Viewing posts tagged ‘nightlife’

August 9

Glass attack at The Court

First, my apologies for sparatic updates (life has been very busy recently), but I’ve been pulled back to the blog to talk about what happened at The Court last night.

The venue hasn’t been receiving any of my money in a while now, so I don’t have a first hand account to go on - if anyone else was there please shoot me an email. Apparently a girl was stabbed with a broken bottle at around midnight, and the scene was serious enough to pull in an army of police officers, firemen and security guards. Subsequently half of the venue was closed down to the public.

(Photos by LM)

An SMS from a friend:

It was as Bree called it; a crime scene. I spoke to her she seemed really worried about the bad publicity and the loss of money!

… yeah who cares if the girl survives anyway. Luckily for Bree though, the attack at The Court has been completely overshadowed in today’s news by a different glass attack just down the road at the Elephant and Wheelbarrow, which happened the night before.

In fact, this other stabbing is getting so much of the attention the State government is considering a glass ban for problem venues. More good luck as The Court gets no mention in the news article. Is Bree’s relationship with the police working to her advantage or has word simply not filtered through to the media yet?

Either way, it’s another reminder that all pub venues experience violence issues and The Court is no exception. Lets end this post with a Facebook status update that appeared on my feed this morning. Stay safe on the weekends everyone.

Stabbing at the Court, venue closed by police at around midnight…now we know why I dont go there, on another note, awesome night at Connies. Yay! Bedtime now

Witness comment via facebook:

some girls were fighting in the female toilets and one got hella bashed up. came staggering out at me bleeding all over the place. poor girl, her head was covered in blood, just dripping everywhere

The gay agenda Tags: bars, gay community, nightlife, northbridge, police, the court, violence

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.

Out and about Tags: alternative nights, bars, indie, local artists, nightlife, retro

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.

Out and about Tags: alternative nights, connections, events, fetish, nightlife, nudity, sex, spank

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:

Read the rest of this entry »

Out and about Tags: alternative nights, connections, entertainment, events, fashion, music, nightlife, reviews

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!

Out and about Tags: entertainment, food, karaoke, nightlife, northbridge, reviews

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.

Out and about Tags: alternative nights, bars, nightlife, reviews, the scene

June 10

Interview: Voix de la Ville

Voix de la Ville is a new cabaret evening for new and established performance artists to showcase their work. Premiering on 28 June at The Castle, the show encapsulates a range of live acts, music and performance pieces. To explore the concept I shot some questions towards the mastermind and mistress behind Voix de la Ville, Ash Baroque.

What can show-goers expect from Voix de la Ville?
The night will be a variety type show with burlesque, drag, cabaret and some spoken word. There will also be installation.

A lot of discussion on the event’s promo page has been about the myths of drag performance. What is ‘real drag’ all about?
DRAG is short for “dressed as girl”. This is from the shakespearean times when women were not allowd to act on stage. Everybody always has an opinion. Voix de la Ville is a proposal of ideas, by individual artists, taking you on a journey through their exploration of performance.

It’s seems like 3 minute pop performances are being pumped out like a commercial product in Perth’s gay venues - how do you break away from this mould?
To escape this mould, a performer must simply use their intellect. A friend recently said to me that the youth should focus on entrenching themselves in history by refrencing the past. Leave the pop songs for the likes of our elders, as they will be touched by richness and experience. I say you can pull off anything as long as you have conviction.

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Out and about Tags: cabaret, drag, entertainment, events, nightlife, performance

June 10

New bar nights for June / July

You can tell winter is coming; a whole crop of new bar nights and events in Perth are making their debut (or return) over the next two months. Here’s some suggestions for your diary:

Gay friendly: Love Sundays (fb) starts this weekend at Luxe Bar as a weekly Sunday sesh. Putting aside my little huff at their resident faux DJ, the evening will be worth checking out. When it was first promoted on Facebook we all assumed it was a gay event, but after reading their very self indulgent press release I’m going to have to downgrade it to ‘gay friendly’. Public Relations 101: List the performers before you name the venue owner and PR director in a media release! No offence, but the public don’t give a rats who owns Luxe and who does their PR.

Gals only: Cocktails and Girls (fb) is a new quarterly event for lesbians and their friends starting 18 June at… Luxe Bar! (is the gay community getting a bulk discount there?). Described as ‘a place where you can relax to some funky tunes and talk with your friends over a beautifully made cocktail’. $1 from each ticket goes to the Breast Cancer Foundation WA.

Everyone: Cabaret night Voix de la Ville (fb) premieres on 28 June at The Castle. The evening is a platform for new and established performance artists of all varieties to showcase their work. You can expect musical, drag, magicians, clowns, burlesque and more. More details in my interview with Ash Baroque.

Guys and gals: After taking a few years sabbatical, Fruits in Suits (fb) returns to Perth on 2 July. It’s a relaxed sundowner affair for gay professionals, and yes women are welcome too. To be regularly hosted at Bar 138 on Barrack Street, and is a fundraiser for Pride WA.

