Iconic nightspot Club 77 is celebrating its 25^th anniversary as one of Sydney’s best-loved music venues by relaunching as the city’s newest dive bar destination. 

Inspired by the makeshift aesthetic of New York’s dive bars, Club 77 has been given an interior fit-out, with stylish new furniture and booth seating, custom lampshades by Blake Hull-Moody, three new stages, and a cutting-edge custom DJ booth. The venue has also been completely soundproofed and acoustically treated.

Club 77 Director Dane Gorrel said: “The lockdown period really gave us the opportunity to analyse our business model and determine what we want Club 77 to be, and that is THE late-night live music destination for Sydney/Eora. We’ve spent the past 12 months getting feedback from the local community and influential night-time economy advocates on best practices to achieve our goals. 

“Our entire team is passionate and dedicated to not only the electronic music scene, but rebuilding Sydney’s after-dark culture. We are establishing 77 as a renewed late-night live music venue that is always open until 4am, while providing a platform for artists, DJs and live acts to perform seven nights a week.”

Club 77 will continue to be a bastion of electronic music, with low-slung beats for after-work drinks through to late-night house, techno and disco. 

A revived weekly schedule of programming will include a rotating roster of resident and guest DJs. Expect old favourites such as House of Mince and Phil Smart and new friends such as TMRW music, UNDR ctrl and Niche Productions.

Smart said: “Club 77 is a venue that I’ve spent more time in than any other on the planet. A place where some amazing times have been had, both behind the decks and on the dancefloor. A place of inclusion, good times and  boundary pushing music, it was once subtitled ‘The People’s Club,’ but we often simply referred to it as our dirty little disco basement!

“It’s a special place that has held a revered position in Sydney’s/Eora’s illustrious clubbing history, and will continue to play a special part in rebuilding the city’s club culture that has been decimated by conservative governments and the pandemic that followed.”

Club 77’s refreshed drinks offering is curated by Jordan Blackman of Odd Culture Group. It includes beers and cider by Moon Dog Craft Brewery, Young Henrys, Grifter and Batlow, and bottled cocktails courtesy of Big Mood. For the teetotallers, there will also be a great selection of non alcoholic wines and cocktails available from Heaps Normal, Big Drop and Yes You Can, plus Big Mood’s infamous non alcoholic No-Groni.

On the food front, a ‘77 Dog’ created by Antoine Nebula of cherished Surry Hills cafe Suzie Qs will be available in two versions: gourmet pork sausage and mushroom for the vegetarians/vegans.

Future plans and initiatives will include activating the space during daytime hours as a community hub for first nations artists and the LGTBQI community. Programs currently being developed are DJ and production workshops, marketing and promotions workshops, projects surrounding mental health awareness within the industry, and paid internships.

Club 77 is located at 77 William St, Darlinghurst NSW.

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