After leaving Sideways Fridays @ Phoenix Bar, we are now looking for clubs that are still going strong after 2AM on Oxford St.. we came across Oxford Art Factory – a little favourite of mine, hope its still good – here we go!
Crowd - Live Art Space (3:30AM)
Friday I’m In Love @ Oxford Art Factory
Assessment Time: 2:10AM – 4:00AM
Opening Hours: 6PM to late.
Lockout: Unknown.
Address: 38-46 Oxford St, Darlinghurst, Sydney
Venue Website: http://www.oxfordartfactory.com/
Promoter Website: Appears to be self promoted. But there was probably an act earlier on in the night at the Live Art Space Room.
Occurrence: Every Friday.
Outside Line: There looks like a line but its actually a smoking area – there was no line upon approaching and entry. I’m sure though that during peak hours there would be a huge line outside.
Dress Code / Door Policy: Pretty casual. Not sure about hats – didn’t spot anyone with hats.
Entry Fee / Cover Charge: Free at time of entry for the Live Art Space Room, but this is normal after 2AM. Unknown whether there was cover charge beforehand. Free all night in the smaller Art After Hours Room.
Guestlist: None at this time
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Miles Dyson, the German DJ I accidentally experienced in 2008, was in town again. I had been given copy of his Triple J mix up CD that night, and by now I was a fan of his music, so I thought I would check it out again, so we go!
The Main Room of Oxford Art Factory
Fridays (Miles Dyson) @ Oxford Art Factory
Assessment Time: 12:30AM – 03:15AM
Opening Hours: 8:00PM – 5:00AM or 6:00AM
Lockout: None
Address: 46 Oxford St, Sydney
Venue Website: http://www.oxfordartfactory.com
Promoter Website: www.atmydestination.com
Occurrence: Every Friday
Dress Code / Door Policy: Casual was the norm here. anything goes.
Entry Fee / Cover Charge: $25 for the main room. Free in the smaller room. After 2AM, it was free for all. I think this was total bullshit, as the main DJ Miles Dyson’s set didn’t finish until 3AM. People were able to experience one half of the DJ set. I wouldn’t complain if I was on the freebie side, but tonight I am on the paying side of things, and I wasn’t happy about it. The guy who was supposed to check for stamps via the back entrance was just hanging out at the other back door protecting the beer storage. Useless.
Guestlist: None
Inside: Walk inside and underground to the first room which was the main stage area for DJ acts. This room had an upper lounge area overlooking the dancefloor, which could hold 100 people or so comfortably. Bar on the right wall, and stools, chairs, lounges on the left side of the lower floor. Continue walking to the other room which is a bit smaller. Bar on the left, lounges on the right and a narrow strip in the middle to mingle around. This could hold about 80 or so people.
Cloak Room: Located in the smaller room entrance for $3 an item. Non-Asian venues get it so cheap.
Bar Prices / Line: Didn’t drink tonight, but in the small room the line was a few people deep, while in the main room, there was really no line at all – you could get service anytime you wanted.
DJs: Main room: 9PM-11PM Random Weapon, 11PM-1AM Datadex, 1AM-3AM Miles Dyson (GER), 3AM-4:30AM Karton (ACT), 4:30-Close Audiophilez
Music Style: Electro House, Breaks. I do like my electro house music. Miles probably played a lot of his classic songs and some new ones thrown in as well. You would enjoy this set if you were familiar with the music. There was a moment or two where I couldn’t feel the rhythm and dance halfway through the set but otherwise I was pretty happy with the set. The euphoria of having Miles come back was good enough to keep me going throughout.
Crowd: For the Miles Dyson set, it was the initial core of Miles Dyson fans and friends they dragged along. Mostly a 20’s crowd, caucasian. Spotted probably 4 other Asians in here.
Entertainment: No extra things here
Atmosphere: Initially only about half the dancefloor was packed, and I was surprised. Last time when Miles came down to play there was a noticeably bigger crowd, but it might have been today was a Friday. Who knows. It appears the crowd here was here for the music, and pretty much everyone was dancing away.
Video: 360 in the main room
Video: Jump from the second room to the main room
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A night out with friends who varied across the spectrum. I had M, Jungle Fever and bisexual girls who were into RnB and Hip Hop, other girls who were not into RnB and Hip Hop and preferred the bar scene, my cousin who only liked RnB, her Asian American relatives who were very conservative – and I had to find them all good place to go. You have to be kidding me…
Fridays @ Haymarket Hotel
I thought an event would have taken over Friday nights here, but it hasn’t. Downstairs was closed off, and it seems only regular patrons were here for a drink. On the TV screens SBS was on and, being SBS, a documentary was being played about the porno industry. Hilarious hearing the collective screams of girls as the more saucy were being played.
Off we went to Oxford Art Factory. Half of us went in first. The other half including myself tried a few minutes later but we were told that the venue was at capacity and we should try again in half an hour. I doubt a packed place would have suited some of the people here, so it was off to Doctor Pong, just a few shops down!
Fridays @ Doctor Pong (Bar)
Doctor Pong DJ area and dance floor
Assessment Time: 11:10PM – 11:30PM
Address: 1 Burton St, Darlinghurst
Venue Website: None
Dress Code / Door Policy: anything goes, no security checks. Cousin’s sister-in-law, who was wearing pajamas, was let in.
Entry Fee / Cover Charge: Free
Inside: Small place. Bar in the middle. Lounges on one side, table tennis ping-pong table on the other side (hence Doctor Pong), with a restaurant on the far left. DJ up next to the stairs upon entry.
