MAX MOOSE Nightclub Review: TARKO, WILD BILLS SATURDAY (Melbourne)

MAX MOOSE Melbourne Review:

Tarko

Saturdays

@

The Street, Westfield Southland

www.wildbills.com.au

A MAX MOOSE Website

Krunch
Krunch Rocks. they are one of my favourite Cover Bands. Rock on
Shaun, Tue Mar 8 11:49:28 2005
12.03: Bills last ever night
Krunch
Wild Bills will close forever on March 12th. Krunch will be seeing it out with a
bang. A massive party is being organised for the night. Details to come.
Max Moose, MaxMoose, Fri Mar 4 05:07:48 2005
Wild Bills Is Closing Down on Sat 12th March (Officially)
Adam, Thu Mar 3 14:32:18 2005
SATURDAY: KRUNCH playing live
Max Moose rates them one of the freshest bands around.
Free enty before 10pm if you mention the Email. Celebrity guests & heaps of
giveaways!
Wild Bills, Westfield Southland, Tue Feb 8 04:27:40 2005
Guestlists B4 10pm contact via sms 0424 336 166 before 8pm
wild bills, southland, Sat Feb 5 15:24:43 2005
WildBills.com.au, Aust. Hotel Entertainment & Max Moose present:
Australia's No 1 Coverband
SATURDAY:
KRUNCH playing live
Max Moose rates them one of the freshest bands around.
Free enty before 10pm if you mention “Max Moose”
Celebrity guests & heaps of giveaways! Plus happy hour 9pm ’til 10pm.
" THE KID "@ WILD BILLS, Southland, Sat Feb 5 15:18:22 2005
WildBills.com.au, Aust. Hotel Entertainment & Max Moose present:
SATURDAY:
KRUNCH playing live
Max Moose rates them one of the freshest bands around.
Free enty before 10pm if you mention “Max Moose”
Celebrity guests & heaps of giveaways! Plus happy hour 9pm ’til 10pm.
Wild Bills, Southland, Wed Feb 2 05:20:19 2005
Caught the coverband Krunch at Wild Bill's last Saturday nite, they were
awesome!
Matt, Clayton South, Fri Jan 28 05:56:05 2005
SATURDAY: KRUNCH playing live
Free enty before 10pm if you mention “Max Moose”
Celebrity guests and heaps of giveaways! Plus happy hour 9pm ’til 10pm.
Wild Bills, Westfield Southland, Wed Jan 19 03:55:43 2005
18.12: Free entry pass M. Moose
This Saturday only free entry exclusive to Max Moose
readers by mentioning Max Moose at the door.
Max Moose, Max Moose World HQ, Fri Dec 17 15:10:39 2004
18.12: Undecided live. Midori
Midori Illusion promo
Undecided perform live on stage
DJ mixing up your best mix of top 40, commercial dance & RnB.
The VIP Bar is back. Discount drinks 9-10pm.
Wild Bills, Westfield Southland, Mon Dec 13 03:41:03 2004
25.12: Closed. Merry Christmas.
Closed - party continues Boxing Day. Wishing you a safe & happy Christmas.
Wild Bills, Westfield, Southland, Mon Dec 13 03:26:43 2004
This Sat night for the girls you pay $10 to get in before 11 and get a $22
drink card. Also $1.50 pots $6 shakers and $5 Breezers for all 9-11. Tarko Live
on stage and new dj Disco Dave. Watch out for the Mandate girls only show on a
friday. Wednesdays Crazy Haus and Dj Ivan & Adam
Wild Billy, mentone, Wed Sep 29 10:01:19 2004
There is a new DJ at Wild Bills on a Sat night. I heard it was the dj from
Furnace fridays nights Disco Dave. Went there last week and had a ball. Tarko
also playing there. Just needs a few more party people earlier. Otherwise had
fun.
Janet, Mentone, Tue Sep 21 21:37:37 2004
cause its fun and just to chill, drink and play pool
claire, dandenong, Sat Aug 7 04:42:36 2004
This Saturday at BILLS the Party continues. Drink Specials 9.30-11pm. Tarko Live
& Loud from 11pm and DJ Keith playing the latest tunes until 5am.
Wild Bills, Southland, Fri Aug 6 16:23:20 2004
31.07: School uniform party
Back to school party at Bills this Sat Night. Featuring TARKO Live. Drink
specials 9.30-11pm. Come in your school uniform 4 a chance 2 Win a Trip to Bali.
Wild Bills, Southland, Thu Jul 29 21:23:29 2004
Wild Bills - Wild Easter
Open every night over Easter 'til dawn.$1 pots & $2 spirits 9-10.30 Wed, Thurs,
Sat & Sun Night. Wild Bills Easter Party Central.
Wild Bills, Southland, Wed Apr 7 16:10:44 2004
They always play good music and there's a great atmosphere. I have never been
to Wild Bills and not had a good time :)
Katrina, Endeavour Hills, Tue Mar 16 01:15:03 2004
the band gaves it a good atmosphere and pulls a good reasonably sized crowd.
and its close to home.
l, aspendale, Sat Oct 11 00:23:46 2003
Went to Bills on Saturday for the first time in a while. Its a pretty big night
nowadays. I have to admit that Tarko have improved a lot since I last saw them,
although the sound system in the last venue didn't help them.
The crowd at Bills is marginally older (20-25) than the world famous Wednesday,
but similar in style. Most are there for the combination of alternative
coverband and party DJ, which is diminishing on Saturdays at the moment. Worth a
look if you are into bands.
Max Moose, MaxMoose, Wed Sep 3 04:58:33 2003
Always a friendly atmosphere, with a good band. Drinks prices aren't insanely
high, and it's within my local community, making it a convenient location. Plus
I love to get blind and chance my arm on the local talent.
Mel, Moorabbin, Fri Jun 6 07:41:08 2003
Sat night at Bills finished strong with Luke and his boys Break dancing again.
Had the crowd going crazy for it. Looking to make it a more permant fixture.
Wild Bills, Cheltenham, Sun May 4 21:15:40 2003
its a good local place to go, you know your always going to see someone you know
and the music is generally good
Ria, South Oakleigh, Thu May 1 18:23:25 2003
coz its close by and every so often they have glow stick nights where the sticks
tell oters of your availability, friends "tarko" play on saturdays who are
sometimes supported by "smirc" (thats us)
Anon, cheltnham, Tue Apr 29 13:50:46 2003
Bills seemed fairly strong late on Saturday. Rolled in about 3.30 and it was
reasonably busy. It had a great atmosphere right through to close (5am), partly
courtesy of the two guys dancing on the stage (or in the air - just wait for
those pics).
Mark, DJ Keith is back.
Plenty of familiar faces that I hadn't seen for a while, which is always a good
thing. Special hellos go out to the two Brees, Nick and Michelle!
Max Moose, MaxMoose, Sun Apr 27 18:25:33 2003
there is always ppl there that i know, i like the cheap drink specials and enjoy
the DJ and band
Jodie, seaford, Wed Apr 23 09:09:24 2003
I have heard that DJ Keith Clarke is going back to do Sat nights @ Wild Bills. I
hope that this is true if anyone can let me know for sure.
Mark, cheltenham, Mon Apr 21 19:46:40 2003
Bills had a reasonably good one on Saturday, from what I could tell arriving at
4am. Still plenty of people about, and a good feeling about the place.
Young and fun crowd in, mainly locals aged 18-25. Lee Davies playing commercial
and classics between sets from local favourites Tarko.
Max Moose, MaxMoose, Mon Apr 14 10:09:53 2003
Saw cover band SMIRC last week. They only played one set prior to TARKO at Wild
Bills. They were awesome - anyone know where else they play?
TREV, st.kilda, Wed Mar 26 09:43:31 2003
Arrived just a little too late on a night where it seemed quiet anywhere not
near the GP cricuit. Wasn't bad at Bills though. I just missed Tarko's set, but
the crowd was in a pretty good mood.
DJ Lee was in fine form (commercial, top 40, favourites), and the atmosphere was
good.
Max Moose, MaxMoose, Tue Mar 11 01:10:12 2003
i was at bills on Sat night & i heard that it was DJ Keiths last night there.
Can any tell where he has gone to work. He is the best rnb DJ around.
josh, cheltenham, Wed Dec 11 08:48:42 2002
After a busy day and evening, I finished at a party in East Bentleigh at 2am, so
Bills was the obvious choice. Very busy!
Mixed up crowd, all ages from 18 to 32, mostly 23-25. Tarko were very good. They
sound better at Bills than other venues, possibly because of the sound system or
accoustics.
Max Moose, MaxMoose, Mon Nov 18 04:32:40 2002
Arrived at Bills too late (3.45) to review it fully, but it had been busy.
Seemed like an attractive and lively young crowd too. They're doing $6 Illusions
over summer from 8.30-10.30 on Saturdays.
Max Moose, MaxMoose, Tue Oct 22 06:17:51 2002

