I’m on holiday. It’s a Wednesday. I lost my phone at the last nightclub and I had it returned. It’s time to celebrate at Luxy Nightclub tonight. So here we go!
Wednesdays @ Luxy Club,
Opened in 2003, Luxy has become a staple nightclub for foreigners to visit. It’s one of the most known and I think the oldest running nightclub in Taipei. Often big international acts come to play here. It is also popular among some locals as well.
View from the front looking towards the back
Essentials:
Opening Hours:
22:00PM – 04:00AM
Address
5th Level/Floor, No. 201, Sec. 4, Zhong-Xiao East Road, Taipei, Taiwan 106
You walk into the building and the entrance is on Ground floor. You will then be whisked up the elevators to the proper club level.
Venue Website:
http://www.luxy-taipei.com/
Event Website:
https://www.facebook.com/luxy.taipei.fans
Promoters:
Self promoted.
Occurrence:
Every week since 2003.
Dress Code / Door Policy:
On Wednesday night, there is not real enforcement of any dress code. Friends got in with hoodies, hats. However inside it’s a mixed bag of well dressed guys with collared shirts and dress shoes to the casual person (myself with my running shoes, jeans, and collared shirt). Girls are also just as guilty with a mixed combination of nice dresses towards casual
Entry Fee / Cover Charge:
$500NTD ($20AUD) to enter. The entry fee includes 2 free drinks.
Passouts: N/A
We got in at 10:45PM, saw how dead it was and left. There was no problems with leaving.
Guestlist:
See website. You can also contact 0955 904 600
Cloak Room:
Luxy has self-serve lockers. Rental of a locker is $20 NTD (Just less than $1AUD)
Tonight: Wednesday is ladies night..
Assessment Time:
Dropped in at 10:45PM
Returned 12:45AM – 4:00AM (closing)
Outside Line:
Pretty much 3 or 4 people at the time. No waiting time.
Inside:
Luxy is on level 2. Enter the ground floor for security checks and head up the elevator.
Upon entry into the lobby, you’re in a laser beam light room. It’s a bit confusing when you first encounter it.
Elevator Lobby; Green Lights
Don’t leave the laser too long in your mouth, it actually heats the inside of your mouth up, and probably kills some cells along the way.
Head on to enter the back of the Luxy nightclub. The complex is one big room with a balcony at the back, overlooking down towards the dance floor. The circular bar is at the back and is well-lit. Surrounding the bar areas are the various lounges which are reserved for bottle service customers.
The Main Bar at Luxy Nightclub
At the front is the dance floor, sunken from the rest of the venue to hold about 50-80 people. There is also a long dancing pole, while the DJ is an raised stage away from the rest of the crowd. I assume that the stage is used more for big bands or acts to set up and play on here while maintaining distance from the crowd.
3:00AM on the Dance Floor
Bar Prices / Line:
$200 NTD per shot (Approx $7-$8AUD)
Bottle service pricing: Unknown.
We did what most other smart people did and had pre-drinks at 7-Eleven, about ten minutes walk away.
Bathroom Facilities:
Little to no line at all. Clean toilet facilities
DJs:
Unknown, I think just the resident DJs playing tonight
Music Style:
EDM Tunes, RnB, Top 40. Mostly all the party tunes that people are familiar with.
Crowd:
There are quite a lot of foreigners. I met Russians, Singaporeans, Japanese, Chinese, and of course Australians. I didn’t really interact with any local Taiwanese people here as I can’t really speak Mandarin.
Ratio:
10:45PM – 12 guys when we initially had a sneak peek. Left after five minutes for pre-drinking somewhere else.
12:45PM – Girls were here! Ratio was still poor at probably 4 guys 1 girl.
Continue reading »
Friends have ditched me at Room 18, and have told me to join them at Spark. I say goodbye to random new friends made and get a taxi to Taipei 101 building. The next place is Spark Nightclub, so here we go!
