Long time dance music den Club 77 on William Street near Sydney’s Kings Cross has a rich history in Sydney’s dance music scene. The site has been operating for over 20 years, regularly hosting the best locals this city has to offer as well as a range of established international guests such as Honey Dijon & Boris (Ostgut Ton).

For the most part of this year venues have struggled, especially those that are strictly nightclubs. No upstairs bars, no pokie machines and no dining means no revenue.

But Seventy Seven is looking to attract some punters who have been missing the dancefloors with a new night, ‘Please remain seated’ in partnership with BNW events as well as ARIA.

The initiative is part of the ‘Great Southern Nights’ programming which promises 1000 live music shows across NSW in the month of November.

Normally associated with a sweaty dance floor and shoulder to shoulder dancing the clubs new night puts a focus on creating a ‘Community-minded, seated event that explores club culture in the wake of social distancing’.

Opening on the 20th of November ‘Please Remain Seated’ will host local artists and sit down friendly performances with two sittings a night.

First up on the opening weekend is duo, ‘Phax Machine’, usually known for live compositions of acid, techno and electro. The following night features another live show from one of Australia’s finest electro exports, Assembler Code – who has numerous releases on big-name labels, such as DJ Haus’ ‘Unknown To The Unknown’.

Both nights feature support from other Sydney artists such as ‘DROX’ who are billed alongside Phax Machine and Assembler Code. Those that snap up tickets will also see live performances from GOHS + Fellipe Abdalla, Hed Ardennes as well as a number of DJ Sets.

Tim Poulten is the manager and director at Club 77 and one of the key figures in developing the new night at the club. In his eyes, “The idea is to showcase a nightclub’s ability to adapt to these circumstances but still retain the essence and atmosphere that can be expected from a club night.”. In a time where event promoters and club owners have had little to do, Tim hopes the Please Remain Seated nights, “will prompt other promoters to not sit back and wait for changes but adapt their business model to encourage a crowd to come down to their venue and still provide the experience that a club provides.”

With the return date of proper club nights uncertain venues have needed to adapt to stay afloat. Nightclubs only experienced a few weeks of no lockout laws before the pandemic, and the talk of Sydney becoming a 24 Hour city post covid provides hope for late-night venues. However they need support now more than ever.

Full event info can be found below;

• Who: PHAX Machine + Drox (Nov 20th), Assembler Code (Nov 21st), Dave Stuart + Whitecat (Nov 27th), Deepchild (as Acharné) + Elizabeth Maniscalco (Nov 28th)
• Where: 77 William Street
• Facebook event here