The news about Sydney’s nightlife has been doom and gloom for months now – and rightly so. It seems that more and more venues are shutting their doors, new restrictions are being put in place, and our live music and late night venues are under serious threat of extinction.
From Oxford Street’s mega-venue Exchange Hotel, home to Spectrum, Q-Bar, Phoenix and Nevada, to The Flinders Hotel to the recent closure of Kings Cross institution Hugo’s, the effects of the lockout laws on local businesses is clear. But it’s not just the lockout zones that are affected; iconic Chippendale bar and live music venue The Lansdowne will be closing its doors at the end of August. Areas like Newtown are suffering too, from late night violence to crowds migrating to the inner west after 1 am – it’s become such a problem that a number of venues have come together to implement their own trial lockouts.
It sucks. I know.
It’s easy to get caught up in the misery. But, it’s also easy to forget that there’s still loads of great bars and clubs who are thriving, both in and outside the lockout zones.
Venues close down because they can’t afford to stay open. As club patrons and music lovers, we need to do what we can to support the venues that are still open, to make sure they stay open! We’re not asking you to protest in the streets. We’re not asking you to write angry letters to your local council. We’re not asking you to sign petitions.
We just want you to go out and party!
We’ve put together a list of some of our favourite live music venues and nightclubs. The weekend is here – you know what to do.
Inside the Lockout Zone
Candy’s Apartment
Kit & Kaboodle
Oxford Art Factory
Crane Bar
Goodgod Smallclub
Civic Underground
The Metro Theatre
The Basement
The Standard Bowl
Ching-a-Lings
Middlebar
The World Bar
Brighton Up Bar
Chinese Laundry
Pacha (Ivy)
Cargo Bar
Harpoon Harrys
Bristol Arms
Arthouse Hotel
Frankies
Burdekin
ARQ Sydney
Stonewall Hotel
Columbian Hotel
Midnight Shift
Oxford Hotel
Inner West
Red Rattler
The Factory Theatre
The Sly Fox
The Enmore Theatre
Manning Bar
Tokyo Sing Song
The Gladstone Hotel
The Annandale Hotel
Marrickville Bowling Club
Newtown Social
Fredas
Vic on the Park
The Record Crate
Chippendale Hotel
Waywards
Blackwire Records
Union Newtown
Marly Bar Upstairs
The Midnight Special
107 Projects
Hermans (same owners as Manning Bar)
Eastern Suburbs
Beach Road Hotel
Jam Gallery
El Topo
Casablanca’s
Captain Cook Hotel
Darling Harbour
Miranda
Northern Suburbs
Sorry if we missed out on your venue – comment below and we’ll add you in!
What to do? Sign this petition and tweet current NSW Premiere Mike Baird Mike Baird here.
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