Saturdays @ Spark Nightclub (Taipei 101 building), Xinyi district, Taipei City
Essentials:
Bar – 1:45AM
Opening Hours:
The place is open everyday of the week, but the clubbing nights are Wednesday, Friday and Saturday
Address:
B1No. 45, Shìfǔ Rd, Xinyi District, Taipei City, 110
Pretty much just walk towards Taipei 101, and run around until you see a set of stairs. Go down and around to the left and that’s the entrance to Spark Nightclub.
Venue Website:
http://www.spark101.com.tw/101/
Event Website:
Website or https://www.facebook.com/spark101
Promoters:
Self promoted
Occurrence:
Every weekend since opening in 2009
Dress Code / Door Policy:
Most guys wore collared shirts, and girls wore dresses. However the dress code isn’t strict at all. Hoodies were allowed, and I was wearing my dirty sneakers. Inside the club it’s so crowded and dark nobody is going to see what shoes you are wearing anyway.
Entry Fee / Cover Charge:
Unknown tonight, I just scored got free entry from a friend
Passouts:
Unknown
Guestlist:
02.8101.8662 or refer to Facebook page
Continue reading »
Landed in Taipei at around 8PM from Sydney with some friends. So tired but we have been told that we are to go clubbing tonight. I have no say in the matter whatsoever.. oh.. alriiight. So we have come to Room 18 for ‘pre clubbing’. ie Clubbing before going to a more popular club. This tends to be normal here… here we go!
Bar staff
Website: http://www.room18.com.tw/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Room18.Taipei
Address: b1, No. 88, Songren Rd., Taipei
Contact: +8862 23452778
Opening Days: WED / FRI / SAT : pm 10:30 ~ am 05:00 (視當日營業狀況而定). Today is a Saturday night.
Dress Code / Door Policy: People don’t give a crap what you wear. Casual is fine, because clubs get quite warm. We wore sports shoes, jeans, and a dress shirt to be safe.
Entry Fee / Cover Charge: Unknown. Our friend got us in free. We also skipped the line.
Passouts: Unknown.
Guestlist: Please refer to website
Cloak Room: Unknown if available
Continue reading »
For the first time the first big summer festival has gone for 2 days. With it came a $200+ price tag. Hilarious as on the day scalpers were desperately selling their tickets, and friends were snapping up tickets for as low as $40.
I dressed up as a Banana, because the costume was just lying there.
Call me Eric
In summary
– Two days (Saturday and Sunday) was a bit too long for me (I did go clubbing after the first day on Saturday, though).
– $8 cloak room
Drinks:
– Expensive as usual $8 for half strength middies
– $11-$12 for Vodka Red Bull cups.
Food
– $12 for lamb souvlaki hot dog
Disappointing things
– David Guetta / Armin , as much as I like them … just never sound as good on an open air stage. Though “ping pong” by Armin van Buuren was a highlight of his set.
– Nobody seemed to enjoy Empire of the Sun until they played their big hits.
– The price of drinks and food. At least some bartenders gave discounts to me 😉
– Security policing two person ladders in some rooms!! Boo
– Cigarettes everywhere
– It was absolutely so shit that the Ferry Corsten Room / Kabuki Room was relatively ‘small’ and was closed off earlier in the day.
Good things
– Axwell (played a lot of Swedish House Mafia Songs)
– Andrew Rayel
– Gareth Emery
– Zedd. Nice save in the middle of his set when the music cut off. He got the crowd to sing along to Clarity until music went back up again. Some crazy German girl grinded my banana suit for about 20 minutes and forced me to hold her. I only wanted to enjoy the music.
– That temporary DJ that stood in for Alesso, mainly cause he played hit after hit.
– Calvin was alright as well
– David Guetta looking like Jesus, as per Champagne Showers.
– Nandos is cheaper than normal shops here. (it was the same price as normal Nando outlets)
Videos
Me Harassing someone at Stereo
Stereosonic Sydney Main Stage Music Timeline
Full On /Kabuki Room presented by Ferry Corsten (Day 1 only)
Photos
Would I go again?
