I've seen many a great band advertised here but as is my wont, the thing that finally got me here…read morewas the lure of a spankin new comedy night. And it doesn't hurt that this deep wild-wild-inner-western venue is on the freakin bondi junction train line! #ftw Hump Night (Wednesdays, in a camel themed bar, capiche?) Comedy's opening night was brilliant, with a stellar lineup & full house. The decor description is best quoted to the night's MC- David Smeidt- who described it ss if a gay pirate was having a garage sale. Camels, camel themes, and some classic posters- the gay pirates responsible for decorating Camelot have definitely never heard the expression, "less is more"... I ordered a garlic pizza cos it was like $8. It was alright & for $8 I ain't gonna complain the crust was a bit hard tho. Some pretty amazing looking mezze plates were doing the rounds and making me regret my decision. Now that I know how easy it is to get to and groovy a venue it is I'm looking forward to joining the camel cult.

Random nights are the best nights, aren't they?…read more My friend Isobel sent me a message last week, with a Facebook link saying, wanna check this out next week in good old Marrickville? I was like, yeeerrrppppp, let's go. Why not, right? So tonight, I look at the Facebook page to figure out where it is and its like all trendy and ambiguous "in the back streets of Marrickville".... well, where the FUCK is that, eh??? Bloody thing. Well, I figured it out and I can't tell you how AWESOME it was! Dimly lit, trendy, hipster kitch. Think Shady Pines, but not so much Americana. Yes, cowboys. But also gypsies, persian carpets, camels and eastern flair. The owner, came over and introduced himself to us and was like, how did you hear about us? Well, we have the very uncool story that Isobel's mum told her about it. Yeah, I'm serious. LOL. We think it's funny as hell too, especially since the place was so great, so unknown. Her mum saw some live music here a few weeks ago. I should probably make up a cooler story about how I know about the place that makes me sound really awesome with my finger right on the pulse of avant guarde Sydney or something, so when I bring people here I can be like... yeah... I'm cool... man?!! We had wines which were delicious. I had an SA Pinot Noir. Hey, look! I'm trying to learn my wines! Be impressed. I'm a wine doofus. Downstairs is "Django Bar" which is I guess, not a music venue. Camelot is technically on the top floor, and is a music venue with some food... the garlic pizza is amazing. Perfectly garlicky and cheesy melty goodness. Sean Taylor was playing, he was described as a Chris Isaak acoustic guitar type.... well, wow, I could have easily stayed out til past midnight if it wasn't a school night. He was amazing. Everything was 5 star. I'm really glad to be able to write this review for such a great NEW establishment, but it's even better that it's in my home suburb of dear old MARRICKVILLE!!! Marrickville is seriously Sydney's Brooklyn. Seriously. Its coming up in the world. Watch out.

The Vanguard is a delightful high-ceilinged theatre with balcony and a 1920's feel perfectly suited…read moreto the fantastic acts they always have on here. They mainly book great Aussie blues, roots & jazz-type bands but mix it up with some cult cinema and the like. I have never ever seen a not-great gig on the Vanguard stage or even in their calender- true story! They do dinner & show packages and the dinner seating varies depending on the type of act that are playing, booking numbers etc - sometimes it's in front of the stage and sometimes up on the balcony. The sound here is really good no matter where you end up sitting, tickets are reasonably priced and I can't comment on the food because I've never tasted it. You're on your own there sorry! Drinks prices are a little on the high side but the service is good - we were unintentionally in the way of the bar & the woman we were bothering, instead of getting annoyed, graciously found us a table. The only reason I dropped a star was the drink prices. I would go here for the music every night if I could afford to! Oh and check their listings for business hours as they're not open every night - it varies.

I haven't seen my mate from school in a while and he happens to be playing at the Vanguard. I've…read morenever been to the Vanguard and so take this opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. (A violent yet skill involved metaphor.) The night goes as follows; I get to the Vanguard early and take a seat in one of the booths, only to discover that behind me in the near booth is my friend, looking quite different, but still recognisable and I join their table for a chat and to meet his band. They play their set and I watch on from the rear of the club standing with the family at the CD sales stand. A few CD's are bought and I drink of the wine. Next comes some Cabaret, a few strips and a lot of singing. The MC is tres hilarious and the music is great. I get my phone out and track down a few of the numbers for later listening activity. The night ends in further beers, additional chats and the purchase of a CD for my good self. Good shows, tasty wine and a food option. The view from upstairs is glorious, but interrupted briefly by a pair of lesbians ripping each others hair out and getting escorted by the security. The view from downstairs is great as well, but lacks lesbian lovers quarrelling.

Was searching for a nice jazz bar with live music. The first…read moreimpression really got me, the ambience is very well done. The cocktails and the food were really nice. (I upload some Photos) Thanks to the live jazz music it was also a very romantic evening for me and my girlfriend. We really loved the music being played. The staff was super friendly and tried very hard to give us a seat for dining, after we finished our drinks and wanted to eat something on normal chairs (otherwise I get some problems with my back). Sometimes it felt like the staff was a bit confused, but that doesn't matter to me, since they really give their best and I appreciated that a lot. I loved that evening and will now come to this place often. Also: they have 2 more private rooms, which can be used by paying a little little more, great for nice evenings with your lover or your friends.

