Bars and Nightclubs
Fitzroy, Melbourne

Laundry Nightclub

50 Johnston St, Fitzroy, VIC
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The Laundry stands for smokin’ lush and ambient tunes downstairs every night of the week including ambient drum ‘n’ bass, laid-back big beat and other grooves with some of the most notable mix masters playing some of the smoothest hip hop you’re likely to see. As the website suggests, this is not the place for wankers, sleazes and bully-boys, so might not be the place for everyone.

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Laundry Nightclub Review

Review by Graham Turner

Laundry’s a tricky venue to review on the back of even multiple visits. It’s the kind of venue where you could roll up one night to find an Abba-themed karaoke night on the go only to return the next to find a Morrissey tribute band swinging around bouquets of flowers on stage. Such is the eclectic nature of the beast that potential pre-planning may be required to see if what’s on offer that night adheres to your tastes.

This diverse range of events is not to the detriment of the venue; this ever-changing plethora of entertainment compliments the eccentricities of the area itself and subsequently, the clientele. We must remember though that this new iteration of Laundry comes with big shoes to fill: the old version was synonymous with stupidly cheap drinks and was an iconic fixture within the Fitzroy drinking scene.

But the fresh renovations also means fresh drinks prices, although these are just as ever-changing as the events. Though they never reach the giddy A+E tinged thriftiness of yore there still seems to be some kind of drink special available every night (generally before 12) such as $8 jugs of beer, $4 vodkas. Also, on Thursdays even after 12 there was only a general increase of about $2 across most drinks. Flat rates on the weekend are fairly typical fare with beer around $8 and house pours around that mark too.

It feels like you’re getting so much more bang for your buck than some of the other Fitzroy locales. The new layout of the venue providing an intimate, contemporary space with ample seating (and these aren’t just any seats, there a cheek-hugging delight). A nicely sized dance floor gave me plenty of room to smash out a few robots whilst not being so massive that I had to wade through dozens of actual dancers to return to the sanctuary of my couch.

One thing I should point out is that the diversity shown within the musical output of the venue is not necessarily reflected in the clientele. I generally found this quite refreshing as there seemed to be a broad contrast of characters throughout the three different nights I went to Laundry. So it doesn’t matter if you’re not a budding mc or even own a baseball cap (with a basketball team on it) you’ll still blend in seamlessly at even the most dedicated of hip-hop nights.

A minor aesthetic gripe I feel obliged to point out is the smoking area. It has a slightly boxy, un-finished feel to it. This is a purely subjective issue though as many of my fellow patrons seemed to spend the majority of their evening here so maybe there was some hidden appeal I failed to see.

Looking retrospectively at my nights in Laundry though it felt just like a good old-fashioned night out, free of pretention and extortionate pricing – in other words, fun.



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