The Vinyl Room Review

Review by Breeanna Donohoe

There aren’t many nightspots I could go to with my mother and be guaranteed that both of us would have a good time. Actually, there are probably none…that is, none except the Vinyl Room. Once a haven reserved for the over-40s crowd to drink, dance and mingle, the Vinyl Room in recent years has been reclaimed by the 18-30s age bracket, making for a very interesting mix of patrons.

I arrived with a group of girlfriends around 12pm on a Friday night, and the line was huge – around 50 people deep. Apparently this is due to the pub across the road, Gymea Hotel, closing at midnight, and all the people with any amount of alcoholic buzz still left in them heading over to the Vinyl Room for a boogie.

To our relief, the line moves very quickly and we’re paying the $5 cover charge at the door in under 20 minutes. My hat goes off to the bouncers, who were polite, friendly and efficient – my favourite kind.

First impressions of the Vinyl Room are that it is small, dark, smelly, and crowded. In saying that though, there is no doubt that this place has a fantastic atmosphere. Everyone is either laughing, singing, dancing or a combination of the three.

The music is a playlist of the golden oldies – Cyndi Lauper, Bruce Springsteen, John Farnham, etc. Everyone knows the words to the songs so everyone sings along, but the music is loud enough that you can’t hear your own, or anyone else’s bad karaoke voice.

The dance floor is elevated at the back of the club, and a bouncer on the stairs tells me I can’t take my drink up there. So I’m forced to scull my full glass of G+T because Tina Turner’s “Simply the Best” is playing and I must get my groove on immediately.

I’m pleased to see there’s a giant fan hanging in the corner, working hard to keep the people on the dance floor cool. It blasts you with just enough force to make you feel like Beyoncé in the “Single Ladies” video clip, so my hair is now down and I’m feeling like a superstar.

A couple in their 50s are dancing near us and they’re certainly giving us a run for our money! They’re pulling out the perfectly choreographed moves that they must have learned at their weeknight swing dancing classes, and they’re jiving away together as happy as anything. There are quite a few older couples on the dance floor, but they don’t seem to mind that the big group of young people in the middle is singing a tad melodramatically to Grease’s “Summer Lovin”, rendition complete with obligatory screeching at the end.

At 3am the lights come on and I’m devastated. I could have happily stayed singing my lungs out for another few hours. The only thing that cures my short-lived depression is the knowledge that just around the corner waits the famous Hotdog Man, who has been serving hotdogs to drunk people for what seems to be as long as the Vinyl Room has been in operation.

If you’re planning a trip down south I would definitely recommend you pay a visit to the Vinyl Room. The few pieces of advice I have for you are: get there before midnight; walk slowly on the wood floor as it can get very slippery; and avoid the grotty bathrooms at all costs!



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