Tim Trainor spends every waking moment finding out what's all the gay rage in Perth right now. Events, culture and random bits and pieces from Perth, Australia.
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Viewing posts in the ‘Out and about’ category
August 11
Court incident not a stabbing
Many thanks to Ja for sending in this account of what happened at The Court on the weekend. Throwing glasses = no no.
1. Guy and girls start bumping into each other on front of podium
2. Guy spills drink on injured girls friend.
3. Injured girls friend falls back and steps down from podium okay.
4. Injured girl shoves guy hard off the podium and he lands down hard on concrete.
5. Guy grabs bottle/glass and chucks it at injured girls face.
6. Blood rapidly seeps from her face.
7. Guy goes off towards inside area.
8. Security and girl chase him.
9. Girl starts punching him and security seperate them.
10. Girl goes to bathroom.Ambulance took forever and a day as always to get there… probably an hour and a bit after the actual event took place.
July 18
Battle of the weekend love
We have a new contender on the Perth weekend nightlife scene, promising to deliver salvation from boring winter nights spent on the couch with only the company of bad commercial television. ‘Love Saves Fridays’ (fb), not to be confused with the previously blogged ‘Love Sundays’ (post) is a weekly collection of Perth’s best DJs let loose on the turntables with one thing in mind: to save your Friday night from dying a dull, danceless, music death.
It all launches 10pm Friday 24 July at the Republic (Corner Wellington and Shafto Lane), which you may be familiar with as the venue for the now very popular SEXY nights (a personal favourite of mine). Whereas ‘Love Sundays’ was a bit of a coosh plastic glam night, ‘Love Saves Fridays’ is all about the atmosphere, company and music: You can expect sounds of the 70s, including indie-funk and glam rock, with different mixes each week.
The night has been created by Petrosex and the team from Bourgeois Bogan, who have a solid reputation for great events in Perth. Anyone with SEXY experience will know these events are all about creating an inner-city haven, where you can just have a plain ‘ol good time without the BS. There is also word that Perth’s performance superstar Ash Baroque will be the evening’s hostess to ensure no unappreciatives enter the walls of Love Saves Fridays.
So if you’re growing weary of the decreasing crowds at the Maddox Mansion (hey, it happens in winter), then do head along to the launch of Love Saves Fridays. It’s something new and fresh, and will save your winter weekends with a bit of soul.
Be sure to download the Love Saves Fridays flyer and check them out on facebook.
July 13
For the fantasy inclined
Winter is the best time to dress up because you can strip or layer as your heart desires without the sweat and sticky heat. SPANK! Productions have some awesome costume nights in the coming weeks. First, the next installment in the SHAMELESS! Series at Connections, ‘Mental Oriental’ (fb1 | fb2). This Saturday night - $10 before 1am, $20 thereafter.
I don’t know which tag line I like best: A night of sweet and sour eastern naughtiness! or Join the steamy throngs of Asia’s red light districts!. Either way, you’re going to get it on like a gangland geisha. Other dress ideas include lap dancers, ladyboys, ninjas, pole dancers, ping-pong artistes and Seoul sistas. I would LOVE to see some one dress up as a slutty ninja. I don’t exactly know how that would work but I’m sure it’s awesome. Your incentive to take on the slutty ninja challenge is the $250 prize which goes to the best dressed attendee.
If you like your dress up a little heavier, SPANK! are also putting on their next fetish and fantasy party: ‘Doctors and Nurses’ (web) on Saturday 22 August. The night will include a performance by top international fetish model Emily Marilyn, plus a Flesh Rubber ‘Medical Mayhem’ demo, Male Slave Strip, Dungeon, and Hysterical Healthchecks by Nurses Depravity & Deviance. I told you this dress up was a little heavier.
Unlike SHAMELESS!, the regular SPANK! parties have a very strict dress code so if you’re not in costume, no entry. Of course it’s an 18+ event and you’ll need to buy a ticket beforehand. All the details are on the SPANK! website.
July 13
Revisited: The Ellington
Apologies are once again in order for my sparatic updates. What can I say, I’m a very busy woman. Two weekends ago after my visit to Andaluz, my review posse stopped in for the Late Night Groove Series at the Ellington Jazz Club (web). We prebooked a table, and it ended up being an awesome closer to the evening.
I’ve previously written about The Ellington for Soho Nights (fb), their queer friendly evening. This time around though it was a different crowd, a different ’scene’. While Soho Nights is suave and relaxed, the Saturday Late Night Groove Series is energetic bop in your chair action. The atmosphere is rich, and in my lubricated state I could feel each and every person in the room tapping their feet or nodding their head in unison. One guy was enjoying things a little too much… and had to be escorted out of the premises. Hah.
As a side note, the next Soho Nights is this Tuesday 14 July !.
