A friend was coming here for the return of this once off event on Boxing Day. I couldn’t think of any other place to go tonight, as it was a Sunday. I’ve always been unsatisfied with dance events held at Pumphouse (moreso than others) so I have come in with low expectations.. here we go!
Mix @ Pumphouse
Assessment Time: 11:30PM – 02:40AM
Opening Hours: 10/10.30 – 3/4AM?
Lockout: Didn’t appear to be a lockout when we left.
Address: 17 Little Pier St, Darling Harbour, Sydney. It is right next to the Entertainment Centre.
Venue Website: http://www.pumphousebar.com.au
Promoter Website: http://www.thesyndicateevents.com.au http://www.myspace.com/colab3000
Occurrence: Tonight was a relaunch of the event, but at time of writing it is unknown whether it is a regular event.
Outside Line: There wasn’t much of a line at all. There were 3 patrons in front of us lining up. Very quick.
Dress Code / Door Policy: Most attire is accepted tonight. Most girls dressed well with heels. Guys were a mix of collared shirts and normal t-shirts with jeans. Hats were allowed in here. Chucks / sneakers are allowed. It’s a very casual scene tonight.
Entry Fee / Cover Charge: $15 for pre-sale tickets. Otherwise $25 at the door.
Guestlist: I’m not sure. This appeared to be a pre-paid ticketed event and not a guestlisted event.
Inside: Entry is through the side of the covered patio on ground level. The cloak room can be found here. Walk to your left into the main open area to a wooden dancefloor to hold around 150 people. Various lounges line the 2 walls. A stairwell on the left and the sole bar to the right cover the other two walls. Overhead along three walls is Level 1, where the DJ is positioned as well as extra chairs, lounges and patio. You are able to look down upon the crowd from here. Smoking take place outside the entrance.
Cloak Room: $3 per item. Perfect.
Bar Prices / Line: You would have to wait 1 or 2 orders before you got your turn here. Around a 5 minute wait. Prices unknown.
DJs: Moto, Edo, Biggie, Bonniez, Flipsta, Stunna
Music Style: Tonight is American contemporary RnB, and the DJ list reflects this. There are also some house songs and old school 90’s and 00’s RnB songs thrown in. There wasn’t anything to complain about here, it was a good safe typical rnb mix of songs.
Crowd & Ratio: Crowd is mostly Asian Australian. Age would be low 20’s to high 20’s on average, from what I could ascertain. There are also some regular dancers here who show off their dancing at times. Ratio wise, there were of course more guys than girls here, but just enough girls to not become a sausage fest.
Entertainment: MC Phili to keep things going.
Atmosphere: The dancefloor is busy throughout the night. Upstairs is pretty dead throughout, even though it is open access to all patrons. Most people kept to themselves here – the socialising was done outside.
Video: 370 view from the corner of the dancefloor
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Funky Buddha @ World Square Pub (Equilibrium): Saturday 26th December 2009
Assessment Time: 23:45 – 1:30am??
Website: http://www.funkybuddha.com.au
Address: Address: 680 George St Sydney (Formerly Equilibrium)
Dress Code: Casual ok. Guys wore smart casual, girls wore dresses.
Door Policy: You will be rejected if you are a group of guys. You will be told to leave if there are not enough girls. This is apparently WSP policy. At least they’re honest.
Entry Fee / Cover Charge: I forget. $20 I think.
Guestlist: See Website
Inside: Upstairs room to hold a small group of 200, dark. Also downstairs open area for Trance to hold 50 or so people. Well lit.
Cloak Room: None
Bar: $5 Gin and Tonics
Music: RnB upstairs, typical contemporary and classic songs. Downstairs area was the trance area, which was a welcome surprise.
Crowd: Almost entirely Asian
Entertainment: MC Upstairs
Atmosphere: Pretty packed. Pretty, pretty packed. The whole city was pretty packed – it always happens that Boxing Day never disappoints in terms of crowd attendance.
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