Party crews you should know
These are the guys bringing the fun
1Club Ate
Club Ate is the brainchild of artists Bhenji Ra and Justin Shoulder and it’s a party that highlights artists and performers from the queer Asia-Pacific diaspora. ‘Ate’ is Tagalog (Filipino) for ‘older sister’ and is used as a term of endearment to embrace the far reaching tendrils of a creative clubbing community. Though infrequent, Club Ate has a memorable, creative program of sit-down performance, heaving dancefloors, participatory voguing and exciting, dissonant decoration, and the party has popped up at Red Rattler and ACMI in Melbourne. Watch out for more instalments bubbling from the collaborative cauldron of the artists and their Ates. à Up next: Club Ate Blacktown Arts Centre, 78 Flushcombe Rd, Blacktown 2148. www.blacktownarts.com.au/balik-bayan. Sat Sep 16.
2The Bait Shop
We’re getting nostalgic for what feels like not all that long ago. (Remember 2016? Those were the days!) The Bait Shop runs parties that tug at these near-past memory heartstrings very, very well. With themed parties largely centred around early 2000s pop culture, the Hudson Ballroom is transformed into a teen disco for people who are maybe still teens or, at least, have a fondness for the Video Hits/
The OC era. Dancefloors have been churning to the indie rock reminiscence of ‘I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor’ and the old-timey wireless crackles of vintage Britney. The Bait Shop is behind some pretty excellent costume blowouts too, including a Rick and Morty house party and a technicolour homage to Studio Ghibli films. à Up next: 2007: 10 Year Reunion Hudson Ballroom, 53-55 Liverpool St, Sydney 2000. hudsonballroom.com. 8pm. $16. Sat Sep 23.
3People’s Club
In the basement of Goodbar is a throbbing, DJ-led party night that has flown relatively under the radar (and outside the lockout zone). People’s Club takes the act of DJing seriously, nurturing local talent with the opportunity for expansive four-hour sets in a supportive, subterranean den. Each week sees a new headliner take over the decks in the neontinged bunker and the roster is always a balance of gender and genre. There are limited places in Sydney to get this kind of Boiler Room-style clubbing experience: here is where you go for those endurance shuffles, well into the morning. à Up next: The People’s
Cruise featuring Lancelot and Kato Secret location. paradiseultd.com. 8pm. $30. Fri Sep 1.
4Badgirl Garden
Badgirl Garden presents a roster of female-identifying artists, performers and rappers in an elaborately decorated fun zone at Slyfox. Run by female street artist collective Stayfly, the monthly party is a swirl of emcees,
live painting, DJs, singers and hula hoopers. First Thursday of the month the Badgirl Garden crew bombard this pocket of Enmore with inclusive energy, pushing women in hip hop to the front of the stage. à Up next: Badgirl Garden VI Slyfox, 199 Enmore Rd, Enmore 2042. www.slyfox.sydney. 9pm. Free. Thu Sep 7.
5Slime
This hip-hop and R’n’B party has emerged from outside the blokey juggernauts who dominate the floor and the decks. Facilitated by Jessie Tank, who DJs under the moniker Phat Controlla, Slime has been popping up at the Hudson Ballroom, Cliff Dive and the Chippo Hotel, flinging both old and new hits. It’s the classic, solo cup in the air, old-school hip-hop house party you crave on a Friday night with contemporary idols like Future and Rihanna chucked in. ■ à Up next: Slime: Hip Hop Party Hudson Ballroom, 53-55 Liverpool St, Sydney 2000. hudsonballroom.com. 10pm. $11. Fri Sep 8.