If you’ve ever thought about travelling,
odds are someone has mentioned Europe as the
ultimate destination. It probably conjures up images of rolling hills, ancient
architecture, engrossing culture and great food…
But you would have heard all that a million
times… so this is a little bit different, we thought we would expose the part
of Europe that is never shown on Getaway or SMH… The parts of Europe that your Contiki guide (generally) won’t take you
to. Rather than the beautiful countryside by day, we thought we would
experience the neon lit nightlife of a whole new continent… So presenting, the
top 12 clubs/bars/festivals of our 2012 European party adventure!
The Italian capital of style elegance and
sleazy/bad clubs… Apparently. But before I taint your view of this amazing
city, let me explain some positives.
Firstly, Aperitivo. The single greatest word in
the Italian language after “Mi comprero la scarpe” (for the ladies). It is an
Italian pastime in which bars serve masses of delicious bite size snack foods
for any paying drinkers. So, for the price of a wine (4Euros) or a cocktail
(8Euros) or 3… You can have an all you can eat dinner from about 6-10pm. We
visited a few on our travels but none compared to Black Diamond (Via Felice
Casati and Via Vittor Pisani) which provided not only the best seafood, pasta,
pizza, pastries and vegetables but made amazing cocktails and the friendliest
of bar staff.
Following this, we decided to head out for
some dancing, we were told to go to the area which was where most of the clubs
were. Once we arrived, many of the bouncers were eager to get females into the
club and once we decided that 25Euro was too much for entry, it was halved
without us even asking. Once inside, it picked up closer to midnight but I
never really felt the vibe. A lot of guys, not a lot of room and 10Euro drinks.
Tip: Don’t withdraw from the “bancomat”
inside a club. I thought I was withdrawing 50Euro from the bar with the
intention of buying a drink and having some cash leftover for the taxi, what I
got was 5x drink vouchers!
11. Dubai
– Buddha Bar/Bar44/Embassy Lounge
Due to the strict drinking laws in Dubai, alcohol is only
allowed to be served in privately owned establishments. So a night out often
means experiencing the number of bars/clubs located in a hotel complex, or in
our case at Grosvener House. Our night began at Buddha Bar with some of the
slowest bartending ever experienced. However the bar itself was awesome – a classy
crowd, a giant Buddha statue overlooking the main area and amazing views of the
Dubai marina.
Next was Bar44, on level 44 of the hotel
for some pricey cocktails, free olives and a view of Palm Jumeira. Shortly
after, we popped over to Embassy bar for something a little more up-tempo. This
club seemed to be very “exclusive” towards guys, obviously to keep the male to
female ratio balanced. Couples were fine, but trying to get in as a group of
guys was met with a swift ‘No”. They weren’t missing much though, a tiny bar
and dance floor littered with glass cabinets along the sides boasting expensive
bottles of alcohol, shoes and jewellery. ‘Cause that’s how we roll… I guess.
The music was what I would call ‘cheesey
vocal house’ but in the worst sense, it was like someone had told the DJ “this
is what they listen to in (insert westernised country they are trying to
imitate), so play this and everyone will love it!” so the DJ spun a heap of
unrecognisable generic house music while everyone bopped along
unenthusiastically and eyed eachothers (most probably original and stupidly
expensive) designer threads.
Tip: Dress to impress.
10. London
– O2 Arena: Example, Alvin Risk, Wretch 32
Relatively far down the list, but it’s at
this point the squeeze has to be put on the order…
In my mind, I pictured the ACER arena… When
I arrived, I wasn’t even close. This place is HUGE! It has its own shopping
strip that runs part way around the venue. Very cool. Some big names play here.
Our seats were in the upper stratosphere,
but since we had already seen the artists from front row at Snowbombing a week
earlier, we weren’t fussed. The sound was awesome in the arena and the
spectacular way 10,000 people move in a croad was a sight to be appreciated.
Tip: Book early. We got whatever we could
at the time, which wasn’t very close…
All the beautiful people come out to the
seedier part of Paris
for this club. After stopping off at a trendy bar on the way, we head in and
scored a viewing spot for some people watching. We noted that the mirrors
all around the club are there to serve a purpose - the French love looking at
themselves… and also dancing with their reflection.
Highlight: The club is kitted out with a
huge lit up cube as a DJ booth and cubes scattered along the roof which change
with the music. Impressive!
Lowlight: The first DJ of the night was
mixing bad hip hop… Quite badly to be honest. The peak of her set came when she
went from Dr. Dre’s “Next episode” into... wait for it... Dr. Dre’s “Next Episode” (yep, you read
it twice) then into “California Love”. She must have lost her CD case or
something…
08. London
– Fabric: ShyFX, DJ Hype, Andy C
One of the most well known clubs in London, Fabric was a
confusing labyrinth with numerous rooms, amazing sound and a very enthused
crowd. We were there for the monthly “Tru Playaz” DnB night, which from what I
had heard drew a slightly rowdier crowd, but we didn’t have a problem.
Tip: Purchase tickets online before the
night, the line wound around two blocks when we strolled past to the presale
line.
07. London
– XOYO: Kissy Sell Out, Adam F, Sam
Frank
This hidden gem we only knew existed
because Kissy Sell Out played there
ended up being one of the best clubs we went to. The two level club had a lounge
upstairs with happy hours, cocktails and a no nonsense (literally, just a room,
a DJ and a bar… no seating area at all) downstairs dance floor that meant
everyone was there to get their groove on. The “local” lineup was as impressive
as I’ve seen and Kissy has to be one of the best DJ’s around.
