HOT DAMN!!!!! at Q BAR

By Jessica Black

I should admit in opening that I love Hot Damn. No matter how many times I've known it to be snubbed for the Brighton Hotel, or how many questionably post-pubescent punk kids I've seen in the queue in, it has remained my favourite Thursday night destination.

My friend took it as an indication of resilience that, after a particularly unpleasant break up, I was entreating a friend to come out there with me the coming Thursday. To my mind, I was enjoying the best fruits that the tree of singledom has to offer... and it was good.

Just a stones throw from the Burdekin, Hot Damn is the Exchange Hotel's Thursday night combo, incorporating Spectrum, 34B and Q Bar. A cover charge of $12 is more than made up for by $4.50 drinks and house spirits, and the music is a great mix for people who like to dance without taking themselves too seriously.

It's also as loose as busted underwear, with booths and benches for those who ought to get a room. Spaces within the club are varied, sparing patrons the box effect of a club such as Nevermind, where everyone is confined to a single square.

There are two dance floors, pool tables and a VIP area that I had the good fortune to stumble upon during my last visit, which, although similar in most ways to the other side, brought with it the triumph of immediate bar service. While I would stop short of calling it a place for everybody, given my distinctive taste for dark nooks and guys who dress as though they obviously didn't get the memo that punk is as dead as Nancy, it does cater to several tastes.

Spectrum hosts live bands while upstairs there's a dance floor playing popular music with metal, rock and punk playing in an adjacent room. Danceable classics relieve the mood for anyone who falls between the cracks which separate the stylings of Mudvayne, Short Stack and Lady Gaga. The dance floor is open late into the early morning, and the time can be gauged by its gradual thinning as fellow patrons drift towards either the booths or the Hungry Jacks opposite.

Many is the time, an hour or so before closing, that I have had this space all to myself.

It is at Hot Damn where I slipped twice in 2 weeks, landing entirely on my side, a racing stripe of grime from my shoulder to my ankle serving as a reminder the next morning as I bundled myself out of the New College dorms.

My change having slipped from my bag as I fell, I had to haggle the passageway home, and was met with a bemused smile at Central Station, where I had organised for a friend to lend me the money for the train ride home. But as with any good night out, no matter how few hours of sleep I find myself relying upon the next work day, it is worth every undignified, slack-jawed moment.

Expect the unexpected at Spectrum (Q Bar)

By Nastasia Campanella

Whether you're a member of a band, an artist, designer or a no hoper who doesn't quite fit into any category of life, your spirit is always welcome at this place. They say rules are meant to be broken right? When other clubs are enforcing the types of outfits we can wear, hair colour and mates we hang out with, Spectrum is chucking regulation out the window. You'll find everything here from beefed up guys doing shots at the bar alongside pretty young [sometimes underage], girls with a weeks worth make up plastered on their face, to tall skinny boyish males waving a hand or two on the stage. Really, it's not called spectrum for nothing - anything goes here.

The club has a weekly resident night called Hot Damn and it pumps until three am every Thursday. Hot Damn is a perfect way to catch a local band or two. I've been a few times now and always leave with a new CD and sore feet. This is a place where everyone dances and no one is snobby. It's an avant-garde space with basic wallpaper and pieces of art moving in and out of the venue. Creativity and experiment is absolutely mandatory so wear your most out there outfit, the biggest heals you own and bring an open mind along. Really, this is the hunting ground for individuals - those eccentric types who never quite fitted into the cool crowd at school - to run free.

The place isn't huge on providing food. Darlinghurst is cramming with eateries of all prices and quizines so grab a bight to eat before you head here. Drinks on the other hand, are cheap as chips. Expect $5 shots, average house wine and top notch beers which won't break the bank. What ever you do, don't forget to let loose and dance like no one's watching!