Out and about Tags: alternative nights, bars, entertainment, events, nightlife

June 8

Horse Meat Disco in Perth

Horse Meat Disco was very briefly mentioned in this month’s Out In Perth, but because I’m not constrained to monthly deadlines I can give you the full details now. Woo! So what’s all this business about? HMD is all for disco music - Italo, dub disco, electrofunk etc, and started as a regular club night in London six years ago. Originally aimed to adapt the trendsetting alternative parties of New York for the London crowd, it has expanded to become involved in the fashion scene, creating it’s own little fashionista melting pot. Now it’s coming to Perth.

Two of the founding members of Horse Meat Disco, James Hillard and Jim Stanton (all four founders are pictured above) will be playing at Connections on Friday 3 July from 10pm. Support acts are local electro artists Brash and Sassy, along with Petrosex (most known for gigs at Shape Bar and SEXY) plus other guests.

Horse Meat Disco describes itself as “the queer party for everyone: homos and heteros, club kids, bears, fashionistas, naturists, guerilla drag queens and ladies who munch”. Perth is their first stop in the Australian arm of the tour, and they’re being supported by Modular, so this event should get a fair amount of attention. Likewise tickets cost more than a regular Connections night: $25 + BF. For the price you’re also promised a “catwalk extravaganza”. Here’s a taste of the music:

Presale Tickets Available from Connections, heatseeker.com.au, Planet Video, 78 Records and Mills Records.

Props to Will and Jack on this post.

Out and about Tags: alternative nights, connections, entertainment, events, music, nightlife

May 28

New gig guide + what to do this weekend

Thanks to the suggestion from my bestie David, and some hard work, I am very proud to present the only source you’ll ever need to schedule your social life: the gayrage gig guide … for gays (G4). It’s a very convenient collection of gay community, commercial and gay friendly events, plus other happenings around Perth which may be of interest to you.

Why is it better than all the other gig guides? Because I made it, fool. Actually it’s so you don’t have to go trawling through street press papers and get yucky ink all over your hands. It’s also electronic so it’s always up to date and geeks can download event details to their computers or yuppie phones. LOOK NOW.

My picks on what to do in Perth this long weekend:

Events:

• Friday: Get dressed up for the SPANK! Beauty and the Beast party (tickets and outfit required, see website) at Bar Open
• Saturday: For something different check out SEXY, opens just after midnight, Shafto Lane
• Sunday: Rozalla Live at Connections - this is a fundraiser for Pride WA!

Music:

• Saturday: If you scored tickets, check out how awesome Lady Gaga’s set, stage and costume designs are, and laugh at how bad her singing is. Apparently a group of whorish strippers are also performing at the same event.
• Sunday: Head along to We Love Ministry of Sound and pop some E, maaaan.

Shopping

• Check out the last days of the Millington Street Popup Shop: lots of trendy discounted streetwear brands: 454 William Street in Northbridge.

Arts

• Check out the Year 12 Perspectives show at the Art Gallery of Western Australia. I went last week and there are some great pieces from around WA, and some on exchange from Japan.
• While you’re there head across the road and check out the Nick Cave exhibition at the WA Museum.
• And if your brain is overloaded and needs something light, check out Lesbian Vampire Killers at the movies.

My gay picks for June (so far):
Can’t go wrong with Soho Nights on the 9th and 23rd. The launch of Love Sundays on the 14th will be worth checking out. And definitely the next SHAMELESS Party at Connections on the 20th. It’s a Viking ‘Roped and Pillaged’ theme… those spiky Viking helmets make me so horny… shit I’m original with my jokes.

Out and about Tags: alternative nights, bars, events, music, nightlife, the scene

May 24

New gay sunday sesh

Update: Apparently my promo isn’t positive enough for Luxe Bar, who deleted the link to this post from their FB event page. Oops, did I anger people by pointing out the obvious?

This event sort of came out of nowhere. Remember a while back I posted a rumour Trick had moved to Luxe Bar? Well instead Trick has apparently been killed off completely and in it’s place is Love Sundays held at… you guessed it, Luxe Bar!

The theme is grandeur and opulence, and the event sports quite a big ego since Luxe have created an entirely new ‘Love Sunday’ cocktail especially for the sophisticates…

“Luxe bar’s legendary cast of sultry sophisticates, charismatic up-and-comers, high maintenance boys and luscious lipstick beauties are reborn this June in quintessential Sunday style.”

Big promises to live up to when it launches on Sunday 14 June. While it’s great to see an increase in anti-scene start up events, Perth’s gay community is still relatively small. It’s a shame that Love Sundays could be cannibalising the ZOO Sundays crowd, an event which has been going strong for a while now.

In the next version of the event flyer I would like to see Johnni P’s name a little higher up. Actually, I would like the names of all the talented Love Sundays musicians put above the faux DJ. Plugging in a Dell laptop and hitting play on iTunes is not DJing. You all know who I’m talking about. Everyone thinks it but no one ever says it.

As a final note, don’t forget about Sunset Coasters: the other, other anti-scene event on Wednesday 17 June at Bar 138.

Out and about Tags: alternative nights, bars, nightlife, the scene

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