Sydney's Nightlife Is Finally Back: A Summer Of Resurgence

So called Sydney’s nightlife has been in strife for a decade.

Before the pandemic lockouts ravaged any sense of nightlife for 6 years. The structural change shutdown venues right across the board with iconic dance music hubs being completely eradicated. Throughout the period young people constantly heard of the good old days of the Kings Cross, the iconic Good God and a buzzing electronic music scene that was world class. 

Then came the pandemic, which halted live music and clubbing culture for two years, leaving a generation of partygoers hungry to party without any direction, structure or idea of what engaging with a healthy nightlife truly is.

As cost of living rose dramatically following the pandemic, the anticipated resurgence post-pandemic dampened quickly. Many believed that people would go out in droves immediately following the vaccine but the realities of partying in a post-lockdown world and partying alongside COVID struck home heavily in 2022. Live music struggled and clubbing was hit hard.

As summer turned and 2022 settled in, there were ample amounts of good news pieces surrounding the culture of Sydney nightlife. Venues were re-opening and people became eager to support the arts. This Summer has seen Sydney seemingly revived, with promoters pulling international acts in packed out rooms across a variety of venues.

The question now bodes, as the city recovers and has survived some of its biggest structural challenges, is Sydney nightlife back? 

We’ll discuss whether Sydney’s nightlife is healthy in relation to one scene and the scene we know best, the electronic dance music world, with two key pillars. Highly accessible, non-gate kept venues that support the electronic dance music world as well as the health of our thriving underground.

Engaging with electronic dance music involves a pipeline of taste which requires years of education. Young fans enter the clubbing world with a vague idea of what they like, before refining that taste deeper and deeper into the electronic music world pipeline, one that sees them begin at some of the biggest venues in Sydney and end up at the most niche, raves and events as their taste becomes refined. 

This pipeline, in our opinion, is one of the most critical infrastructures in sustaining a healthy nightlife, in order to support both the big ticketed events all the way down to the most niche, community minded organisations that keep dance music alive in the city.   

Throughout the pandemic, youth aged between 17 and 20 all missed years of going out and therefore missed years of education and development in both their tastes and their behaviour on dance floors. Many underground promoters struggled shortly after lockdowns, as fresh blood failed to enter the mix of their audience while their older audience aged out of the party going bracket, leaving the funnel empty and dance floors sparse.

Sydney promoter Daniel Hundt who hosts parties under Fruit Bowl commented on this phenomena in May of 2022 stating, “One of the main things we need to consider is the big age gap that hasn’t been bridged yet. There were bushfires, and then Covid, which has wiped out potentially 3 years of live music experiences for people aged 18-21.

“There are 21 year olds who have never been to a club. It’s really hard to engage them in tastemaker spaces and change their minds when they haven’t had the life experience in these formative years over the power of live music. It’s such a bizarre time to be in that age gap.”

The amount of new, highly accessible venues and events that have opened and debuted following the pandemic are giving the city's nightlife a breath of fresh air. These parties and venues are re-opening the dance music loving pipeline, giving thousands and thousands of teenagers a consistent home for electronic dance music every single week.

Most notably, the re-opening of The Abercrombie Hotel was a major game changer for Sydney, providing a venue that hosts electronic music every single week. The Abercrombie is equipped with a 24-hour licence and has undergone an incredible transformation with three venues operating under one roof, establishing itself as the inner-city's new cultural hub. The club opened with a packed 36 hour party with DJ sets from the likes of Mike Who, Andy Garvey, Ayebatonye and Dameeeela. Since then, promoters including House Of Mince, Sweat It Out, Motorik, Lovejoy, Velodrome and more have taken the reigns of the venue, hosting their own respective nights there with raging success, one fuelled by old seasoned clubbing veterans and new faces trying to get their foot in the door. 

Another new venue which platforms excellent live music and electronic music every single week with excellent curation is Pleasures Playhouse. The space is a refurbished Chinatown cinema. It was initially meant to close after 6 weeks of live music which spanned over 35 parties. Following an outcry of support for the venue, it now remains open. The venue is used as a safe space for self expression, one whose excellent curation drove audiences to its seats and dancefloor. Architecturally the space is beautiful, as the venue honours its history while balancing it with some of the richest artistic talent that the world and this city has to offer. It’s recently hosted events from the likes of Vibe Positive, Planet Trip Records, Club Chrome, Xaddy’s Door List + many more. 

