Deciding between Establishment or O2 – We are all pretty indecisive. None of us have been to either place and, well, I was calling the venue tonight. A friend’s mobile rings and her ringtone is a hip hop song.  Haha, well… O2 it is then… here we go!

Dancefloor under UV light - O2 Nightclub Sydney

Dancefloor under UV light - O2 Nightclub Sydney

Oxygen Saturdays @ O2 Nightclub Sydney
Assessment Time: 11:15PM – 04:00AM
Opening Hours: 9:00PM – 5:00AM
Lockout: None. I had a friend enter freely at 3:00AM
Address: 247 Pitt St, Sydney. There are no clear visible signs to get to the door. Enter the mall via the “Coolabar” sign – there might be a red carpet and standing poster to point users to the O2 nightclub. Head up two sets of escalators to reach level two, where O2 nightclub resides, opposite Coolabar itself. It is also where the Monorail station is located. Bear in mind that O2 and Coolabar are two separate venues on the same level.
Venue Website: http://www.o2nightclub.com.au
Promoter Website: http://www.meentertainment.com.au
Occurrence: Every Saturday night.
Dress Code / Door Policy: Casual is ok. hats are ok. On the door it was stated that “absolutely no Sports Gear allowed”, because this is the place where NRL players head to go clubbing after a big match, right? Right? (the answer is no). Tonight’s theme is a White Party. Most girls wore casual dresses. A lot of the guys here were dressed in urban street gear, complete with hats and sometimes even sunglasses. I saw a T-Pain lookalike in here, you get a glimpse of him on the dancefloor walkthrough video. I really should have research before coming here tonight – Gandalf the white would have made an easy return, but I guess not tonight.
Entry Fee / Cover Charge: Guestlist pricing unknown. $25 full cover charge. $20 if you were wearing white.  My friend got in at 3AM for free after waiting a few moments for the door girl to pack up to go home. That’s an asian for you.
Guestlist: info@meentertainment.com.au
Inside: Walk inside to the main room on the right and the bar/lounge on the left. Bar on the left spans half the length of the venue. Around the corner near the bar are lounges / bathroom / cloak room / chill out area for 40 or so people. Back to the dancefloor, the DJ takes one corner of the wooden floor to hold about 100-140 people. There is also an upper area with a second bar – this can be reserved for special functions, and has a dancing pole and dancefloor for 20-30 people. The dance area is bathed in UV light.
Cloak Room: Cloak room services offered but it was full tonight. FULL AT 11.15PM. Ridiculous. People are putting their belongings on tables and stools nearby and hope for the best. We left our jackets behind one of the speakers on the dancefloor. At the end of the night, my jacket was covered in someone’s spilled drink. Sigh.
Bar Prices / Line: $4 for an Orange Juice. (yes, I was not drinking tonight) . Fishbowl size drinks are offered at the bar and many people are buying them.
DJs: No idea.
Music Style: Most of the songs tonight were of RnB, but this place was heavily guilty of playing Rihanna’s “Rude Boy” at least 3 times during the night. Utterly sick of that song to death now. Otherwise there were some hip hop/rap songs thrown into the mix later in the night after 1AM. There was also some house songs thrown in for mashup.
Crowd: From 11-1.30ish, it was a mixed crowd. The two main groups were Euros and Africans. There were a handful of Asians, but we were the main Asian group in here. After 1.30am, most of the white crowd had left and more of the Africans came in. Hard to tell the age of the crowd, but there was a Hen’s night here, and some older looking folk, so the crowd would be ranging from their early 20’s to early 30’s.
Entertainment: an MC to keep things going. Tonight was a white theme, so there were white balloons dotted around the place.
Atmosphere: On the dancefloor and upper level, it was pretty busy throughout the night. Not packed, but busy enough to not be able to dance freely. On the other side though, the lounge was never really full at all – you could usually find a lounge seat to rest on. When we left, the main dancefloor was still going at about 70 per cent capacity, which is very good for any place. Throughout the whole night it was pretty cool temperature wise – only one or two moments where I felt a little warm after some vigorous dancing – you could however escape to another area of the club to cool down. People mostly kept to themselves except if you knew other people here.
Video: 360 of the dancefloor
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Video: Walkthrough – Bar, Lounge, back to the main dancefloor. You can sort of spot the VIP area where the white balloons are.  Taken 11PM, so still early days.
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NB: The Bank Nightclub was forced to close in 2013 after a successful 3 year run. This review remains on the site for archive purposes.

The Bank Nightclub

Absolutely sick of RnB clubs and lack of diverse offerings on Friday lately, so I decided to go to Kings Cross – Specifically at a place called The Bank, where I read it was refurbished recently. I needed some house music, and M comes along. What do you know as we walk in – It’s RnB! ahahah far our brussel sprouts. It looks really nice though and I don’t see many asians at all, so we go in anyway – here we go!

