A birthday at Arthouse tonight. We kind of debated for half an hour outside in the cold, outside the venue, to whether we should go in or not. Of course, we went in eventually. A second visit for tonight’s event, let’s see how it fares:
AJ Rafael performs (1:30AM)
Flirt Saturdays @ Arthouse Hotel – Saturday Night – 11th August 2012
(some content will be similar to last week’s review)
Assessment Time: 11:35PM – 3:55AM
Opening Hours: “10:00PM” – 3:55AM. The quotes are subject to how long it takes for these guys to setup the DJ equipment and venue for the event.
Lockout: Unknown
Address: 275 Pitt St, Sydney (near Town Hall Station)
Venue Website: http://www.thearthousehotel.com.au
Event Website: http://www.fb.com/flirtsaturdays
Promoters: Urban Agent in conjunction with 1nitestand, VIPList, Eso, and others.
Occurrence: Every Saturday since July 2012.
Outside Line: There is a general line and a guestlist line. When we were debating whether to go in or not, there was a line of about 10 people. After deciding to go in inside, the line had been cleared by then – we got in without trouble. Considering the rain, at least they put one small table canopy up for whoever was standing in the front of the guestlist line.
Dress Code / Door Policy: There was no enforced theme/dress code, so casual was definitely okay. I had a long jacket with a double layer t-shirt (Breaking some fashion crimes there) with cardigan, jeans and casual shoes. I looked very daggy, but I was cold, and I didn’t care how I looked today. Half the crowd were casual and half were dressed smart proper.
Entry Fee / Cover Charge: $20 on the guestlist before 12:00AM, otherwise $25. I would recommend getting your name on a discount guestlist.
Guestlist: Send lists to your preferred promoter or check the Facebook page for details.
Inside: Main Room: Enter via the cashier entrance and you are at the back of the room- It’s a large, tall, long-ish room – now split it as such. The whole left wall is lined with lounges, tables and stools. The right wall is the main bar to hold about 5 bartenders at a time, with a secondary “shots bar” with a small selection of shots. This leaves a narrow path in the middle for which people line up and mingle. Right at the front the area widens for what is the general dancefloor area to hold about 40-50 people comfortably. DJ is right at the centre front, with a sight adjustment tonight – there is a large-ish podium in the middle. This was to be reserved for AJ Rafaels performance. Guys and girls were not allowed up on here. Arthouse has gone through a few additions since my last visit, to make it more ‘club’ friendly. There has been a proper segregation between tables/lounges and the mingling area with an open panel wall in the middle – people can dance and others can drink in peace. Also laser lights and squares of LED colour lights have been installed. Let’s also chuck in a few ribbons as well to break up the space – this defintely helps in making the place feel a bit more intimate as the ceiling is like 10 metres high. There is also a common back area for smoking, general chit chat.
Inside: Second Room: Again, the second room had a private party! Luckily the party was to end at midnight so I had the chance to finally get my grubby feet into the House music. Enter the room via cashier entrance and you are at the front. DJ on your right and bar on your left on the far end wall. In between is just dancefloor with lounges lining one wall, with large barrels (literally those barrels you see on pirate ships) along the middle length of the dancefloor to break it up. Also a tall room, and its pretty dark in here.
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After a short period of refurbishment (to which Sweet Saturdays moved to City Hotel as the Kin.ki event), Civic Hotel upper level reopens with a new event. Let’s check it out!
Midnight crowd. DJ corner in the far right.
Yolo (You Only Live Once) Saturdays @ Civic Hotel (Rooftop)
Assessment Time: Midnight – 3:15AM
Opening Hours: Unknown (probably 10:30PM) – 4:00AM
Lockout: Around 2:30AM
Address: 388 Pitt St (oppposite World Square)
Venue Website: http://www.civichotel.com.au
Event Website: http://www.facebook.com/YoloSaturdays
Promoter Website: Unknown, but it could possibly be self promoted???
Occurrence: Today is Grand Opening night and it is to run every Saturday.
Outside Line: Didn’t appear to be a line. We got in right away without much trouble.
Dress Code / Door Policy: Nobody was wearing hats, except for the MC, so not sure on the hat policy. Guys are generally a mix of casual and collared shirts – you could get away with most clothing here. We were also a large contingent of mixed guys and girls and got in without issue tonight. Girls were dressed with their casual dresses and only a handful wore body tight dresses.
