Tokio Hotel – Darling Harbour
You don’t expect to see anything risqué in Darling Harbour and yet on a Friday night there are barmaids in corsets and garters, a burlesque dancer weaving on the dancefloor, a painter dabbing on canvas and a swing band going wild in the Tokio Hotel (formerly known as Home Bar), which is nestled next to Home on the waterfront.
The event is called Bohome (and on the fliers Betty Boop Boho Nights) and it runs every fortnight. Usually Bar Zine focuses on a bar rather than an event but, even though there are live bands at Tokio from Thursday till Sunday (for example, they have a blues and roots night on Thursdays), it’s Bohome that grabs my attention. What that says about me I don’t know, but let’s leave that to my therapist.
I’m here with the Vicious Vixen, who picked her Bar Zine moniker herself. Normally I don’t condone this behaviour – after all, the whole point of this site is so that I can think of asinine pseudonyms for my friends – but the VV truly is vicious and so it not only suits but I’m too scared to argue.
I am glad she took me to Tokio, however. People are swing dancing and several are decked out in fedoras, suspenders and snappy suits – in fact, barmaids aside, I think the men are actually better dressed than the women for a change.
The headline act is Dirty Lindy, a rockabilly swing ensemble worth checking out, but the supporting acts (John Hardaker Direction, Pom Pom Shizaam and The Fantastic Terrific Munkle) are great – especially considering that entry is free! – and it’s nice to see one of them feature a female flutist who rocks out.
Incidentally, I go back to Tokio a week later to see what it’s like without the burlesque. It’s still a good bar – you’ve got comfortable looking cane chairs (although they always seem to be occupied), retro pendant lights, a good view of the water and a red-lit back alley feel about it (I don’t know what that means either, but I thought it sounded swingin’), but without the fedoras, swing dancing, garter belts and VV (she’s gone back up the coast to terrorize the inhabitants up there) it just doesn’t feel the same.
Tokio Hotel, 1/101 Wheat Road, Cockle Bay Wharf, Darling Harbour. Phone 9266 0600.
Bohome is on every second Friday from 7.30pm – for more information see the Bohome/Betty Boop Boho Nights MySpace page
Tokio’s happy hour is available from Monday to Friday, 5pm to 7pm. $3.50 drinks (Tooheys Extra Dry, glass of bubbly, house wines, house spirits).
Now it’s your turn – how do you rate this bar?
(5 votes, average: 4.20 out of 5)
Loading ...
Related posts:
Great article Barzine! I especially like the Vicious Vixen background info too.
Glad you liked it. I actually made a mistake, though — the VV specifically requested I call her the Venomous Vixen, not the Vicious Vixen. I’m currently awaiting retribution.