One weekend -“ two openings

One weekend -“ two openings

What a hot little sizzler we have ahead of us this weekend with two of the biggest openings in recent scene history.

On Friday all eyes will be on Petersham when the Clarence Hotel officially opens its doors. Despite actually being open since May, the official opening is happening to let everyone know that there really is a new gay and lesbian venue operating outside of the Oxford St strip.

The Clarence Hotel is essentially two separate venues operating under the one roof, events coordinator Eric Nair says, with the Out Bar being more of a regular mainstream gay bar and Manacle being an in-your-face leather/fetish bar.

The Out Bar will be open from 8pm this Friday and Manacle from 9pm, and both have a big night of entertainment rolling out from 10pm. Eric points out that all drag performances at the Out Bar will be sung totally live -” always. The opening night features cabaret-style drag shows from Rubella and Sandy B as well as other live acts including live comedy and a 20-minute snippet from a local theatre production.

To describe the procession of events at Manacle, Eric chuckles and assures us it will simply be very Manacle. I’m told that the clientele will know exactly what this means, but I did manage to find out that the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence will be giving Manacle an official blessing and that JBear will be singing live.

The shows in the different venues are scheduled at different times, so don’t worry, you can catch them all if you dare.

Launch festivities have already started and will happen seven nights a week for the next six weeks. The venue will open daily at 10am and there are events on every night such as wine tasting on Tuesdays in the Out Bar with Sandy B, pool competitions on Wednesdays in the Out Bar, male jelly wrestling in Manacle on Wednesdays, Gaymes on Thursdays in the Out Bar, and much much more. To find out what’s happening whatever night you visit, go to www.clarencehotel.com.au.

The Clarence Hotel is at the corner of Parramatta Rd and Crystal St, Petersham, which is near the start of Norton St. Entry to the official opening is free.

On Saturday night the attention turns back to Oxford Street, where the Midnight Shift has been revived again thanks to new night Hunk. There’s not much else that I can say about this night that I haven’t already in previous columns, so if you like your men with pecs for days and DJs that play underground house music, then check this out.

Alternative cabaret Six Quick Chicks is happening tonight at Slide, a series of 10-minute character-based cabaret acts in a one-hour show. It’s a thrilling mix of political incorrectness, social commentary, absurdity and in their own words is hilarious but wrong. Slide is doing a three-course dinner and show deal for $60 and it starts at 7pm, or you can just catch the show from 8.45pm for $20. Bookings at www.slide.com.au or 8915 1899.

And on Friday night you can return to Slide for Organic, a deep house party which started last year at Gilligans but quickly outgrew it. This Friday looks to be their biggest date yet with the addition of VJ Ariel and a full live erotic show alongside resident DJs Blair and John Devecchis.

The music policy at Organic aims to give something a little different and to cross the border between the house scene and the underground scene, DJ Blair says. The sounds are deeper but they still have plenty of soul and groove -” and most importantly, are uplifting. Entry is $10.

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