Despite the name, promotional flyers do not advertise what the acronym stands for (it is named after a popular mixed shot drink), rather they state other clever QF acronyms to what QF stands for. However, we *all* know what they are on about…. unless you have never had a QF shot before – which in case you should try it out, you innocent 18 year old you. Anyway, was here to check out QF @ Mansions for a birthday, so here we go!

DJ area with smokes, lighting etc

DJ area with smokes, lighting etc

QF @ Mansions Hotel (I think at time of writing this event has ceased)

Assessment Time: 11:30PM – 01:45AM
Opening Hours: 10:00PM – 03:00AM (?)
Lockout: No lockout as far as I believe, however there are no pass-outs before midnight.
Address: 14 Oxford Square, (Oxford St), Darlinghurst Sydney. It’s right next to The Gaff, opposite Hungry Jacks. It’s basically an expanded/extended smoking area of The Gaff, but for tonight is closed off on its own to hold its own venue.
Venue Website: http://www.thegaff.com.au until the official website is launched (at time of writing)
Promoter Website: http://www.urbanagent.com.au
Occurrence: Every Friday
Outside Line: No line outside when we arrived.
Dress Code / Door Policy: Pretty much casual/smart casual here tonight, which was the case here.
Entry Fee / Cover Charge: $25 standard entry, $20 guestlist entry. Free before 10:30PM on guestlist and discounted ($5 off) entry before midnight.
Guestlist: qf@urbanagent.com.au
Inside: It’s a small/cosy venue. After you finally find the place, you will notice the smoking balcony area next to the entrance, access from the inside. Walk inside through the entry room to enter the main dancefloor to hold a small crowd of 50 or so people. DJ is on an overhanging mini balcony setup in the far right corner. This takes up about one third of the floor area of the venue. Walk to the left to where multiple lounges reside for about 4 or 5 separate parties, with a slightly larger VIP areas (for 10) in the far corner next to the bar and one on the opposite side of the lounge area (for approx 10-20). Middle area of the lounge is more of less standing area, while the bar is on the far left wall of the middle lounge area.
Cloak Room: Cloak room services at $4 (or it could have been $5) per item. Very reasonable.
Bar Prices / Line: There’s about 1 or 2 people in front of you. The wait can be between 2 minutes to 10 minutes. Bad luck if you are a guy at this venue, as the bartender told me girls get priority over the guys here. WHAT!! That’s so unfair. All I wanted was a glass of water. HMPH! Lucky if you’re a girl.
DJs: Unknown
Music Style: Primarily Contemporary African American RnB/Pop, with classics on later in the night as well as the occasional house mashup thrown in throughout the night.
Crowd & Ratio: Pretty much mostly Asian. It’s a mix of local Aussie Asians and Asians from a non-English speaking background. There are some Anglos here who got lost or sneaked into the venue here from the Gaff next door. Despite having a tape at the junction between the Gaff and Mansions, it was noted that a handful of people did just simply walk in, in front of everybody present. This happened last time as when I was here at Mansions.
Entertainment: Podium dancers! Of course that meant podiums on the dancefloor, and one in the lounge area as well. They brought in Anglo-Saxon dancers, who probably were a bit fascinated to dance at an Asian RnB event. Lights were brought in as well tonight. Also on board are photographers to take your shots. Because it was such a small venue, a photo of you would probably be taken multiple times throughout the night.
Atmosphere: It’s a small place, and upon entry I was expecting a lot of people but the place wasn’t even half full yet. I was able to go in and find a place to sit down and chillax. Quite the difference from the previous Friday “Shanghai Nights” at Brooklyn Hotel, where even though the place was stinking full of people, at least there were people. It’s a tough job being a promter. Anyway, I was pretty underwhelmed with the turnout. Between midnight and 1:00AM it was very good on the dancefloor where everyone was, and during this time it did feel like a club atmosphere, but this left the lounge area half of the venue largely empty, not that anybody cared. At around 1:30-02:00AM the place was pretty much dying or close to dead. Not even folk who came in from next door could save it. I was tempted to leave altogether just before 1AM.. it was that bad in my experience.
Video: Walkthrough
YouTube Preview Image

Timeline
A first time clubber
Well, we met someone who claimed it was her first time clubbing. Alright, it was time to show her how it was done! Jumped right onto the podium and went through my standard silly dance moves. The crowd are amused and the photographers, who have pretty much photographed everything there was by now, are having a ball of a time taking photos of me. The real dancers joke and laugh and cheer me on. Of course they are better than me, but were they gutsy enough to come up and show your their stuff? Nah – they were way too modest, even though there was an empty podium on the other side of the room. Oh well, I TAKE ALL THE ATTENTION THANK YOU VERY MUCH NOW 🙂

General crowd shot - QF @ Mansions nightclub

General crowd shot - QF @ Mansions nightclub

Best thing about her first time clubbing was that this place has set the standard. And that standard wasn’t set too high. From now on she will have a massively awesome time to any club she visits. Ha!

You don’t know who I am! Hectic.
Blah blah blah. We are talking. Standard run of the mill conversation:
James: “I’m James”
Promoter: “I’m xxxxx”
James: “What brings you here?”.
Promoter: “i’m a promoter here”
James: “Oh, really”
Promoter: “Yeah,, you know. Urban Agent?”
James: “I know”. <pause>
Promoter: “why are you here?”
James: I don’t remember what I said, but at this point in time I was surprised that he didn’t know who I was. In the past few months, any Asian promoters I came across knew who I was, so I just guessed most Asian promoters in Sydney knew of me. Apparently I am wrong – it’s a good thing as I like to be sneaky when doing a review. 
Promoter: “I just started promoting”
Oh.. that explains it.

He was a nice friendly guy making sure people and guests are happy, as promoters should be.

01:30AM looking at the bar

01:30AM looking at the bar

Arrivederci
The place was dying, and we were here for about 30 minutes too long. We left.

Recommendation
I would say considering I’ve been here twice under two different promoters, that its best to visit this place just once to see what its like (it’s a good experience to go to a small club once in your life), then avoid going there again by free will, unless it’s for a birthday, cheap drinks (and free entry) or something you are not allowed to miss. If the juggernaut that is Urban Agent can’t take this place to capacity or close to it, I don’t know what will.

QF @ Mansions Nightclub: Friday 3rd December 2010: 3/10


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One Response to QF @ Mansions Nightclub (The Gaff): Friday 3rd December 2010

  1. James says:

    Just confirming this event lasted no longer than 3-4 weeks before being aborted by the promoters

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