THE RETURN OF THE LAST TRUCK-STOP

Manacle (Sydney's only leather bar…although I use the term loosely) finally re-opened Friday night almost 8 months after its closure at its Taylor Square premises. I think most of us were convinced it was never coming back. Situated underground beneath the Taylor Square Hotel, Manacle had become an icon of the Sydney gay scene in the previous four years. It was dark and dingy with its black smeared concrete walls and its bathroom full of chipped enamel and mildewed pipes. Dirty underground for this place was an understatement. Manacle had been an alternative to the queen scene of Oxford St and the waxed chests of Arq. At night, it was primarily a club for men where you could have a couple of beers and not have Kylie or Madge bellowing down your ear. There was true grit to the place. It was promoted as a leather club but it didn't enforce a strict dress code. Sure there were leather caps and chaps galore but you could be equally at home in a polo and a biscuit pant. There was never discrimination.

Manacle on Friday and Saturday nights would close at 3 in the morning and then re-open at 7am for Manacle Bent…..the best dance day club in Sydney. I always described Manacle Day Club as the last truck-stop to hell….the venue you went to when all other venues had closed. Every walk of life gay, straight and everything in between ended up at Manacle Bent. It was a true den of inequity. Andy Warhol would have loved the joint.

So it came as a big shock to the scene when in October last year the proprietors of the Taylor Square Hotel decided not to re-new the lease to the Manacle owners, Andrew and Stuart. Manacle in the previous 18 months had become very popular particularly the day club attracting a broad mix of gay and straight people with the club completely full most Saturdays and Sundays. It left a pretty sour taste in most Manacle patrons' mouths when Taylor Square Hotel re-opened the venue, as it's own club two weeks later. Ironically Sydney City Council shut the club down a week later due to lack of proper exits from the venue. I often used to wonder when I was down there, where the hell we would go if there was a fire!

For months the rumour mill was out of control as to where Manacle was going to end up; some were saying it was moving to Melbourne or to Cairns and as the months rolled on, people started to believe it was never going to come back at all. It was to everyone's surprise when they picked up the gay papers a few weeks ago and read that Andrew and Stuart had bought The Clarence Hotel…..Manacle's new home. The Clarence is located on the corner of Parramatta Road and Crystal St, Petersham…..just down from Little Italy/Leichardt on Norton Street. Ironically it is the hotel where I did my Theatresports Graduation performance nearly two months ago. It is a huge hotel and since The Newtown and The Imperial closed down last year, there has been no gay venue in the inner west …..so a new gay pub in the inner west is long overdue. And it's about five minutes drive from my apartment door. Dangerous!

Trev, Wanda, Bernice, Judy and myself went along to the opening (not the official…apparently there is an official one on in about a month's time after the renovations) Friday night…..along with about 600 other Manacle fans. The place was packed. Unfortunately there were only about three bar men on which meant the average wait for a beer was about two hours! Apparently a number of staff they had arranged for the night pulled out at the last minute. Very annoying! The back area which used to be the comedy theatre will now house Manacle and it appears to be well into it's renovation with the walls blacked out already…..I couldn't believe it was the same place at which I performed theatre sports six weeks ago.

It was a great turn out for their first night. Whether the boys will maintain the patronage remains to be seen. I think they will. The inner-west has been hanging out for a gay pub for ages. Apparently they are going to resurrect the day club again as well. I'm not sure how this will go. It certainly is a great venue for it but I think it might be a little too far from the big clubs of Oxford Street to succeed as a day club. I can't see people jumping in cabs after Arq or the Shift and paying 20 bucks in fares to go to a day club in the inner-west when they could walk down the street to Phoenix Rising (new day club on oxford st). Only time will tell.

http://www.manacle.com.au/