Singapore Club Scene
Group consensus decided that we head down to DXO last night to check out Stephane K. Hesitation only at the possibility of having to pay $24 (BAULK! BAULK!) to get in, but went in faith that Pat could work his magic somehow or other. Indeedy, manager recognised Patrick (thank the lord for magical crazy hair) and waived all of our cover charges. Hurrah! It was almost 1am when we got in, and the place was completely empty. It was so sad, sad, sad. Stephane K was really really good, technically and choice of songs…but there was nobody on the dancefloor at 1am. Absolutely asinine, sinful. We felt so bad for him, top-notch DJ with no crowd, and everyone else were just cowering at the sidelines. It was almost rude, only because his music was solid. So we danced and danced, almost 15 of us in the crew. Only then did some in the sidelines join us on the dancefloor.
While we enjoyed the space that was non-existent with the swarm of people showing up at Boy George, the vibe was just lacking, and we left after a couple of hours to check out Aldrin’s ONE party at Zouk. The place was blowing up. Place was packed and people were going crazy (good set, Aldrin!). I left earlier than the rest, at about 4am, too tired. Then I read today that after I left, my boyfriend spent the rest of the time entertaining himself by trying to get my gay friend laid. I-am-not-responsible-for-his-actions! Still, I apologize on his behalf.
I digress. Point was, hopping from DXO to ONE at Zouk, both with good music but with vastly different crowds, I wonder about the magic of marketing. Club managers are in an unenviable position. Especially for the fickle and unpredictable clubbing crowd. I like DXO, despite my previous mocking about their write-ups. Their service has always been very good, the space is nice (better lighting would help), and management friendly and open to feedback. They are new, compared to mainstays like Zouk. The managers we spoke to said they were still new and will gain more ground. I hope they’ll make it, because with line ups like Boy George, Stephane K, Johnny Fiasco, Dirty Vegas, and Kid Koala, I’ll be there.
The clubbing community is split between 4 camps: (1) Zouk is the one and only best!; (2) We need more competition for Zouk; (3) Zouk? What Zouk? I just want free-flow and bump-n-grind some drunk chickies!; (4) Scene? What scene? Clubbing in Singapore SUCKS ASS! I’m a fan of Zouk, obviously, because they bring in music I like and they manage the club very professionally and very well (in MY experience, I know others have had otherwise, but I don’t speak for them). But I would like more variety of places to go to as well. However, our club scene is fundamentally restricted in its mindset–that only big named sooperclubs can and will survive. Otherwise, just stick with the cheesy Mohd Sultan clubbing market already saturating our scene, i.e. play crappy music and give free flow to get people trashed, resulting in horrible pick-up scene with clueless dumb-asses.
I am wishing for the impossible, that I can map the club scene in San Francisco that I thoroughly enjoyed, in Singapore. Don’t get me wrong, SF had loads of crappy places too (North Beach). But the niche markets were more than well catered for. Niche markets are pretty neglected here. I don’t know much about other niche genres like DnB, Garage, Indie, etc, so I can’t speak for what that scene is like in S’pore (non-existent, I’ve heard). But we could start with baby steps…maybe start with small happy hour parties like Qool has at 111 Minna, have local DJs (low-cost to club owners, support the local scene…) play one hour sets of various genres each 6-10pm on a Wednesday (mid-week, good time, for people that DON’T go Mambo nights…*shudder*), working around times for people with 9-6 jobs.
But who am I to say what? I’m a clubber, not an owner.
