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!

Pumphouse Crowd Main Floor 1:15AM

Pumphouse Crowd Main Floor II

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
YouTube Preview Image

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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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Tonight is boxing day. I am at World Square Pub, while my dance buddy M visits his new found glory hole Bamboo @ Martin Place Bar and bumps into my friend Special K. I was meant to turn up but I happily dogged them for the once off Funky Buddha event tonight – anyway M has been kind enough to write a review for the website for tonight!!! (As of April 2010) Both M and Special K have made an established name for themselves at the venue, amongst patrons and staff, thanks to their ‘incredible’ dancing. So read on below my dear reader, and delve into the thoughts of one half of the new dance couple of Bamboo!

BAMBOO @ Martin Place Bar: 26th December 2009 [Boxing Day]

( Review submitted  by M )

Assessment Time: 10.20 PM – 3 AM
Address: 51 martin place corner of Elizabeth Street, Sydney
Dress Code: Casual tonight. Although security stated a “No hat” policy, I was not harrassed to take my hat off at all inside at any time. The Asian girls here dress to impress in tight fitting cocktail dresses.
Entry fee/Cover Charge: A scandalous $25 general entry, $20 Guestlist.
Inside: DJ stand at the front towards the entrance, opposite the admissions booth. One room, a bar turned dance club so the whole floor serves as a dancefloor; moderately spacious for about 50 – 70 people, but usually packed like sardines since the crowds always exceed that amount by at least triple and a half. Two bars, main bar along the left side wall, smaller bar in a VIP section at the back. More lounges for general use towards the far back right and a cloakroom there as well. Two square platforms along the right side for the brave and the wild [One usually occupied by JASON the notorious Bamboo Bum dancer] and a podium with a Pole on it for pole dancing!

VIP section has three lounges enough to fit about 12 people comfortably, with standing space and a table in the centre of it for mingling.

Large outdoor smoking area, not very sheltered so some of the drizzle was getting on the floor and people were getting a little damp but no one seemed to mind.
Cloakroom: Yes

Music: Predominantly RnB/Hip Hop, some House. DJ was decent with his mix.
Entertainment: Live MC keeping things fresh, and professional dancers on the platform for some decent intervals throughout the night, scantily clad and quite decent looking! There were even some majorly buff male strippers in bowties at the start of the night dispensing some sort of promotional freebies for the ladies.
Crowd/Atmosphere: Crowd is almost saturated with asians. I might have seen about 4 people that were caucasion the whole night. There was a decent turn out for Boxing Day, floor got reasonably packed towards midnight, but not as terrible as what I’m used to other times I’ve done Bamboo, and a lot better than some other clubs such as Chinese Laundry where ventilation is shocking.

Very laid back atmosphere due to the RnB, but still totally pumping. It was Boxing Day and everyone was in a great mood. There was only one scuffle with some Koreans getting a little hot under the collar, but no one was thrown out since it dissolved in a hurry and no punches were thrown. Security was quite relaxed tonight a good many of the people I was hanging out with that night were pretty much falling off the platforms blind drunk with 8 standard drinks in them but yet no one was removed due to intoxication.

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