May 4, 2002

Over the past year, Wild Bills has undergone quite a transformation. Whilst their Wednesday has remained strong, the Friday and Saturday have improved out of sight. The Saturday improvement started with the introduction of the Voodoo Surf Gods and $20 drink cards. Both of those are now gone, but the growth has continued with the introduction of local boys coverband Tarko. It is now one of the more reliable Saturday nights in Melbourne.

It is a fairly typical Bills crowd. A reasonably classy sort of a pub crowd, if that makes sense. It is the sort of place you can dress up a bit, or just wear jeans and a decent t-shirt if you like. Dress pants and a shirt is a safer bet. The crowd is very Australian, pretty friendly, and a touch older than Bill's other nights, with 25 being about the average, with plenty of 20 and 27s about.

They start to roll in about 10pm, it is good at 11, but peaks about 1.15 after the 1am venues close and the parties wind up. It stays very strong through until 3am, and there is still quite a crowd there right the way through to close at 5am. It is more than busy enough, although not quite as big as the Wednesday night crowd yet, but that is one huge night.

Wild Bills is all one room. You enter through the bull skull and saloon doors. In the middle of the room is the bar, accessible from all angles. To the right is some booth seating around tables, to the left are some stairs to a western theme balcony above the booths. Further left is a function area, with tables and chairs. Continuing anti-clockwise around the room, there are some tables and chairs, heaps of pool tables, and a couple of video games along the left wall. At the far end is the stage and dancefloor area.

The stage is occupied by Tarko. They are local boys from around the bayside, and have a huge local following. They play a great range of alternative covers, and play hard on stage. They have the right look, style, and attitude.

. They usually play a lot of alternative and band favourites, but their break has mellowed them a little. Yes, they still play a lot of really current stuff, and classic alternative (they still do Metallica better than anyone), but they have added more mellow music to the list. It has freshened them up remarkably.

Between sets a DJ plays a mix of everything. Heaps of current dance, a bit of RnB, and a few party classics. I enjoyed the mix, very easy to dance to. The DJ is perched on top of a water tower above the stage, so requests are not an option.

Drink prices are fairly standard for a Saturday, except for the $2.50 spirits and $1.50 pots between 9 and 11. Combine that with either $8 entry or free entry without the drink-card, and you have some pretty good value.

Wild Bills is now one of the most reliable Saturday nights around. It has a good mix of entertainment, and a good type of crowd. It is likely to continue to grow over the next little while, so go and take a look.

Ben Clissold

Photos