Music Style: Whatever goes, but it was keeping the crowd going. Volume was at a loud house party level but not a club level. You could talk in here without shouting too much.
Crowd: Mostly Aussies.
Entertainment: The table tennis table was the star attraction. Four paddles so everyone can have a go.
Atmosphere: Pretty busy at this time when we entered. You could say it was relaxed and busy. Red plastic cups add to the american beer pong feel.
Video: Walkthrough
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Oxford Art Factory Main Room
03:30AM – 04:30AM
So just quickly after Arthouse it was about 3:30AM, and I still wanted a quick dance, so we went to Oxford Art factory and walked through (snuck by) the door man via the back entrance and had an hour of dancing. The music initialy was pretty good to dance to. I would have no idea what genre it was, but the place is freaking loud – speakers blaring non stop.
How loud is it you ask?
Here’s a video:
Later at 4 or 4:30 the DJ changed to someone else, and the music was less danceable for us, and we left.
Crowd is all caucasian. At this time the place still had about 30-50 people which was amazing. Drinks are good value too.
Me and M were dancing crazy style, and got some dancers with us. A guy came up and insisted we dance using our middle fingers as instruments as part of the dance. So we ended up dancing around with our middle fingers in the air, around the place, etc etc. Interesting.
Oxford Art Factory is a nice place to visit for a dance, if you are into the housey/dubstep kind of scene.
7/10 only for lovers of the music genre advertised that week. I cannot recommend for normal innocent clubbers.
Leadup
an hour to kill – a mini 4-club dance spree:
Tonight I wore just jeans, a shirt and sneakers..
Pontoon – Crowd was half indian, half everyone else. Free entry. Casual door policy. RnB. Good venue for an RnB fix. Left after 30 minutes – another asian dancing guy was taking the girls. He was out there, just dancing with any girl he saw, and was doing quite well. I wondered where my energy was tonight.
Pavillion – Two girls in the front, 4 on the side, and indian guys for the rest of the people on here. DJ was playing west coast rap. My favourite anthems were being played (Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg, etc). A crazy indian was dance-cracking onto the two girls in the front. He was out there, just shaking his body loose. I wondered where my energy was tonight. I think I get intimidated by other good dancers in a desolate setting.
Shark Bar/Hotel – I walked in and there was nobody on the floor. I was about to leave, but they started to play “Push it” by Salt N Pepa. I love this song so I *had* to get up there. So I jumped up and did a little boogie to the song, to the amusement of everybody staring at the elevated dancefloor in the middle. Everyone who looked at me I looked back, and they would stare away. A group of people at the very back took a photo of me and waved hi. The song ended and I ran off.
Spectrum – My usual friends had gone home, so I met up with the French backpackers for some dance. We checked out Spectrum first. Free entry. House. We went upstairs and it was *dead* as. A handful of people dancing, a handful of people sitting down, a small room, and that was it. I don’t think this was meant to be a place for clubbing. Reminded me like an oxford st version of Manning Bar at USYD. I can’t imagine that place being a place for clubbing. We left quite quickly.
We then stumbled upon Oxford Art Factory and settled in..
After Work Art Fridays @ The Oxford Art Factory (Art After Dark) (29th May 2009)
Note: This review is primarily for the ‘Art After Dark’ Room’, and not the ‘Live Art Space’ where a cover charge applied.
About Oxford Art Factory (assessment time 1.30am)
Address: 38-46 Oxford St, Darlinghurst
The Bar: Jugs of beers and cocktails offered for a reasonable price.
Website: http://www.oxfordartfactory.com
Inside: Walking downstairs, there are two rooms:
Live Art Space: Carpeted area with central wooden dancefloor, with DJ up on stage. At the back is an elevated area where more lounges exist. It was mostly dancefloor space.
Live Art Space - Oxford Art Factory (image oxfordartfactory.com)
Art After Dark: (where we were) A further flight of stairs down takes you to this room. It’s pretty small, holding about 100 people max. A bar as well here. The room has a high ceiling length, and a big TV on one end of the wall. It’s been painted white, which is different. Tonight there were only lounges along the wall, and not sticking out as in the picture.
Art After Dark Bar - Oxford Art Factory - This is where we hung out (image oxfordartfactory.com)
About After Work Art Fridays: (assessment time 1.30am)
Entry Fee/Cover Charge: Free for the Art After Dark Bar, $15 for the DJ in the Live Art Space Room tonight. After 3am it was free for all.
Crowd / Dress Code: Artsy types. People in their 20’s and 30’s. Lots of hats around. anything goes.
Atmosphere: I was expecting not many people to be here, so guess how surprised I was when I saw the whole room packed! Well, it was 1.30am, and it was a small area, but usually at an average to bad venue, 1.30am is when people start going home. So overall it was a good sign.
Music: Art After Dark Bar – Earlier in the evening there were live bands playing, but we missed that. So when we arrived, the band area was cleared and there was a DJ playing a mix of music across pop, rnb, retro and rock. Basically a bit of everything, and each upcoming song would be of a different genre. Somehow though the crowd was fully right into every song being played.
Live Art Space – DJ Sega (USA) was the main act playing tonight, (Indie). I didn’t get to check him out. Later another DJ was playing around 3am, with some dubstep beats, and another artist came up for some raps where I could practise some krumpin on the very open dance floor. The crowd here were all the hardcore types left, so everybody was into it.
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