As part of my ongoing mission to try every place that pops up in my Yelp feed with a 5 star review…read more(within a reasonable distance), I found myself eagerly putting forth a suggestion of 1912 Dining Bar for a Wednesday catch up dinner. I had seen Barry's review, and conducted some research of my own. From what I gather, this place is new-ish and not very well known, but those who have been there seem to love it. I suspect quite a few of the reviews I saw were posted by an owner/manager/affiliate, but there were some genuine reviews and some raving blog posts. I walked down the steps and was quite impressed by the décor and lay out. One side of the stairwell is lined with fake vines leading to a large open dining area with good sized booths on one side and plenty of tables in the middle. My immediate thought was that someone had put a lot of time and thought into this place. And it shows. The bar it self is lit beautifully with some funky bar stools for seating and a few high bar tables. I was surprised to hear live music as I entered, as I had thought they saved that for Friday and Saturday nights. Music is jazzy, singer had a beautiful voice and was friendly and interactive (she thanked us when we clapped after one song). There was a bit of confusion over beverages, mostly caused by my beer snobbery (I'll have a Peroni, but only if it's imported. The Aus stuff isn't nearly as good. Yes, there's a difference, and it's a big one.) (1912 has the real thing if you're wondering.) The menu is Japanese fusion with tons of variety and reasonable prices. We had some spring rolls to start, which were served with a chili mayo sauce. I probably would have preferred a liquid dipping sauce, but that's a personal preference. They were good either way. For mains we enjoyed the Pork Tonkatsu (a very generous serve of 2 fillets and some cabbage slaw with a peanut-sesame dressing for $21). The pork was nicely fried and juicy and I can't fault the sauce. The dressing reminded me of one I used to buy in Canada that I can't find here, but is absolutely delicious. The Wafu Salmon Fillet ($25) was also wonderful and cooked to perfection (I can't stand dry over cooked fish). The Pork Belly was good, but a bit oily for my liking. Obviously it's a fatty cut of meat, but it felt as if they had drizzled olive oil over the top of the pork. The korokke sides were beautiful. On the server's suggestion we shared two sides. Both the green salad and the baby potato at $5/each were delicious (although probably not necessary - the size of the mains would have been adequate). Service was friendly and professional but a bit inconsistent. On one hand, the servers were eager to take away my plate after I finished my main - to the point where they offered to bring me a clean, smaller, plate if I wanted to continue picking at the sides; but on the other hand, when the drink order for the 2 new arrivals was taken, the first person wasn't offered another round despite having finished their first, and I don't think we would have received a second round if we hadn't requested it during a plate-clearing. Sadly as one of our party had to leave pretty quickly I didn't get to try the Spicy Ice Cream dessert (homemade chilli and wasabi flavoured ice cream for $8), but I have no problem heading back another time to give it a try. Hopefully more people discover this place as I really want it to succeed. It's a perfect spot for a relaxing night out, and the food was delicious and a great value.

Attended a Burlesque night. The venue was small and over crowded, to a point where the dancers…read morecould barely dance. The wait for drinks was much too long and even after all the talk about decent cocktails, of the three we had, none impressed - even less the house wine - HORRIBLE. Perhaps it is less crowded for the Jazz or Motown... Perhaps Ill find out. I was so disappointed with the Burlesque.

Mowtown Mondays are amazing, the cocktails are even better. Have to say it was my first time there…read morereally excited for burlesque fridays!

