After four months of extensive renovations and upgrades, Sydney's LadyLux nightclub is set to open its doors this weekend. The venue, located in the colourful Kings Cross district, has seen a complete refurbishment.
At the top of the list for LadyLux in its renovation efforts? An overhaul of the venue's existing sound system. Further changes have been made to the interior, particularly with regards to the positioning of the dance floor, and to the decoration of the ceiling and walls. Musically, it has been made clear that disco will be the Friday night focus, while Saturday will host house and techno. Sundays have been left free of any fixed theme.
UK duo Inland Knights headline the re-opening celebrations. And the weeks and months ahead will see Luca Bacchetti, 2020 Soundsystem and Reboot also act as Saturday night headliners. (Those wishing to ensure a spot to any and all events will be able to do so directly via RA Tickets.)
To get the full details on LadyLux's refurbishment, we tracked down Garry Todd, one of the venue's chief promoters, earlier this week.The refurbishment of LadyLux is finally finished. How's it looking? What's changed in terms of décor and layout?
All the main aspects of the venue have completely changed. The dance floor has been sunken to accommodate the new soundproofing and Funktion One sound system, with hand-painted ceiling and walls. The club does not look anything like it previously did.
You've updated the sound system to a Funktion One setup. Was sound refitting the highest task on the agenda? How does the new system sound? We imagine it would be pretty fun testing it in an empty room...
To be completely honest, the sound became the major priority. The sunken floor has enabled us to achieve the extra space to fit the floating concrete walls and ceiling. Being such a small space, this was an extremely tough and time-consuming task. (Hence, the four month closing!) But we have now seen the final product, and we can't wait to see the venue in action.
You have some quality acts lined up for the coming months, with Inland Nights, Luca Bacchetti and more set to drop in. Is there anyone else on the way that you're particularly excited about?
We have a number of quality acts in the pipeline. You can see the direction we are leaning towards with artists such as Sascha Dive, Reboot and Sebo, Jay-West, Joshua Heath, 2020 Sound System in the coming months. We are also pushing the disco house sound on Friday nights, with guests such as Reverso 68, Ryan Shaw, Bonar Bradberry/PBR and Unabombers alongside resident DJ Mo Funk (Cuban Brothers/Pasha Ibiza).
Who else is on staff helping out with bookings and promotions? Are there any familiar faces?
Over the past few years, I have built up a great rapport with most of the major promoters in town; working closely with the likes of Monkey Tennis, Finely Tuned and Sounds. In fact, Finely Tuned will be promoting our Sunday nights for us. So, expect many unadvertised internationals.
Have you decided on the Saturday night residents?
We are proud to announce Dan Ward, AKA Negghead, and Alex Wolfenden as summer residents. Dan comes straight off the back of the Nightmares On Wax label night in Ibiza, and is awaiting his debut album release on the same label. Alex Wolfenden's reputation in Ibiza grows every season with his consistent performances at Ibiza's famous Space nightclub. Local residents include myself (Garry Todd), John Devecchis, Ben Korbel, Monkey Tennis and Tony Venuto.
Finally, we've heard that you've had some tracks signed to 2020 Vision? When can we expect to hear them?
The 2020 release is available on vinyl now. It is a collaboration with our two main residents, Alex Wolfenden and Dan Ward, (under our Balearic alias, Acid Mondays) where our brains combine to produce some superb twisted excursions into percussive, sprawling, sleazy house music. Inspired by the sets of Ricardo Villalobos, Zip, and many more, led to creation of the first release, custom built for the terraces that have inspired them!