I was quite hesistant to go this year (I have seen most of the acts already from previous festivals), and I am less likely to go next year unless its an epic line up or price drops considerably. But you never know.
My advice (if you have been to a festival before) is to wait until some of the headliners announce side shows, as they usually stay in town for a few days to play surprise last minute side shows. Armin has done it two appearances in a row and some others have done sets at other clubs as well.
If you haven’t been before, its good to go for the experience, and then don’t go again. Unless you’re into shredding and parading your gainzzz.
There was a low point in my clubbing career that we frequented Star Bar all the time. The humidity, the seedy crowd, the sticky floors, the fights.. it was all a bit too much for us and Marty and I exercised a 1 year self imposed ban on Star Bar.. this in turn helped me discover better nightclubs in Sydney.
Now Star Bar has undergone its biggest renovation since the renaming from Planet Hollywood in the 90’s. Star Bar has renamed it’s nightclub level to Studio One, and it’s about to officially launch 7th December. Since Studio One is already open to the public, I thought I would go in for a sneak peek the week beforehand:
New things
– As you walk up the stairs the huge central dome seating area is gone. There is more seating in its place but it flows better.
– The main bar is now on the left, and no longer the one at the far end of the club
– The decor is modern, with tables and chairs all one even platform instead of tables and chairs being in separate lounges/groupings
– Remnants of 1990’s Planet Hollywood are pretty much all gone and have been literally ‘shelved’ into the back of a wall
– The dance floor is purposely been made sunken (via the trickery of raising the rest of the seating areas) so there is a proper segregation of the dancing area from the seating areas.
– A new, third, bar has been created on the top floor.
Video – 29th Nov 2013
Friday Night @ 1:30AM
I think it’s a definite improvement but at the same time it is shedding its image of being a free club to go to, with upcoming events promising cover charge / cover fee to enter. You will still be able to access the ground level for (I’m guessing) cheap drinks, but the upper club that is Studio One will be a separate money-making entity. The stratagem will likely push away the tight arses / backpackers to other free entry clubs nearby such as Cheers/80 Proof, 3 Wise Monkeys, Bar Century, Shark Hotel etc nearby.
It will be interesting to see how it goes.
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 (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.
Continue reading »
Prelude: We just survived a crazy set from DJ Shogun at Manning Bar. We met Shogun afterwards and asked what he was doing after? It was already 1:30AM. “I’m going to the Shanghai Nights thingy to party! Come and party with me!” Oh my god. Shogun wants us to come with him. Anything you say Mr Shogun. Time to go!
Shanghai Nights @ Space Nightclub
The name Shanghai Nights has been resurrected as a replacement for the Cubic event. It’s the same promoters, but the obvious target audience now are Chinese expats, rather than Cubic trying to attract both the locals and expats. Memories of Shanghai Nights at the previous venue conjour up images of busy crowds, cigarette smoke and asians everywhere. Probably not going to be the same here tonight but it’s always good to find out!
Essentials:
Opening Hours:
10:30PM – 4:00AM?
Address:
127 Liverpool st – enter via the second line to get your name marked off guestlist etc. Otherwise you may enter via the normal Shark Hotel line and walk in. After entering the Shark hotel floor, you may proceed to level 2 where Space Nightclub is.
Venue Website: http://www.spacevenue.com.au
Event Website: http://www.fb.com/shanghainightssyd
Promoters: Urban Agent, et al.
Occurrence: Every Friday since February 2013 at Space Nightclub.
Dress Code / Door Policy:
I was really casual. Jeans, running sneakers, t-shirt, leather jacket and I was let in.
Entry Fee / Cover Charge:
$25 after midnight. Cash only accepted.
Passouts:
No passouts before midnight (??)
Guestlist:
rob@ua.com.au
Cloak Room:
$5 per item.
Continue reading »