This is a new venue up where the old "Five O's" was, across from Coogee beach and conveniently near…read morethe car park at the oval. If you don't know the area, you'll have to look a bit for the entrance, because it's on the side street just behind the back edge of Maccas, up a flight of stairs. It's a licensed pizza place with an area containing tables (including a balcony facing the beach across the road) and a back lounge area with comfy seating on which groups can hang out and listen to music. Their claim to fame is live music multiple nights a week (seems like 5-6 to me), with what I think is the most eclectic mix of bands/performers in Coogee. Certainly more so than Coogee Bay Hotel or Little Jack Horner's. On any given night, you might find 90's-style synth jazz, pub rock, blues, world music such as Brasilian, or a singer/songwriter with an acoustic guitar performing their own works. If you're walking along that area of Arden Street and hear music and it's not from Little Jack Horner's, it's from Old Dave's Soul. I live nearby and today had a chance to try their pizza in takeaway form. The proprietor knows me as a local, so when I sent him an email lamenting that tonight's music sounded quite good and that I wished I could come over for some pizza and wine, but I had to stay away because I was sick, he offered to bring a pizza over to me! (I didn't even know they did takeaway.) For those of you who've eaten enough pizza to know that there are different styles (I am one such person; I'm from the Bronx), they do New York style pizza, with a generous amount of crust around the edge, and crust that's dry on the bottom and bubbly and chewy on top. If this is your idea of pizza crust, they do it well enough to transport me back to the neighbourhood pizza places of my youth. Pro tip: Another point to note is that they cook their pizzas for a minute or two longer than many places in Sydney of the just-until-the-cheese-is-slightly-melty variety; to me, this is a feature. However, it's a matter of personal taste that people seem to be 50/50 on, so if you like your pizza a little less "done", you might want to let them know. Word of warning is that changing the cooking time could change the crust, though, so experiment at your own risk! The amount of topping is just right, neither too little or so overloaded that you're full in a piece or two. Unlike many Sydney pizza places, they don't go overboard on the cheese, and you can fold and eat the slices without liquid awkwardly running off them, so they're night-out-friendly. One pizza is probably sufficient for a couple. Food at the Eastern Beaches is rarely cheap unless you're eating fast food, and this is no exception. Old Dave's Soul prices their pizzas in the same range as other local non-fast-food venues, and offers a bit of a view and live music along with food and drink, for the money. The restaurant is kind of shadowy, as night spots normally are, so I took advantage of the magically appearing pizza to get a photo in good light. He even wrote a get well message on the box! This is the Hawaiian pizza (ham, pineapple and cheese). [ Hmm, well, I am the first reviewer and have an Add Business option, but not a photos option. Maybe later! ]

After a 6km walk from Bondi to Coogee beach we decided on neapolitan pizza. Old Dave's Soul…read morepopped out from the list and it was only a few steps from the beach. Sad to say the pizza is greasy AF. I ordered the margarita pizza and got cheese pizza. Skipping breakfast and was hungry so I ate half the pizza and caught myself thinking WTF. If you like greasy AF pizza then this is the place.

We were very disappointed with the band as our requests for the band to play on the balcony and to…read moreplay certain songs (like the song for our first dance) fell on deaf ears. Our purpose of hiring Sydney Jazz Collective was to provide jazz music out on the balcony where most of the guests were. Moreover, we had repeatedly made this request to Tom and Matt but instead, the band spent the entire night playing inside the function room. If we had wanted music inside the function room, we would have used our iTunes playlist and used the indoor PA system to play the music we wanted. Their reluctance to play outdoors initially was due to overcast weather but when the sky cleared up, they still did not make the effort to play outside. Furthermore, following them up to provide feedback also fell on deaf ears as they never returned any of our calls or emails.

Quality of music is good but i think they were a bit self-indulgent. There were a few songs that…read morewent for much longer than what I would have expected, like more than 4-5 minutes because they played a lot of improvisation. Also, they had to be asked to start and didn't take the initiative to fill the time. So much so I was tired asking them that I played music from itunes. For 5 hours, I think they played about 15 songs which is about $300 per song. Also, we asked them to accompany the father of the bride on a song dedication. They made a mistake with the chord in one place. If they were amateurs I could understand. But they are supposed to be professional so no mistake is tolerable. And the attitude! My gosh. The leader was arrogant.

Wow wow wow!!! If you sneeze, you could miss the entrance since it's not all that 'in your face' on…read morethe street. There is a cover charge of $20pp to walk in the door. I'm not sure there's an elevator so if you aren't able to walk up two flights of stairs, better give them a ringy-dingy before you head over. We went for the Jazz but started out in the 2nd floor for some finger foods and drinks. What a hoot!! The menu has a good variety of choices and we had the 4 cheese pizza and chips. Both soooooo good! The volume was not so noisy so we could actually talk and hear each other. Then the first band came in and, I'm sorry to say I did not catch their name because they were incredible! Their vocalist has quite a versatile range and adorbs. The guitarists and drummer were da best!!! We sat there longer than planned because song after song was wonderful! And, make sure you check out the ceilings!! Purty interesting to say the least. (If you are more a prudish type, I suggest not looking up. No judgement!) But, eventually we did go to the jazz venue.... Jazz. Hot Jazz! Mellow, delicious and...what can I say? This band was soooo laid back....and talented! Lots of great tunes from the '50's that were well done. Oh and.....definitely (!!!) check out the ceilings in here, too. I can not imagine what this building housed before Lazy Bones, but....just check it out! Parking on a Friday night...not too much in the main drag but we found side streets had plenty of free parking available. One more thing i noticed is the variety of age. Top floor was mostly 20's and up though there was a few more mature people, too. Jazz venue I'd say 30's and older. Yeah...we were the oldies but goodies at both places!! Lol. If you like jazz, if you like good music of any kind, get yoreself over here!!!

This is the most amazing new nightspot in sydney, Great…read morelive jazz bands and the best DJ's that play old records of some real classics Craig the owner and barman is out of this world this place is going to do really well. Hidden just off the main street of Marrickville up a few flights of stairs you walk in to a awesome bar with the roof painted with a huge Kama sutra mural and tin roof tiles and leather lounges. Licensed to 3am with great wines and boutique beers on tap.