Overview
Next time you're out on the town on the weekend, when 1.30am rolls round and you're at a loss at where you can go (and get into), you'll have another option. Chippendale's Lansdowne Hotel has just had a new 5am lockout-free licence approved for Friday and Saturday night.
The multi-room bar, live music venue and pizzeria was resurrected in 2017 by local hospo legends Jake Smyth and Kenny Graham (Mary's Newtown, Mary's Underground, The Unicorn Hotel), and now they're helping to pump a little fun back into the early hours of the weekend.
It's not the only venue doing so either, with nearby favourite Freda's recently having its licence extended till 4am, too. Collectively, it's a big win for Sydney. With a reported 176 venues having closed since the lockout laws were introduced to curb alcohol fuelled-violence four years ago, this slight loosening of the State Government's vice-like grip on the industry can only mean good things.
While Chippendale isn't in the lockout zone, its bars have still been impacted by the State Government's strict late-night and live music policies.
Lansdowne Hotel by Bodhi Liggett
To celebrate its new licence, the Lansdowne is bringing one of LA's biggest parties to Australia for the first time. A Club Called Rhonda is an extravagant and inclusive party — described as a "pansexual paradise, a haven for all identities and inclinations" — known for its art, music and pumping dance floors, which has danced its way across LA, San Francisco, New York, Canada and Berlin. You can get a little feel for it by watching this short YouTube doco.
Smyth and Graham have teamed up with Maurice Terzini (Icebergs, The Dolphin) and A Club Called Rhonda Founders Loren Granich and Gregory Alexander to throw Rhonda Intl 'A Night in LA' on Saturday, August 24. The two-storey party will run from 9pm all the way through till 5am (yes, a full eight hours), with guests told to expect an over-the-top night with local artists and to-be-announced international DJs — oh, and lots (and lots) of glitter, lasers and colour. As an added bonus, you'll be able start the party with cocktails from award-winning bartender Yael Vengroff. The 2018 American Bartender of the Year, who is currently the bar director at The Spare Room inside LA's Roosevelt Hotel, will be whipping up drinks from 9–10.30pm.
Vengroff will also be making an appearance at the Rhonda Intl recovery session at The Dolphin on Sunday, August 25 from 7–9pm.
Rhonda Intl 'A Night in LA' will run from 9pm–5am on Saturday, August 24 a The Lansdowne, with the venue open till 5am every Friday and Saturday thereafter. Tickets for the party are $40 and can be purchased via The Lansdowne website.
Top images: A Club Called Rhonda