With Club 77, Kinselas and World Bar all getting a new lease on life, we’re left remembering the days when we all had personalised ringtones.
For some inexplicable reason, Y2K trends are back in fashion. For those of us who still remember low-rise jeans, it’s a somewhat terrifying prospect. But unlike celebrity drink driving arrests and wearing a belt for no reason, the early noughties weren’t all bad.
This week, news dropped that a new venue, Kings Cross Pavilion, would be opening in the former site of late night music icon, World Bar. The most tantalising detail? It’s bringing teapot cocktails with it.
Yep, those disgustingly sweet, share-with-your-mates, sugar-hangover-headache drinks are once again returning. And it’s giving us nostalgic flashbacks.
With relaxed day brunching and natural wine now the norm in a post-lockout law world, it’s easy to forget Sydney once had a humming late night life. Those heady days when catching up with a mate over a Midori splice meant taking a nanna nap, throwing on your best pair of white Ksubi jeans, and promising yourself you wouldn’t be leaving a dark, smoky nightclub at 10am. Again.
Related gallery: Get the day drinking started with these 17 brunch cocktails
Slip off your heels and get ready to join us on a long late-night walk down memory lane.
WORLD BAR TEAPOTS AND 2-FOR-1 COCKTAILS
Whether it be a cheap pint at the Growler or two for $15 mudslides at Peppermint Lounge, Kings Cross was the first stop in any good bar crawl. Neon plastic shakers, buckets you wore around your neck and kitschy teapots saw us share litre upon litre of watered-down cocktails – and we’re yet to see anything even remotely as affordable since.
DANCE YOUR WAY DOWN OXFORD STREET
The night would kick off with a cocktail at Kinselas before heading to the extremely dark holy trinity of capital letter nightclubs – DCM, NV and Q Bar. Whether you chose podium, cage or curtain you’d give it your all, duck out for a quick kebab, then journey onward to get your freak on at either Goodbar or Rogues.
UPSTAIRS CARGO, RUBY RABBIT AND THE LOFT
We’re really busy tonight, are you on the list?
YU, DRAGONFLY AND HUGOS
If you knew your Paris from your Nicky and wore a fedora in a totally non-ironic fashion, these glam mega bars were your jam. The beginning of the night saw the most beautiful of beautiful people swaying in a self conscious fashion, before dropping low to the likes of Usher and Nelly. Hot in Herre indeed.
BOURBON AND BEEFSTEAK BUST UPS
Before NRL players were stuffing up on social media, they were dusting up at the Bourbon and Beefsteak. If a $5 steak and a rum and coke was your Saturday night jam, this mega pub slash club was where you’d be found. Bonus points if you were brave enough to take on the full-contact dance floor.
FROM CANDY’S APARTMENT TO CLUB 77
Once upon a time Sydney had the very best DJs in town, playing at numerous venues across the city. It was approachable Groove Armada vibes at Tank (now a very respectable Mr Wong), literally anything goes at Candy’s Apartment, or finding yourself in the midst of a super-young crowd at Kit and Kaboodle. The obligatory night’s end (AKA sunrise)? Enduring William Street icon, Club 77.
With an impending $67m Kinselas overhaul, Club 77’s successful relaunch post-Covid, and now Kings Cross Pavillion’s arrival, it seems like the good old days might be back – so get ready to party like it’s 1999.
Related gallery: 100 of the best retro dinners that are worth a revisit
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