Page 148 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Australia

146  SY DNEY

Music Venues and Nightclubs funk and folk styles Monday to
Saturday. Experimental jazz is
Sydney attracts some of the biggest names in modern music all offered on Fridays and Saturdays
year round. Venues range from the cavernous Allphones Arena at the Seymour Centre (see
to small and noisy back rooms in pubs. Visiting international p145). Leadbelly Newtown
DJs frequently play sets at Sydney clubs. Some venues cater offers dinner­and­show deals, as
well as show­only tickets, and
for a variety of music tastes – rock and pop one night, jazz, has been drawing an excellent
blues or folk the next. There are several free online gig guides roster of jazz, blues and roots
available, including www.themusic.com.au, www.thebrag. talent. Marrickville’s Camelot
com.au and www.inthemix.com.au which tell you what is on. Lounge presents jazz, folk,
blues, cabaret and world music,
while the Cat & Fiddle Hotel in
Getting In Rock, Pop and Hip Hop
Balmain is the place to go for
Tickets for major shows are Pop’s big names and famous acoustic music on weekends.
available through booking rock groups perform at the Gaelic Club features traditional
agencies such as Ticketek and Enmore Theatre, ICC Sydney, Irish musicians on Friday nights.
Ticketmaster (see p142). Prices Qudos Bank Arena, Hordern
vary considerably, depending Pavilion and sports grounds
on the shows that are going to such as the Allianz Stadium at House, Breakbeats
and Techno
take place. You may pay from Moore Park and ANZ Stadium
A$30 to A$70 for a gig at the at Sydney Olympic Park (see Sydney’s long­time super
Metro, but over A$150 for seats p131) in Homebush Bay. More club, Home Sydney in Cockle
for a concert by major inter­ intimate locations include the Bay, features three levels and
national touring acts. Moshtix State Theatre (see p94), Factory a gargantuan sound system.
also sells tickets for smaller Theatre and Sydney’s best small Friday night is the time to go,
venues across Sydney and their live music venue, The Metro as the DJs present a pulsating
website gives a good idea of Theatre. Hip hop acts usually mix of house, trance, drum and
the various venues and what is play in rock venues rather than bass and breakbeats. A main­
on. Buying online also prevents in nightclubs. You are almost as stream crowd flocks to the
you from having to queue early likely to find a crew rapping as a nearby Bungalow 8 on King
for tickets from the door. band strumming and drumming Street Wharf. Once the sun has
You can also pay at the door on at The Metro Theatre or the set, house DJs turn the place
the night at most places, unless Palace Hotel. It is not unusual to into a club. At Pacha, in the Ivy
the show is sold out. Nightclubs catch a punk, garage or electro­ complex, you can experience
often have a cover charge, but folk band at The Bald Faced hallucinatory burlesque with
some venues will admit you free Stag on Parramatta Road. Classic international artists every
before a certain time in the pub rock is played by some of Saturday night. There are
evening or on weeknights. Australia’s best­loved musicians bands or DJs at the World Bar
Most venues serve alcohol, at The Bridge Hotel in Rozelle. in Kings Cross every night.
so shows are restricted to those Pub rock is a constantly For something a little more
at least 18 years of age. This is changing scene in Sydney. hip, try Candy’s Apartment
the usual case unless a gig is Listings appear on venue web­ on Bayswater Road, or join the
specified “all ages”. It is advisable sites and online gig guides, as student and backpacker crowd
that people under 30 years old well as in the street press (see at Side Bar Sydney, where you’ll
carry photo identification, such p142). Music stores are also full find DJs and live music in the
as a passport or driver’s licence, of flyers for gigs at The Metro nightclub seven nights a week.
because entry to some establish­ Theatre, where international The Arthouse Hotel hosts
ments is very strict. You are also and Australian acts perform regular burlesque, cabaret,
not allowed to carry any kind of every week. These shows DJ and club nights in the
bottle into most nightclubs or usually sell out very quickly. 1836 heritage School of Arts
other venues. Similarly, any Building next to the Hilton
cameras and recording devices Hotel. In the heart of The Rocks
are usually prohibited. Jazz, Folk and Blues district, resident DJs and guest
Be guided by the style of the For many years, the first port of musicians get the crowd on
artist and their audience, but be call for any jazz, funk, groove or the dance floor with uplifting
aware that flip flops are generally folk enthusiast has been The nu­disco and house beats at The
not welcome and are considered Basement. Visiting luminaries Argyle, which also hosts themed
a safety hazard. Wear thin layers, play some nights, talented local party nights and boasts five bars
which you can remove when musicians others, and the line­ over two levels. Or sample the
you get hot, instead of a coat, ups now also include popular low­ceilinged Chinese Laundry
and avoid carrying a big bag, world music and hip­hop bands. on Sussex Street, which you’ll
because many venues do not 505, in Surry Hills, features live find tucked under the gentrified
have a cloakroom. jazz, blues, reggae, gypsy, latin, pub, Slip Inn.