 On Friday night I somehow found myself wandering aimlessly through smoke, lasers and pecs-aplenty at a well-known Sydney GLBT venue. My friend and partner in crime having left me to my own devices after losing an admirer she had in tow from our previous location, I was soon taking in my surrounds while engaged in idle chit-chat with various party folk – though if the random texts are anything to go by, I had a hoot.
Anyways… I’ve never really been a big fan of trance, though in saying that I did attempt to break out a few moves (we’ll blame So You Think You Can Dance?), but I was reminded of my aversion to the genre when struggling to find a beat or any real musicality to speak of. Surrounded by sweaty torsos, strobes and a sea of darting, vacant eyes, I couldn’t help but feel like I was stuck in some sort of queer time warp from the late 1990s. So what happened to our once de rigueur Sydney scene?
Like others who’ve expressed similar concerns after the closure of upstairs at The Shift on Saturdays, I’ve found many straight bars and clubs seem to have taken the lead when it comes to keeping their finger on the proverbial – many of these places offering über swank décor, kick-ass sounds and a relaxed, fresh feel. I don’t, of course, refer to ‘those clubs’ along Oxford Street bursting at the seams with feral wannabes.
Many moons ago, while travelling the World with the boyfriend, we were swept off our feet by some of the nightlife we unearthed in our travels, as we strutted our way through venues in London, Italy and Paris with stars in our eyes and hard-ons in our Calvins. But when returning to Sydney, you can imagine our despair when realising just how behind the times Sydney seemed in comparison.
Thankfully, Sydney since appears to have caught up in leaps and bounds with many of Her overseas peers. Though while I’m no expert here, I fear many of our much loved GLBT venues just aren’t what they used to be, with little personality and a whole lot of smoke and mirrors (if you’ll pardon the pun). Arguably, much of our Sydney scene has quite simply lost its mojo.
Of course we still have some awesome talent out there, with a few savvy venue promoters and entertainers following suit. For me, some names worth dropping would have to include: Justin Scott, Kitty Glitter, Dan Murphy and pretty much most of the line up at Phoenix’s Rising Day Club – pity they’re usually playing when I’m fetching the morning paper or up to my elbows in Domestos.
Quite naturally, many will miss Saturdays upstairs at The Shift, though with the much anticipated re-opening of the new look Imperial, The Newtown and Manacle’s relocation to Petersham, perhaps we might consider this a timely reminder for our venues to give us back some bang for our buck.
Now, back to those texts.
- Hard Driver
Do you think Sydney’s GLBT venues have lost their mojo? What do you want from our venues? Feel free to share your thoughts below, or email Hard Driver:
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