Love u jo.
Marie Picone, Coburg North, Tue Mar 24 09:58:13 2009
December 23, 2000
From the same people who gave you Mercury Lounge and Heat Discotheque & Cocktail Bar, comes Sirens Discotheque & Cocktail Bar and the adjoining club, The Locker Room Club Bar @ Colonial Stadium. The great part is that people now have nearly no walk to go out after the footy. On footy days you'll come across a lot of your typical footy goers, that's after the footy is finished as they all cram in there for after game drinks.
On other nights, particularly Saturdays its mostly a young funky crowd. Times when you'll come across an older or mature crowd is when there are private corporate functions going on elsewhere in the stadium function rooms up on level 3, above the club. After Colonial Stadium management kicks them out, they head down to Sirens.
But a majority on a non stadium event night would be from 18 to about 25-30. Sometimes there are rave parties held here. Sometimes there are asian rave nights with basically an all asian crowd.
Located just off the Bourke Street bridge, the whole club spans over two levels; Locker Room downstairs and Sirens upstairs with a staircase joining the two inside. Locker Room has a bit more of a casual dress sense, but still neat; just about the same with any other typical club. Sirens upstairs, from my knowledge, aren't that keen on denim, I'll put it that way.
Sirens will usually open up at around 10 or so, with Locker Room opening at 11:00. It fills up quickly with it being maxed out at around 1:00. At the bar, very busy. The dance floor can get very packed; the DJs really hype the crowd up and get them going. The Sirens entrance is located right under the glass side of the stadium on the level you are on when coming off the bridge. This takes you into Colonial Stadium's LiveWire area, which is where the Channel 7 Studio is located.
From the front door you are led onto some escalators to take you up to the second floor where the club entrance is. From the front door of Sirens you walk almost right into the dancefloor as soon as you walk in. There is some seating, very comfy. There are two bars, the main bar which is on the other side of the room from the door, spans the entire length of the wall with a short bar on the adjacent wall almost on the dance floor for that easy quick drink access. The DJ is located right in front of the dance floor and the lighting system is very high tech suspended from a very high ceiling. The two bars here are lit by blue panels on the front of them to give everything that very modern look.
Around to the right of the door there is a short hall way, leading out to small enclosed seating area, the Champagne Bar, and to the right of the end of this hallway there is a small door that goes into the VIP room. The Champagne Bar is an enclosed open roof area with a small bar. The VIP room is a lovely dim lit lounge with luxurious lounges and a bar which is the extention of the main bar out in the main room. These two areas are sometimes used for private functions. Otherwise the Champagne Bar is used as a public area for people to retreat to for a quieter drink, sit down recover and have a chat sort of thing. In this case the VIP room is off limits to patrons.
The Locker Room entrance is more to the right of the Sirens entrance. It's the first entrance you'll see from the Bourke Street bridge. From this entrance you'll walk into a much smaller club area, with the main bar on your left and the dance floor on your left. The same trick as upstairs has been used by placing a short bar to the right of the dance floor, even closer to the dance floor on this floor. There is a seating area in the far corner with tables and chairs not too far from the bar. All around the dance floor there are high tables and stools.
The lighting in this area is a bit more adequate that Sirens. In front of the dance floor is a stage where live bands or DJs perform. The DJ box is located right up above the main bar, so access to it by patrons is a no go.
The music played is seperate on both floors. In Sirens you can expect that really dance type music, mostly top 40 and hardcore dance with a fast pace. The Locker Room plays almost anything from retro, hip hop and the latest top 40 music. In regards to bands, there haven't been very many. Kaylan has performed a couple of times, as well as Crazy Haus who used to perform every Saturday night in the Locker Room. They have finished up and are staying over at the sister club, Mercury Lounge. Other entertainment includes a live DJ on stage, or professional dancers both male and female for the girls and blokes to drool over. No other entertainment like pool tables or video games, it's pretty much drink, dance and have fun with each other.
Entry is about the same for both floors if memory serves me correctly, around $10 or $12. They do say, "you get what you pay for". The environment, the bar service and bartenders who are willing to entertain also is what you're paying for.
For a basic spirit (house spirits) $6, Champagne & wine $4.50, Heavy tap beer pots (Carlton, VB) $3, Light tap beer (Light Ice) $2.50, Premium/imported spirits (Jack Daniels, Southern Comfort, Jim Beam etc.) $6.50, Top shelf top notch spirits (Johnnie Walked Black Label, Makers Mark, Chivas Regal etc) $8.50, Liquers (Midori, Kaluah, Frangelico) $7.00, Some other really upmarket spirits can cost even more if you're really loaded with cash and want to try something with a heap more quality or prestige. Johnnie Blue which is the highest priced at $30.00 per shot. That's right, per shot. Some other brandys are around $10 to $20 per shot.
Transport to there is easy, you can just get the train to Spencer Street and jump off the train onto the bridge over head and over to the stadium. Getting a cab home is not that direct, your best bet is walk over the bridge to Spencer Street and try hail a cab from there or if you've got a mobile phone you can just call for one to meet you at "Colonial Stadium, Bourke Street extension, Car Park 1". If you're driving, there is parking just down underneath the stadium right below the club. You can either walk out of the car park and up the stairs to outside both club entrances or take the lift in the carpark to level 1 which brings you right inside Sirens level 1 entrance, to awaiting security :). Level 2 in the left is locked to avoid any trouble with people trying to skip security.
There is an ATM in this area as well at the bottom of the escalators and cigarette machines inside both clubs. The car park is 24 hour and costs $5.50 for as long as you like and has automated pay stations right near the lift and accept $5, $10 or $20 notes, coins and even credit cards, but if paying cash it's a good idea to pay for your ticket BEFORE you go up to the club if you're into spending all your money on a good night out.