ARQ Nightclub Review

Review By Sandra Polak

People can be sceptical when it comes to experiencing a night out in the gay scene, but if you’re interested in going somewhere that truly defines what it really means to party then you need to round up your mates and get down to ARQ on a Saturday night.

The night started quite slow but it wasn’t long before I felt myself rubbing arms and shoulders with everyone in the club just to get to the other side of the room. You look around and all you see is a mixed crowd of gay and straight people, half-naked and scattered across two levels. At this point I felt completely over dressed and dolled up for this environment, with most of the girls wearing crop tops, shorts and flat shoes.

The spinning doors at the entrance of each room began to get confusing after a few drinks and if you don’t watch where you’re going, it could end in embarrassment. Poles, podiums, smoke, lasers and dance music combined to create a night of pure fun and madness. It was like I entered a completely different world where everyone is there to have a great time, except for one situation which almost got me into a bit of trouble when a lesbian couple began throwing drinks at each other and of course the drinks spilt all over me along the way.

The only problem I found when it comes to picking up was that I couldn’t tell who was gay and who was straight. You’d think that a girl could tell but I had absolutely no idea. I remember checking out this hottie up-stairs and thought that he was completely straight and the last time I looked over I saw him kissing another guy, it was such a bazaar situation because he kept looking towards my direction. Oh well, I came to realise that ARQ wasn’t somewhere you would go to pick up, rather somewhere that you are guaranteed to have a great night with your friends. A perfect venue to go out and let loose for the night.




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A Second Review of ARQ

Review By Demi Robertson

A Sunday night wouldn’t be a Sunday night if you weren’t out seeing a midnight drag show at Oxford Street’s notoriously known ARQ. Being pulled in by the lights, revolving door and welcoming door host, ARQ is definitely a place you want to end up after a boring work filled or Uni cramped week. Decked out with poles, podiums, pool tables, private booths and a red light smoking lane way, ARQ definitely attracts a broad amount of people. If you enjoy dirty, sleazy, half naked dancing on bar tops or prefer sitting back, lurking the crowd for a hookup, ARQ well and truly accommodates for these needs.

Another quality I found interesting about ARQ is its broad crowd. It’s quite hard to find someone who hasn’t been, or didn’t know someone from the club. The general amount of the crowd are teens and people in their mid-twenties. However, I found it quite often I was dancing with sixty year old men and bitching with or being bitched about by drag queens.

The venue is divided into three sub-sections. The lower and higher floors keep a relaxed and slower paced atmosphere while the middle floor is made for the serious dancers, ready to party all night long. The general taste of the club is remixed classics and popular mainstream music. The DJ box is positioned above the crowd and coincides with the constant revolving disco ball and beaming rainbow laser lights. To get a break from the large, sweaty crowds, your greatest option is to venture to the metre and a half wide smoking lane way. Sheltered with little light and tall redwalls, decorated with a portrait of a woman’s vagina. The smoking area seems to be the easiest place to run into people you know, make friends, or generally suss out the crowd. Be it asking for a lighter or laughing at the drunks, you’re bound to talk to someone when you enter the smoking section.

Above all, the greatest thing I found with ARQ was the generally accepting atmosphere. Be it if you love dressing in your tom boy outfit or 10 inch heels. Heavily sequins and colourful or completely neutral from head to toe, you’re open to dance, laugh, talk and make out with anyone at ARQ. With cheap entry rates and reasonably priced and well ranged drinks I would strongly suggest giving ARQ onOxford a chance. Also, make sure you compliment, dance and laugh with the drag queens and dancers to ensure you have a complete, well blown ARQ experience.

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