Tip: Late night “taxis” are actually hire
cars who can charge whatever they want. Decide on a price before you get in or
look for an official black cab… Learnt that the hard way…
With no idea about Prague before we arrived, we thought the safe
bet would be to join a pub crawl to get our bearings. Turns out we had already
visited three bars that were better than our pubcrawl’s and we didn’t have to
pay for them.
After chatting to a local, we were recommended Chapeu Rouge, and
so we ditched the pubcrawl and bargained with a taxi to take us there. What we found was a small dingy, three
level bar, each with its own feel and music, with bartenders who were only more
than happy to show us the right way to enjoy absinthe, with drips, sugar and
flames!
05. Dubai
– Sandance Festival: Fatboy Slim, Zane Lowe, Tynchy Strider, Travis, Morcheeba,
Japanese Popstars
The biggest music festival in Dubai, run
from October – May. By Australian standards, it’s not very big. One stage, five
or six headlining artists, 2pm-2am.. Located on the Palm, it was a beach party
just like you always imagined next to the Atlantis hotel. A couple of thousand
keen partiers came out for a pleasant 32 degree night with international
musicians, the cleanest bathrooms you will ever experience, giant cocktails in
“slurpee” cups and free Pringles!
Tip: Go to the Atlantis Waterpark
beforehand to see how waterslides should be done.
04. Bristol
– Motion: Rusko, Andy C, Scratch Perverts, TC, Grooverider
This may be a random addition for those not
in the know, but Motion is one of the biggest and best nightclubs in the UK, in Bristol,
the home of bass music. This skate park-by-day, nightclub-by-night in an
unassuming industrial area just outside of the main town rivals most music
festivals you will experience here in Australia. This is what clubbing is
all about – the friendliest crowd, the best musicians, and the cheapest entry,
with none of the pretentiousness that comes with the “Superclubs” of Sydney. Oh and everyone
kept their shirts on.
You don’t go to Berghain for the music
(unless pounding repetitive industrial techno is your thing?) or for the chance
to chill on a lounge with a quiet drink and some pleasant company… You go for
the experience. And an experience it is. Firstly the club is an unassuming
warehouse by day, but from 00:01 Sunday til 12:00 Monday it becomes a fortress.
It begins with the line, 30min or so at
which we were told “they don’t let tourists in, and there is no door policy”.
Suits, shorts and singlets, groups, singles all entered without a fuss.
Similarly, girls, guys, couples, singles, dressed up, dressed down were all
rejected with no more explanation than a shake of a head. As we approached
silently (we don’t speak German) the bouncer looked at us, showed two fingers,
we nodded, he nodded. A quick pat down to check for cameras was all they asked
and we were in. Once inside, the game changes altogether, I didn’t see a single
security guard, no one was collecting glasses, the place was barely lit with
the odd strobe flash over the suspended main dance floor. Shutters close on all
the windows as the sun rises so the concept of time is lost. We made it til
7am, at which time there were a few people napping on couches and as we left,
the line was just as it was seven hours earlier.
Tip: Good luck.
A party trip isn’t complete without a trip
to Ministry. It is THE club of clubs in London.
And yes, it certainly lived up to the hype. Every weekend has a stellar lineup
and the place is rocking from midnight til 7am.
After missing the warm-up DJ because we had
assumed that the large room (by Australian standards) with the bar was the main
room, we eventually found the headliner, Chuckie, through a specially designed
walkway, smashing out all the (good) commercial dance you could ask for.
Fireworks (indoors!), lasers, you name it, it was going off. Unforgettaable.
He was closely followed by his partner in
crime Betatraxx and rounding off the end of the night with some bass music was
Sub Focus. Ministry boasts one of the loudest sound systems in the world and
they know it, you have definitely earned that ringing in your ears the day
after a night here.
Highlight: The DJ telling everyone to
remove their shirts, swing them around like a helicopter to help cool down the
main room works amazingly well. Then everyone put their shirts on promptly
afterwards, a sight not seen around these parts…
Lowlight: Ministry must be one of the last
places to catch on to the plastic glasses phenomenon. Broken glass was all over
the floor, so watch your feet in the main room.
A five day music festival, set within
walking distance to three ski lifts in the heart of of Mayrhoffen. With five
music venues in the town, four on the mountain, plus a score of A-list bands, DJ’s,
MC’s, themed events, a party in an igloo on a mountain, and a forest party,
this festival is hard to beat. To top it off, it comes with 4-Star
accommodation in a luxury hotel complete with three types of sauna, steam room,
spa, massage, solarium, pool, amazing food, and fresh snow. And we got all of
this for about $1000. I challenge you to find nothing to interest you at this
festival. We already have places booked for next year and you’re all invited!
That was the quick sell. With a limited
capacity of about 5000 people, Snowbombing is about as intimate as you are
going to get with these artists without becoming a groupie. The clubs/main
stages kick off at about 10pm and shuts up at about 6am… Before the clubs on
the mountain open for business at 10am and run til about 6pm. From 6pm til the
clubs open this is when the highlights such as the street party or forest party
happen. All in all there are about 4 hours a day that there is nothing going on
in Mayrhofen.
If you don’t feel like going all out
everyday, or maybe skiing/snowboarding isn’t your thing the option is
completely yours. Every hotel has a minimum of 3-stars and includes a range of
luxury options should that be your cup of tea (They also have tea!). Most
services (excluding massage and solarium) are complimentary to guests of the
hotel.
So if you are planning on heading to the
other side of the world anytime soon, or anywhere in particular enquire within!
ClubComm is expanding and we want to take you with us! We can help organise
flights/accommodation/company/parties/bar guides, you name it, we can find
someone who’s done it. It’s the ClubComm way.
