On the rocks
Underground Sydney is starting to Rock Out, a filthy new club night where the music is loud and crowds are heavily bent. Rock on!
Rock out every month
When the management of the Flinders Hotel were looking for a night with balls, they turned to an alternative promoter with bite and a penchant for mashed up rock. Having wet her feet in the underground fetish pool, Sarah Harris was looking at taking her passion for alternative rock beats to the queer masses.
Although club nights in the gay gal scene varied, very few (if any) catered for queer lovers of rock who prefer to air guitar to Acca Dacca than shimmy to Madonna. Rock Out ticked the box as an alternative destination where mashed rock tracks are served up raw in an environment, which represented the diversity of queer culture. "We use a lot of rock remixes and rock mash ups on the night. Its still very much a club night but with a rock fuck-off attitude attached to it," says Harris.
According to its promoter, what makes Rock Out a hit is the eclectic range of rock tracks mixed, mashed and bashed out by the club nights rotating spinners. "A lot of the remixes are bought, but the DJ's mix the electro track and the mash to create a unique sound," says Harris. Rock Outs DJ Crew include local icons Sveta, Elliot Coleman, Mandy Rollin's and most recently, special guest Beatrix. The individual tastes of these eclectic DJ's create a grungy pastiche, which the crowd can't seem to get enough of. "Some of the stand-out favourites come from the grunge scene like Nirvana," says Harris. "Metallica, and ACDC are always in there, but we also pull out some of the more modern stuff like Operator Please, My Chemical Romance, the Presets and The Killers."
Like every good club night, the strength of Rock Out is only as good as the crowd it pulls in and keeping an open mind is essential. "We have an open door policy which draws in a very strong girl following which can best be described as bent," Harris says. "We don't discriminate."
Rock Out happens every second Saturday of the month at the Flinders Hotel, 63 Flinders St, Darlinghurst 2010. Entry, $10.