Ambarred

After the passing of WA EDM hero Jeremy Junk last month, it is with a heavy heart that theMusic.com.au finds itself dedicating yet another article to the passing of a Perth electronic icon. If you've been living under a rock'n'roll haze of late, WA's premier clubbing destination is set to pack up its baggies, Ambar's lease soon to expire and building redevelopments forcing the beat basement at 104 Murray St in search of a new home. The good news: Ambar has found a potential venue. The bad: it's in a city that doesn't exactly hand out new licenses with ease. And the undecided: can a club move and still put on as equally amazing nights, despite all the inevitable changes?

Titling Ambar 'WA's premier clubbing destination' is not really up for debate. Spending way too many nights there to remember over the past decade or so, and even before when it was The Loft, the 'Home of the Underground' has forged a legacy difficult to beat. Ambar has owned the Best Nightclub distinction at the Perth Dance Music Awards a gob-smacking ten years running, it's taken out the InTheMix Best Club Night title four times and it even holds the record as Australia's highest-ranking club in DJ Mag's Top 100 Nightclubs list, sealing their global kudos with a 42nd placement in the world's biggest nightclub industry poll in 2006.

So when the news broke a few weeks back, the waves of support were unsurprisingly tidal-like. It was a reassuring response from the public as Ambar's intended move around the corner to 86 Barrack Street (the old Commonwealth Bank) is, as listed on their facebook.com/KeepAmbarAlive page, dependent on “your support to prove to the authorities how important Ambar is to you and to the electronic music scene.” One way you can still do exactly that is by hitting surveymonkey.com/s/keepambaralive

Helming Ambar is Liam Mazzucchelli, Boomtick's Director, occasional DJ and the big cheese also responsible for birthing Villa, looking after the Perth leg of Parklife and the brains (and brawn) behind Breakfest, the festival that helped earn WA the reputation as one of the world's leading breakbeat capitals, also taking out the Best Event PDMA for the last ten years straight. “Ambar has a long history and hence a loyal fan base,” Mazzucchelli considers the overwhelmingly positive response from the Ambar Army. “People feel connected to it and I am so thankful it has activated old and new fans to help protect the club's future. We have a long way to go and there are no guarantees with our licensing authorities, but I am confident we'll get it over the line.”

Fingers crossed, but it does raise the consideration of what makes a good club. Many would view Ambar as a 'castle' that's always been about 'the vibe', so can one simply transfer a dancefloor mojo that's been built over so many years in one home? “I am certain we can recreate the essence. The floor plan is almost identical and the idea is to rebuild the old girl with as much duplication as possible. Same team, same music, same DJs and the same sound system. Only thing is, everything will be shiny and brand new. Yes, including spanking new toilets,” Mazzucchelli laughs. Not wanting to piss on their parade, but their 'Home of the Underground' tag will be just one thing lacking, the double meaning of the basement now being replaced with a street level club. Of course while there are many foreseeable cons to the move there are also many pros. Either way though, it might seem strange to some that Boomtick wouldn't just let the Ambar name go down as a hero rather than risk attempting to keep the torch a lit at a different venue. Well, that's without considering who's running the show.

If it were any other promoters and club operators then this scribe would be far more tempted to agree. It's not though; it's Boomtick. Having been privy to the BoomHQ inner sanctum for long enough to be embarrassed by our first dance moves together, I for one can vouch for their extreme professionalism, duty of care and ability to create good vibes, and firmly believe Perth's nightclub industry has a lot it could learn from the ethical and effective ways they conduct their business. If anyone can pull off this move, Boomtick can. Interestingly, Boomtick have also just taken over the old Eurobar (now Flyrite) and Black Betty's. And before shouting, 'MONOPOLY!', one must consider the pure unadulterated crap these two venues been peddling for eons way too long. Using the same admirable business models applied to everything Boomtick tackles, this can only be a positive move for Northbridge. Let's just hope now that the City Of Perthect and the Department of Racing, Gaming and Liquorice both realise this city needs more life, not less venues.

Either way, the old Ambar will close its doors with a youth-altering plethora of memories to keep the Basement torch still burning brightly for years to come. Too many drinks? Here's some reminders: the Destination? crew's groundbreaking nights mixing live instrumentation with beats; seeing Squarepusher melt minds with one of the most extreme Wednesday nights most will experience; witnessing Stacey Pullen belt out a set so long we wondered whether he was using a catheter; seeing Kid Kenobi practically adopt the club as his home; expecting to rub shoulders on the dancefloor with most of the Breakfest headliners at the after-party; the recent invention of the Tiny Club bathroom shenanigans, a masterstroke from the Get Weird gang; the insanely popular ITM and PDMA Best Club Night-dominating Japan4 format; Xmas party silent discos seeing some outlandishly rad DJ outfits and antics to match; making bets with people that you could beat them at pool only to realize you could hardly even see straight; the carpark-extended rave-ups; testing the bouncers' patience with staircase silliness; arriving at Ambar at 5am; avoiding looking at the chewing gum-splattered dancefloor/crime scene when the lights turned on; and so the list goes on.

Let's hope Ambar's spirit indeed keeps on going at the new destination, if even approved. For either of these things to happen would be a massive loss to WA's cultural fabric. Of course the 'old' venue is still running til further notice, but I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all the staff that helped cause this over-enthusiastic dancer so many sore heads over the years that were next day soothed (at least partially) by the fun memories of the night before. Bravo.