I don’t know too much about jazz so I can’t really give an analytical commentary on the entertainment, but even if you’re musically sceptical you will still enjoy the the grooves, funk and beats at the Ellington on a Saturday night, plus the artists are fun and engaging on stage.. Basically, I loved it.
So book a table. Now. Yes, Now. The late night series sits at 11.30pm, and you will be left out in the cold if you don’t pre-book a table.
July 5
Review: Andaluz Bar
I’m always a fan of the one sentence review, but this time around instead of my usual opening rant I’ll let this audio clip from Pretty Woman give you the idea behind Andaluz Bar (web):
Andaluz don’t hate you, but if you turn up looking like a whorish Julia Roberts they may ask you to please leave. They are swanky, so yes, they are very expensive. The place is on Howard Street in the CBD, down a small alley, which I have been sworn not to comment as ‘very Melbourne’. I don’t know exactly when they opened but it wasn’t more than a couple of months ago.
Andaluz already have a strong following with the central business crowd. A friend tried to get in on a Wednesday evening but was turned away because the venue was already full. My group only managed to get at table by showing up dead on 6pm Saturday when the bar opens (you can’t make reservations). By the time I arrived (late) at 6.30pm every other table was already taken. They’re popular with the mid to late 20’s crowd; the bouncer even gave me a ‘holy shit’ when he discovered I’m actually much older than a 1988 kid. Thanks for that, charming bouncer.
Food is all tapas and like all tapas outside of Spain it’s very expensive. Not the place for a large dinner. The dishes are nice though, and served confusingly fast. The drinks list is extensive and the cocktails are exceptional. I can only describe my espresso ‘mexican wave’ as ecstasy to my lips, minus the MDMA.
You’re in close quarters with everyone around you but the place feels cosy rather than cramped. If you have some cash to burn and want to have a bit of a wanky and indulgent evening I give Andaluz a tick. But as you get more and more tipsy keep your Julia Roberts hat on and keep in mind that it’s all very expensive.
Accompanying photo stolen from STM Magazine. Pretty Woman joke premise stolen from Ragan Fox.
July 5
Recap: Horse Meat Disco
On Friday night a slice of iconic London nightlife penetrated the walls of Connections and gave Perth a small taste of Horse Meat Disco. Jim Stanton and James Hillard from the original HMD club night are currently touring Australia, and to support their local appearance were a handful of Perth’s finest electronic acts along with a homage catwalk show involving our prominent drag performers.
The headlining set was just amazing, not just for the sheer funk of it all, but for bringing some much needed new music into Connections. It was also for this reason the night didn’t attract a typical Connections crowd. I spied ‘resident’ attendees of Shape and Republic, plus a crop of random others who I’m assuming discovered HMD from the posters plastered all over Northbridge.
Admittedly the crowd was somewhat sparse, but those who stuck around until the early hours were really getting into their nu-disco. I guess nobody appreciates your favourite type of music as much as you do, and I really love nu-disco, so it was shame the venue wasn’t packed out as it should have been. I point my spiteful index finger at you all and curse that you really missed out on some awesome tunes.
The catwalk show was a big gloating segment to show off some fun costumes, but seemed like a throwaway item. Actually, it agitated me that this 10 minute performance piece became the focal point for the entire evening. So much so that most of the models and ticketholders left when it finished, and before the Horse Meat Disco DJs had even played. A red flag also needs to be raised for that 1 metre x 1 metre ‘media only’ area at the end of the catwalk. How pretentious. Although, it did give my friendly arch nemesis Feminem Hygiene a good vantage point for demanding the photographers test their cameras on her… for 20 minutes. As a side note, Fem and I are back on speaking terms.
So, the conclusory comment for this event is ‘you really missed out’. The sound Horse Meat Disco brought won’t be replicated in Perth for a while yet. Connections have a number of disco nights coming soon, but I’m sceptical. From previous experience ‘disco’ to Perth gay venues means bastardised house music. It’s not the same thing. Lo and behold when I got in my car at the end of the night Triple J’s ‘The Club’ program were talking about how nu-disco is the latest fad in dance music. If it’s the latest overseas right now, it will be the latest in Perth in 12 months time.
I didn’t lug my SLR to Connections, and I didn’t try my luck with the media only area, but I did grab some nice photos of the catwalk show. See them all behind the cut:
July 2
Review: Dreamland Karaoke
I get an annoyed twinge in my cheekbone when gay bois spend endless weekends at The Court, and at the height of their 2am drunkennes, complain about the sorry state of Perth’s nightlife. To find a new way to enjoy yourself you often have to move beyond the bounds of your usual weekend ritual. What better way to utterly destroy your Court comfort zone than with a bit of public karaoke?
Dreamland is on the corner of William and Brisbane in Northbridge, and you can find it by the seizure inducing lights outside. To clarify, this ain’t no Singstar - this is the real deal; singing to a room of strangers with no backing vocals. There’s also two prerequisites: 1. a group of awesome and adventurous friends, and 2. plenty of alcohol. I went along with a pack from my day job, and had a voice straningly good time.