 

Addiction (Final Night) @ The Bank Nightclub, Kings Cross, Sydney
Assessment Time: 11:00PM – 01:30AM, 02:00AM – 03:45AM
Opening Hours: 10:00PM – 04:00AM (closing time uncertain)
Lockout: None
Website: http://www.thebanknightclub.com.au , http://www.meentertainment.com.au
Address:42 Darlinghurst Road, Kings Cross Sydney
Dress Code / Door Policy: Casual ok. Hats are ok. It’s mostly urban here with the guys, and the women are all dressed up.
Entry Fee / Cover Charge: $20. Free before 10pm and discount after, if on the guestlist.
Guestlist: info@meentertainment.com.au
Inside: The venue itself is definitely suave with the feel of elegance. Dark polished wood everywhere, carpeted lounge areas. Ground level holds the narrow but long dancefloor for 150 or so people. Upstairs overhangs a balcony / 2nd tier lounge dance area but it is closed off for tonight. Bar is on the right with a shelf of alcohol which adorns side wall. So many bottles of Jagermeister 🙂
Cloak Room:None offered
Bar: $5 for most drinks before 11pm. Standard prices thereafter.
DJs: I don’t know but at one point they had DJ’s at the same time, albiet alternatively spinning and mixing into each other’s songs instead of playing at the same time.
Music: Hip Hop and RNB, mostly on the Hip hop side of things. Usually at the RnB club , you would hear Snoop Dogg and Dr Dre west coast rap at 2am – tonight it was being blazed out at 11pm. It may not be for everyone. I do like my hip hop, but there were some songs that I didnt know either. There were multiple moments where M and I considered leaving the club due to a questionable or unknown song being played by the DJ, but since we already paid $20 to get in, we stayed another song. Also throughout the night a random house song would be played out as well. It was a mind fuck, and not in a good way. Also near closing time, the DJ was guilty of playing songs a second time, even thought it was a different DJ. – totally wrong
Crowd:Initially an even mix of aussies, wogs / euros, and black / african people. There are also a handful of asians. Ages were probably 20’s or older. There did not seem to be any policy or any pretension in this place. Later on in the night approaching 2-3am, the crowd becomes a ratio of 50% black african and 50% everyone else. Some of the girls left were hot so it kept us staying. Shameless.
Entertainment:MC to keep the vibe going throughout the night. No other entertainment. At one point in the night, 2 DJ’s were playing , switching songs with each other, which was something I hadn’t seen before at a club.
Atmosphere:Initially at entering at 11pm, it’s pretty good and everyone is dancing, which is bloody surprising. Hopes are up, however it doesn’t really get any busier, and stays at the busy state throughout the night, which is still good. In terms of friendliness, it was dark enough to dance on your own, but since it was such a small dancefloor cross-area, you are always under the eyes of someone as you dance.
Video Walkthrough of The Bank Nightclub
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Star Bar 19/03/2010

Star Bar 19th March 2010

Friends of M have forced me to go to Star Bar, after leaving the dismal Shark Hotel. I have only 3 passes this year to visit Star Bar as part of my new years resolution, and after tonight, I will only have one left. So M and I go in for a dance.. here we go!

Fridays @ Star Bar
Assessment Time: 01:30 – 03:00pm
Opening Hours: Star Bar is open from the morning. DJ starts cranking the music about 10pm. Upstairs dancing area closes at 3am. Downstairs lounge closes at 6am.
Address: 600 George St
Dress Code / Door Policy: Casual ok. Door policy regarding groups of guys is tight early in the night, but generally after 1am, anyone is allowed in.
Entry Fee / Cover Charge: Free the entire night.
Guestlist: None needed due to the free entry. However if you happen to organise an event here, a guestlist can be sorted out to allow you through security during the tightened Door Policy period early in the night. Email is info@starbar.com.au
Inside: 3 levels for the entire bar, but the dancefloor is on the top level. The top level has a small pool area at the back with 2 tables. In the middle is a large seating area. Along the walls are more seats and tables. The dancefloor is next to here, holding upto 350 people. It’s large compared to the other dancefloors in Sydney. DJ on one end, and 2 bars to service everyone on this level.
Cloak Room: none
Bar: 2 Bars. Prices unknown.
Music: Pop, RnB, Hip Hop, commerical house, Top40
Crowd: This is where most of the asian backpackers can be found by default. The rest of the people here are also backpackers from europe and Africa. There are also a strong Indian presence. I always feel out of place here.
Entertainment: Free glowsticks thrown into the crowd later in the night.
Atmosphere: Dark, party atmosphere. Though it does get pretty humid in here. If you’re a girl, be prepared to be hit on by many a man.
Keep reading about my cut lip and M’s smackdown!
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