much lining up to do. I probably waited 1 minute in line.

Inside
The main building is open for free entry tonight. The Pool Club is also free, but is not reviewed tonight.

Bar Prices / Line:
I didn’t buy any drinks tonight but, according to friends, the wait for a drink downstairs was about 1 or 2 orders.

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