The cheese factor is all part of the enjoyment, right from the dodgy mafia looking guy who greets you, to the disco balls, balloons and lame karaoke videos. From what I remember, I belted out Natalie Imbruglia’s ‘Torn’ and the best karaoke song of all time; ‘A whole new world’ from Disney’s Aladdin. My performances were helped by three backing vocalists: a house white, a vodka and coke and a jagerbomb. Even if you’re not totally trashed, singing in front of a room of 50 odd people is quite an experience, and once you get over your initial nerves it’s a lot of fun.
Round up a group of friends and book a table ahead of time. For $30 you get the equivalent of 3 drinks, a Chinese buffet, and however many songs you can fill request tickets in for. Drinks thereon are relatively cheap. For the cost of a night’s entertainment plus food plus drink, it’s quite a bargain. Recommended!
June 18
Slab of ground disco
The flyer is so pretty. Two weeks until Horse Meat Disco (fb1 | fb2). For more info, check out my previous post.
June 15
Bree Maddox wears bra, pigs fly
Can’t believe I almost missed this news story from a few days ago. Court owner Bree Maddox has used her (media) pulling power to drum up attention for the Breast Cancer Foundation of WA and their Purple Bra Day. Plus she felt like a photoshoot and some free publicity for The Court.
“It’s something that we all need to be aware of, now that cancer is being diagnosed in younger and younger women,” Ms Maddox said.
It’s great that Bree Maddox is doing something for the gay community like that. So Bree, when is the next fundraiser for Pride WA? …. never? Blind bitchy jabs aside, it’s a good cause, so if you want to see The Court decked out in purple lingerie head along this Friday night. Of course if there are any ads put up for Adultshop Bree’s philanthropy is instantly disqualified.
Lets look at some quotes from the article:
Owner Bree Maddox and staff will be donning purple bras to encourage women to get their hands on their breasts.
Ummmm… don’t think you’ll be having any trouble with women at The Court putting their hands on each other’s breasts.
“It’s also a good opportunity for guys to wear a bra as a bit of fun and not get frowned upon.”
Ummmm… don’t think anyone will be frowning at guys at the court wearing bras either. Well, maybe if some annoying straight girls bring their bogan boyfriends along.
June 15
Review: Love Sundays
Sunday was the launch of Love Sundays (fb), a new Sunday session held on Sundays. Sunday. I couldn’t be bothered coming up with a decent introductory sentence. The night is held at Luxe Bar and guns for a glamourous and luxurious atmosphere with gay friendly crowds. Luxe is already pretty posh like that, so the venue choice was only natural.
Perth has a strange curse hovering over Thursday and Sunday bar nights. With the exception of ZOO Sundays, gay events outside of the regular Wednesday and Saturday mould often meet a premature death… Anyone remember ‘Loop’? The ‘Trick’ nights mysteriously never returned either. I can’t predict how successful Love Sundays will be, but the launch night attracted a very respectably sized crowd.
Anyone familiar with Luxe will already know the drill: swanky, low lit velvet seating areas, plunky lounge music and pricey cocktails. It’s all absolute wank, of course, but it’s nice to get dressed up every now and then and pretend you’re a western suburb snob. You should be prepared for a $5 cover charge, which in my annoyance was not advertised anywhere until I reached the front door.
The ‘Love Sunday cocktail’ has been renamed as ‘Love Custard’, which the host James Kay told me had every gay pun intended. He’d be right if guys cum tasted like raspberries. Sadly, it does not. The cocktail however I found pretty nice, but it’s very milky, more of a drink to finish off the night rather than start it. I received mixed feedback about James’ Love Custard, really depends if you’re a fan of milky drinks and raspberries.
The guest vocalist who played early in the night was an absolute wonder - I only caught her first name, Natasha. Definitely an act to bring back in following weeks. The live aspect really made the atmosphere much more vibrant. After her set the regular vocal house music began, and the night felt like it was slipping back into stock standard mode again.
Focus group: (wrap up from the attending reviewers)
I received so many mixed responses from my friends I’m not actually going to post them in this review. Some, particularly the ones who had never been to Luxe before, loved it. Others found the night much of the same old. I do think you should save up at least the $5 cover charge and see for yourself. It’s quite nice for the occasional semi-extravagant night out with friends, but drinks are very expensive, so unless you’re bleeding money attending every week may be a bit much.
Update: There’s a fair amount of gossip making circles about some trouble later on during the night. Apparently the regular Luxe crowd showed up and were very unhappy their venue had been hijacked by gays without prior announcement. Sounds like it ended with staff yelling at patrons and vice versa. Details as they come into the newsroom.
June 12
Great news
No post from me today. Instead, watch this video of one of my all time favourite songs evaaar. The B52s are coming to Perth in December! My life is complete!
If you only know ‘Love Shack’ and ‘Roam’ you’re missing out.
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