Another stalwart of Sydney dance music is Club 77. Its rebrand and revival has been critical to the health of Sydney’s electronic dance music nightlife. In May of last year, the venue announced that in its 25th year of operation, it will remain open seven nights a week until 4am with free entry between Monday and Friday. On its reopening the venue director Dane Gorrel stated, “The lockdown period really gave us the opportunity to analyse our business model and determine what we want Club 77 to be, and that is THE late-night live music destination for Sydney/Eora.” 

Club 77 has been full ever since, with lines out the front every single weekend and has since become a home for some of the best local and international dance selectors. 

The major elephant in the room and the biggest entry point to electronic dance music in the city is Lost Sundays, which is hosted at The Ivy every Sunday. The party is home to the biggest dance acts in the world, and has seen promoter Finely Tuned whip up some of the largest weekly lineups to date. In 2023 alone they’ve hosted the likes of CC:DISCO!, HAAi, Palms Trax, KiNK, Shanti Celeste and more. While many valid criticisms are made of the venue, it is undoubtedly true that many young fans are witnessing some of the best DJs in the world with some of their first experiences engaging with dance music.

Yes, there is a distinct irony that the consistent biggest dance party in the country is hosted in a venue that is owned by hospitality monolith Merivale, it currently acts as the perfect feeder and inbetween to the aforementioned funnel and pipeline that Sydney has so desperately craved for years. It is valid to complain that your favourite DJ is playing at a party you wouldn’t attend, but would it have the same impact on the strength of Sydney’s nightlife if they were playing to the same crowds, in the same sized venues everytime these acts toured Australia? Probably not.

That is the importance of these consistent homes for dance music, they don’t work in competition with each other, or in competition to Sydney’s thriving underground scene, they must all work in conjunction. 

As these punters mature they’ll end up in Sydney’s omnipresent and ever-resistant underground scene. The Bridge Hotel has ended up being an unlikely hero, as tastemaker promoters utilise the venue's 24 hour licence to provide dance music experiences that are completely unique to the city. The first to truly make the most of the venue is promoter powerhouse Community Chest, whose annual fundraiser party last year had its biggest outing to date, raising a total of $8380 split between #JusticeForCassius and the Incarcerated Trans and Gender Diverse Fund. 

One of Sydney’s strongest promoters Athletica has come out of the pandemic with their biggest parties yet, winning best music event at the FBi Smac Awards in 2022. They’ve filled dancefloors at Mary’s Underground, Pleasures Playhouse, The Factory Theatre, The Red Rattler and more with a clear and distinct community ethos.

In the past two weekends alone Translate Sound and Safari Park have filled iconic Inner-West BYO warehouses with some of Sydney’s best locals and internationals with a sound and strength that is distinctly Sydney, one that reflects resilience that Sydney’s underground dance scene will have forever, despite the chokehold that structural legislation has had on the city.

No party has become more iconic in Sydney since the resurgence of the lockdowns than Hotter Out West. Self-titled as Western Sydney’s Boiler Room, the party has become a representation of a new era of party in Sydney. Not bound by gatekeepers or chinstrokers, the raves take Sydney’s nightlife to its cultural home and platforms the amazing and emerging DJs that have been bred in the area. 

There’s a beauty in its freedom, with an ethos driven by energy, resistance and a desire to be recognised. Other promoters including Place, Settings, Beat Kitchen Records, Yuth Audio Program and many more reflect this trend too, which showcases the beginning of a true underground scene, one that anyone and everyone can engage with dance music. 

So is Sydney’s nightlife back? We are definitely getting there. A plethora of venues are making electronic dance music more accessible than ever, giving a platform for younger audiences to slowly begin their journey through the vast world of electronic dance music. 

As they enter its depths, they’ll arrive at the ever determined and resilient underground scene, which creates a home for dance music lovers of any kind to relish in what makes Sydney so special. Our power and resilience in the face of any challenges from above.