Entry Fee / Cover Charge: One of my friends knew someone, who knew someone else, who got us free entry. So lovely of them. Standard cover charge ? we had no idea, but based on past history of Asian clubbing events at Civic Hotel and the cross promoting before the event launched, I would make the educated guess that it was $25 standard entry, with $5 discount if you were on a guestlist, and entered the premises before perhaps 11:30 or midnight.
Guestlist: yolo@civichotel.com.au , or check the facebook website for mobile phone contact details
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Here to catch up with a friend.. let’s check it out!
Crowd shot of the dancefloor area - 12:00AM
Sweet Taboo Saturdays @ Civic Hotel (Rooftop Level 1)
Assessment Time: Midnight – 03:40AM
Opening Hours: 10:00PM(?) – 04:00AM
Lockout: I think no more new guests were allowed after 03:00AM
Address: Level 1, 388 Pitt St (Corner of Goulburn St Opposite World Square / Tao Lounge). Don’t go downstairs, as a separate dance event is held here on Saturdays.
Venue Website: http://www.civichotel.com.au
Promoter Website: http://www.syndicateevents.com.au/
Occurrence: Every Saturday since late 2010.
Outside Line: There was no line outside where security was, nor there was a line at the cashier as we walked upstairs.
Dress Code / Door Policy: At least Smart Casual is recommended – Collared shirt and nice shoes. You may risk non-entry with dirty shoes. However inside, I did notice guys with normal t-shirts on and sneakers (non-dirty). Most guys wore collared shirts. Hats are allowed as well. Girls that were let in tonight were mostly well dressed up and looking pretty good.
Entry Fee / Cover Charge: Free before 10:30PM if on the guestlist. $20 between 10:30PM and midnight if on the guestlist. All other conditions is $25 full price
Guestlist: taboo.saturdays@gmail.com
Inside: Walk upstairs and give out your hard earned cash. Walk into the door on your left into the front of the venue. The whole place is of two distinct parts. You are in the combined dancefloor/bar area to hold 100 or so people. There are facing lounges to your right which are used for birthdays. DJ in the corner of the room with a 2-step poodium in front. In the back half of the club space are two rooms. One taped off ‘VIP’ area for larger private functions (later opened to all) and a smoking/chillout courtyard. It doesn’t feel like a courtyard as you enter, as it is partially enclosed. Walking in and out of this area you are sprayed with a very fine mist of water to cool you down. The courtyard area is all benches and holds probably 40-50 people.
Cloak Room: None. This is surprising.
Bar Prices / Line: The ‘theme’ of tonight was the promotion of Agwa Bombs for $10. A mix of new drink Agwa and whatever the chosen mix is. I am not sure if anyone tried it out. I didn’t drink tonight, but I did line up with M for when he ordered some drinks. The line was 2 or 3 people deep, but it appeared the bar was understaffed, as it took at least 20 minutes according to my watch before being able to place the order with the bar staff. This is an exceptionally a long time – almost if not worse than Bamboo.
DJs: Rotation of Dj’s tonight. See poster in gallery below for details.
Music Style: Contemporary Modern American RnB with Hip Hop and House mashups. After 3:00AM is old school Rnb. Expect to hear from the likes of Taio Cruz, DJ Unk, Nicky Minaj and Afrojack. Watch the music sample below for more. Yes, some songs were repeated tonight! Yuck.
Crowd & Ratio: Dominantly Asian Australian. Mixed ages from teenagers to guys in their late 20’s Girls are of similar age bracket. We met some English backpackers here as well who didn’t mind the crowd at all – they just stumbled upon this event tonight from downstairs. There are a less than a handful of other people here from other backgrounds / nationalities. The Ratio was pretty good here tonight. It was even or maybe a few more girls than guys, but certainly enough to keep the boys entertained.
Entertainment: MC to keep things going.
Atmosphere: We pretty much entered during the peak phase of the club. The bar and dancefloor were quite busy. The area near the VIP entry was entirely closed off, and nobody was inside there. It probably would have been opened up if more people arrived. Guys were friendly here. Some even smile at me for no reason, and some even pat my back for no reason either. Easy to talk to. There were also a handful of drunk guys going mental and getting their sleaze on. Entertaining but probably annoying for some of the girls on the dancefloor. It resulted in girls keeping to themselves and friends most of the time. Otherwise the vibe was pretty good on the dancefloor itself, if you let yourself immerse into the music.
Video: 360 view
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Took a break from the primary event tonight Sienna @ Establishment. Noticed that there was no longer a cash register at Brooklyn Hotel – It appears the 40/40 event is no longer, and Brooklyn Hotel was back to its former self, well on Saturdays anyway. (Fridays is still the Shanghai Nights event run by Urban Agent). So lets have a lookie!
