Shortly after 7pm on Friday, four joyous songs into Sunshine and Disco Faith Choir's first set, a sole reveller at The Night Cat in Fitzroy rose from their seat and stirred a pre-pandemic memory – an act only months ago unthinkable and, only days ago, illegal.
From behind the decks and psychedelic gowns of her band, DJ Sunshine saw fleeting uncertainty in the seated crowd, conditioned for masks and Zoom parties through two lockdowns and an eight-month ban on group dancing.
This person stood up to dance and everyone just looked at them. Then they all stood up. And it was just so exciting, the veteran DJ said after Friday's show, the first dance event at The Night Cat since venues were given permission to reopen their dance floors last week.
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It was almost like they couldn't believe it. I mean, it's all just happened in the last week. Up on stage you can feel the emotion of the crowd. People are looking around: 'Yes, yes, we're out again'.
The scene was familiar, but different. QR codes for contact tracing purposes greeted people at clubs' doors and only a maximum of 50 people were allowed onto even the biggest dance floors.
Having all this built up energy and not being able to express yourself for so long has been really hard. Dancing is a release. It's engaging, said Katherine Bird, motioning to another dancer at South Yarra's Pawn and Co.
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This girl here, I've never met her before in my life. We were just dancing and she was kind of dancing over there and we looked at each other and it was just 'come over here'.
The relaxation of the rules don't mean the end of financial trouble for the night-time economy, which before the pandemic was worth more than $3.5 billion in the City of Melbourne council area alone.
Pawn and Co general manager Michael Clarke-Tokely said he could normally allow 380 people in the club at any one time. For the foreseeable future, that number is just 128.
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Security and bar staff have to double as health officers to ensure people are following COVID-safe rules, he said. Then there is the problem of finding staff at all amongst a workforce depleted of backpackers and international students.
There's obviously an underbelly to the nightclub world but there's this beautiful positive energy as well, and that's what keeps people coming back, he said.
It gives them a release. It breaks up people's week and life a little bit. You've spent your money, your girlfriend's dumped you, but there's a point in the night where you can throw your hands in the air and none of that matters, even if it's just for a few seconds.
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At the end of each day, we’ll send you the most important breaking news headlines, evening entertainment ideas and a long read to enjoy. Sign up here.Forget Splendour in the Grass, Freakscene is delivering regular nights dedicated to some of the world’s best talent and many of our homegrown favourites.
Keen to make the most of your nights and hit the dance floor this year, but the usual chest-thudding beat and repetitive dance moves of techno aren’t really your style? Well never fear, we have you covered with a brand-new club night that’s just launched in Geelong.
Launching Thursday, February 25, the music night took over Mad Good, the arcade bar that’s popped up on Pakington Street, nestled inside local favourite The Barking Dog.
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With the first night under their belt, the night will kick off from 9pm every Thursday night, with the Freakscene DJs (Geelong locals!) spinning all the best alternative, indie-rock tunes you would never usually hear inside a club in the CBD. Think Daft Punk, Nirvana, The 1975, Panic! at the Disco, Two Door Cinema Club, Talking Heads, The White Stripes, The Wombats, The Black Keys, Radiohead, Vampire Weekend, The Kooks, Mac Demarco, Glass Animals, David Bowie, Flaming Lips, Franz Ferdinand, Ocean Alley, Oasis, King Gizzard, and Gang of Youths, just to name a few.
Whether you’re keen for a mind-bending psych-dance listening experience courtesy of Tame Impala, a synth-filled electro-funk party from The Gorillaz, or you just want to groove to Lime Cordiale’s potent blend of reggae and surf-rock and singalong to The Killers, this will be the place to do it.
Essentially, it’s all the music you’d expect to hear at a festival like Splendour in the Grass or Falls Festival, but in Geelong West in a venue that will make you feel right at home. If you like to get up and dance to the synth-pop-meets-psychedelia beats from MGMT, there will be a dedicated d-floor, disco balls and special lighting to help you groove.
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But if you’re more inclined to just kick back and vibe out to the Alex Turner’s smooth-like-butter tone, you can simply sink into the vintage couches, bench seating and spacious booths as you drink your choice of poison, or play Ghost Busters and Indiana Jones pinball machines, Daytona USA and Super Nintendo Entertainment Systems arcade games. Super Mario Kart to the sound of Arctic Monkeys? Say no more.
Well, how about free entry, drink specials and giveaways, themed nights, and the promise of good times that will last well after last drinks have been called and you’re dancing your way out the door? (Trust us, with tunes this good, you’ll be hanging out for Thursday to come your way each and every week.)
It all kicks off each Thursday at 9pm at Mad Good (AKA The Barking Dog) in Geelong West. Entry is free, but be sure to RSVP via the Facebook event page. Now go out and have the time of your life each and every week!
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Here's a list of cafes in the Geelong region open on the King's Birthday public holiday to get your daily caffeine fixDancing will be banned at licenced venues and patrons must be seated while eating and drinking in the ACT from midday tomorrow.
In a statement, the ACT government said from 12pm on Saturday, January 8, nightclubs would be able to remain open and operate as bars, within the existing density limits, but dancing at licenced hospitality and entertainment venues would be prohibited.
ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said non-urgent elective surgeries — known as category 2 and category 3 — would also be ceased at Calvary Public Hospital for up to eight weeks.
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ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr released a statement saying the changes to hospitality venues were important to slow the spread of COVID-19 in the community.
He said the change was prompted by the ACT recording over 1, 000 new cases of the virus on Friday, and the rising cases in other jurisdictions.
Ms Stephen-Smith said she hoped the changes would encourage Canberrans to gather outdoors where possible, and consider how many people they were interacting with.
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If you can hold your gathering outdoors, then please do. If your gathering is indoors, consider how many guests you invite, she said.
Keeping these numbers low, along with practising COVID-safe measures such as continuing to wear a mask, physical distancing and good hand hygiene, will help limit the spread of the virus.
Ms Stephen-Smith said the changes were an important part of living with COVID-19 — a goal authorities have been working towards for some time.
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Along with changes to hospitality settings, ACT Health has also announced some elective surgeries will be postponed to ease the burden on a stretched healthcare workforce.
To support our frontline health workers, we have had to make the very difficult decision to cease most category 2 and 3 elective surgeries at Calvary Public Hospital for the next six to eight weeks, she said.
Categories 2 and 3 cover patients whose conditions are less likely to deteriorate or result in an emergency, and who are able to wait — up to 90 days for category 2, and up to a year for category 3.
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Postponing elective surgeries is always incredibly difficult, but taking this action will enable additional health care staff to be redeployed to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak, she said.
We will continue to monitor the situation and will look to switch non-essential elective surgeries back on at Calvary as soon as we possibly can.