Bars and Nightclubs
Melbourne CBD, Melbourne

Section 8

27-29 Tattersalls Lane, Melbourne, VIC
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What do you get if you drop two containers, a couple of dozen shipping pallets and some outrageously cool people into a decrepit old inner city carpark? Why one of the smoothest, coolest, realest, most urban, cultured, gritty and quality filled bars that your eyes can feast upon!

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Section 8 Photos

Section 8 Review


Review By Madeleine Wong

Enter down Tattersalls lane in the midst of China Town, and you are sure to think you’ve possibly won a Tattersalls Division 2 prize when walking alongside a fence caging a small watering hole of social frivolity with deep reggae, soul and hip hop music to ease you into Section 8 scene.

Whilst sitting on a craftily assembled wooden crate and sipping on my $15 sweet Expresso Martini my eyes wonder at my surroundings tickled by the decor. The venue houses a rugged, rough-edged look with crates as seats and barrels as tables; yet at the same time oozes a ‘cool as a cucumber’ relaxed style. Dimmed lit red lanterns (fitting for the location) and green lights at night showcase the emerging graffiti art work behind the loosely hung vines, acting as the back drop for social banter between people of the arts, musicians, contemporary, casualties and suits.

Once you walk out of the graffiti stained shipping container toilets, you face the music projected by a DJ standing amongst a method of madness with a funk to it. The mixed crowd can be tame but lively, or – on the other side of the spectrum – just down right busy when it houses summer crowds and eclectic events.

Their shack of a bar, which tends to be the focus of this relatively inconspicuous shindig, carries a decent selection of beer, wine and spirits served by funk soul bartenders.

You can expect to pay between $5.50 and $12 for beers, up to $15 for spirits, and up to $13 for wine. When you’re not up for any of those, there are always cocktails to make you drool – especially when the smell of summer lingers in the air. The venue puts together a small summer cocktail list with a few classics and unique styled Section 8 cocktails ranging from $15 (which is inexpensive for a cocktail) to $38 if you want to buy a shared round.

As KC and Jo Jo sing, “Get down on it” to the unassuming Section 8 that captivates those of any walks of life who enjoys a chilled out drink session, a laugh and light jammin’ to the music right in the middle of Melbourne’s nightlife.




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A 2nd Review of Section 8


Review By Tanya Rao

Dad wanted a taste of Melbourne grunge; he’s from Sydney and figures Melbourne is all about the cool grungy culture. I told him there was a bar in a tiny alley around here.

“But is it grungy?” Well, you sit on crates in an old car park.

The car park was protected by wire fencing and some pretty big guys – not pretty, just big. On a Friday afternoon it was packed with thirty something’s freshly changed out of their suits, chatting furiously over the house beats. A remix of ‘Like the Deserts Miss the Rain’ was surprising, but nostalgic.

The beer was pricey: $7 for Coopers, and $8.50 for Monteith’s apple cider, sold out of a shipping container. I eyed the cocktail list. $15 for some sweet and spicy concoctions seemed fair. A pitcher of peach punch came with a delightful skewer of jelly raspberries and teeth. For $30 it does pack a punch.

We sat down on the artfully stacked wooden crates. Branches hung through gaps in the corrugated plastic roof and crept onto a wall sprayed with a roaring tiger. The graffiti scrawled toilets are probably the most grunge you will get here. The DJ was setup haphazardly in front of some stencilled battery hens. It all comes together in that industrial street chic kind of way, but it’s still got warmth.

A skinny couple in skinny jeans and laced boots leaned on the wall. A woman with big curls fiddled with her leather handbag, describing her latest I.T. venture. A bald man sat alone, waiting for someone. Dad sweated in his suit. The crowd was mixed, casual, a bit boring. It’s good for lively conversation and a tentatively sipped drink.

Whilst the bar itself is really special, the people there are often not. What could have been urban grunge is now high priced yuppie grunge at best. However, it is still a nice place to get boozed up on gourmet cocktails.

Section 8 is that cool hidden bar that epitomises Melbourne’s nightlife. Only problem is…it’s been found.

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