Verdict (Assessment time: 1:30AM)
It was worse than it was before. Only the main room has a DJ, while the back courtyard area is pure chillout with no house DJ as it used to be. The Islanders make the majority of the crowd here, which was pretty much the same before the 40/40 cover charge period.
The place was pretty sparse as well – no more than 20 on the dancefloor tonight at this time.
Really dodgy walkthrough Video:
Arrivederci
Left after about 10 minutes here.
Recommendation
It’s free entry so why not check it out while going by? I wouldn’t spend a night here though.. yet.
In front of a brave Karaokeist @ The Harp of Erin, Wollongong
We have decided to spend a day in Wollongong to see the wildlife at night. We have been recommended by the locals to check out The Harp for pre-drinks, so here we go!
Saturdays @ The Harp of Erin Hotel, Wollongong NSW
Assessment Time: 22:15PM -23:30PM
Opening Hours: Unknown, but it is a bar, so typical bar hours, which would be 10am – 3am.
Website: http://www.harpoferin.com.au
Address: 124 Corrimal St, Wollongong NSW
Dress Code / Door Policy: anything goes. it is a bar, so most casual clothes can get away with it. Hats are not allowed in here.
Entry Fee / Cover Charge: Free entry for both the bar karaoke area as well as the dancefloor area.
Inside: Walking into the main entrance you are presented with the main room where there is a karaoke thing going on. Get up and sing! they say. The standing area holds 150 or so people, and there is a stage on the right, where you stand up to sing, or where a band can play. Bar is to the left. A wall divides this area from the second area – The second area has a central bar, surrounded by tables and stools. On one side is an enclosed area which is the dancefloor, and it is sligly elevated from the rest of the room. It holds about 60 or so people .
Cloak Room: None
Bar: Standard beer prices
Music: House music in the dance room. Typical bar karaoke music in the karaoke room. The types of music you will be subjected to range from rock to retro.
Crowd: Mostly locals, some sydneysiders – with most being caucasian.
Entertainment: Karaoke of course! But only in the karaoke room.
Atmosphere: Karaoke room – busy the whole time we were there. In the clubbing room, the general atmosphere in the bar was busy, but not packed. A good balance to allow us a bit of room to dance.
Video:360 view of the Karaoke Bar Side
Video: Walkthrough on the younger side, with dancefloor entry:
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Tao Nightclub Sydney - Grand opening night : 2:30am / Bar Area
Just left a house party and I still want my dancing fix. Melly is at the Grand Opening of a new nightclub where the old Mandarin Club once stood. So here we go!
Satisfaction Saturdays @ Tao Nightclub
Assessment Time: 2:30am – 4:00am
Website: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=288588253950
Address: 396 Pitt St, CNR Goulburn St (Old Mandarin Club)
Dress Code / Door Policy: Advertised as “dress to impress”, but seemingly more relaxed about it at the door. Every guy inside though had a collared shirt, and the girls were all in dresses.
Entry Fee / Cover Charge: Free for ladies before 11, $10 on birthday guestlist before midnight. $20 for all others.
Guestlist: See facebook page for details
Inside: Beneath the now Mr B’s Hotel, Tao Bar/Nightclub is a small area split into even smaller areas – A carpeted area where most dancing occurs. It holds 50-80 people. There are two lounge areas on either side of the dancefloor. A DJ is along the wall. The wooden floor area is the general ‘lets stand around and chat each other up’ area with bar and some tables and stools. This particular area has a green and red spotted light thing dotting the area. It’s trippy.
Cloak Room: $5 per item.
Bar: $19 for 2 carlton draughts and a pure blonde. $16 jugs of beer before midnight
DJs: Xcentrik, R*One, Normz, Edo, Day-Day
Music: RnB most of the night, with the occasional commercial house song thrown in. If you have never been to an RnB asian club.. usually the RNB songs each get about 30 to 60 seconds of airplay before being mixed to another song, so its an anthology of choruses.. its sad if you want to hear the whole song, but with this format, it keeps the crowd going.. and going.
Crowd: Asian, the clean classy types. Not many teeny boppers. If there were any, they were cleverly disguised.
Entertainment: No extra entertainment besdies the MC. There was air conditioning though
Atmosphere: Small atmosphere, but a classy crowd with a “clean” venue keeps it viable to stay inside. By clean, I mean they have air conditioning in the standing area. However on the dancefloor there isn’t much air con and it may get a little stuffy.. but only a little as its not too packed when we got inside.
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