Hanging around a city has made me blind to all the back-alley pubs and clubs which produce a intense mixture of culture and musical variety. Until recently I had been drinking at the same bars and having the same boring conversations with patrons. This is when I discovered the Happy Yess club. This iconic hippy bar opens its doors to the most individual, obscure events in Darwin which I was fortunate enough to attend.
The bar is housed in one of Darwin’s most well known heritage listed building, Browns Mart. Growing up, Browns Mart was the underground art hub. Anyone from dancers to poets would perform there - then suddenly it just stopped being an interesting place and became just another run down building.
Upon my return to Darwin I heard that Joelistics former member of TZU was performing there, I was curious to know how hip-hop had a place in a hippy club.
When I arrived at Happy Yess I was amazed to see how little the area had changed. Instead of decking it out with renovations, we had to abide by the venue’s rustic rules.
I was pleased to see how much everyone respected the venue and didn’t litter or throw drinks around.
I was also pleasently surprised to see the mixutre of musical tastes under the one roof. I kinda expecting a massive segragated crowd.
I have been to intimate clubs before, but this one was definitely a tight squeeze, which again worked in its favour - it meant that while you were there, you would have to respect your fellow drinker’s space. When Joelistics took the stage, the floor was packed. It was almost like two seperate universes were squashed together for the love of music - hippys with leaves in their hair and no shoes to lovers of the rhyme with their baller caps and hightops on.
But this happens in Darwin…due to decrease in places to party, people are forced to cross their musical borders in search of new life. People who usually stick to one venue because of the genre choices are venturing out of their confort zone. And you know what? It works. Watching how everyone worked together to have a good night irrelevant of their musical choices made my night so much better.
I’m proud that the Happy Yess is breaking social boundaries and sharing musical love from diverse artists - enrichening and broadening Darwin’s musical horizons.
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