Guest Post: Goodgod’s Top Five Moments Of All Time

Well it’s one year since we found Goodgod a proper home. But as a potted history it stretches back a little longer than that. Over 3 years ago, it started as a monthly dance-a-thon before we got tired of that. We tried nestling in alongside a shifty Spanish restaurant to make a regular party room happen, but got turfed on our arse. When the opportunity came to take over the current Goodgod basement last year we decided Sydney might just need a permanent funhouse as much as we do. So thanks to the dedicated many around us we’ve notched up our first continuous year of craziness. And with The Dip canteen settled in let us never go hungry or thirsty (or tune-less) for another year. To take it back here’s some of the legendary parties and stupid ideas we’ve enjoyed:

Friendship Farm
September, 2009

In one of the first weeks of opening alongside the Spanish restaurant we came euphorically close to calamity. The party was ‘Friendship Farm’ for Amy Tamblyn’s 30th. You know, everybody come on down, pet each other in the barnyard. So of course, we went and got 6 hay bales to make this barnyard authentic. People drank and danced happily until about 2am. Then the first hayfight began.

People’s eyes changed. They became complete and utter animals. We could not stop every bale from being torn apart. Happy dancers turned nasty, stuffing hay down stranger’s pants, putting it in their hair. Who knew how ridiculously primal hay could make us? BUT REALLY WHO KNEW HOW MUCH HAY WAS IN A BALE! The air was thick with dust, and the whole floor of the club became over 3 feet deep in combustibles. We started shoveling the hay into garbage bags. Already 30 bags full we found a candle burning on one of the far tables centimetres from the piled up hay. Who had thought candlelight was necessary for a barnyard theme?! Damn close to a potential inferno we shut this party down right away.

The first coming of Skerrit Bwoy
January 2, 2010
Photo: Rafaela Pandolfini

January 2 can be one of the hardest nights of the year to put on a party. NYE has sucked the life out every soul. But through our love for dancehall we knew that the relatively unknown dancer touring New Year time with Diplo’s Major Lazer was NYC’s Skerrit Bwoy, the man who had goddamn invented ‘daggering’! We asked him if he wanted to do his own show knowing that Jan 2 would be the only date he could do. His answer reassured us: “bring out the ladders. some lawn chairs. a wheel chair. a mattress is a must! & please dont 4get the hennesy & cranberry.” That’s all! (Well, on the night he needed some prawns and rice too.)

The intrigue of daggering brought out the most incredible mix of African reggae die-hards, Le Tigre dyke types, indie and club kids… and let me tell you it was on. COMPLETELY legendary. Diplo got on the decks because as it turned out Skerrit didn’t know how to play. Comedian Aziz Ansari got schooled in how to dance – plus later told the story of it on Jimmy Kimmel on US cable. And our bar staff got properly daggered.

Pool Party feat. Straight Arrows
Jan 29, 2010

As happens too often we had a promoter cancel their gig with us with only a few days notice. We asked everyone to find a replacement party. Owen Penglis, our ever true friend from garage rock’n’roll legends Straight Arrows, said “we don’t need time to promote a party if it’s a pool party.” “Pool party?” I asked. “Yesssss,” Owen nodded. So we invited everyone down in their togs or Island Vibes shirts, cut the cabana and cheese cubes to eat poolside, put up some sun umbrellas and changed the lights on the disco ball to blue.

There was of course to be no pool. But word on the street had everyone truly believing we somehow managed to put one in. And the disappointment on arrival? None. The liberation of a hundred DIY garage kids being in a basement bar in the middle of the city in their bathers was enough! Straight Arrows played a ballistic set and everyone sweated enough their clothes were unwanted anyway.

Gaslamp Killer
March 3, 2010
Photo: Angelina Potapova

Gaslamp had played a sold out gig elsewhere but wanted to play another time in Sydney before laving town. We announced a real short notice Wednesday gig with the Space is the Place and Void guys. Devastatingly, Gaslamp Killer found out he lost a family member that day. After a few hours he decided he still wanted to the show. Fronting to a over capacity room he opened with an amazing spine-tingling Art of Noise intro then announced: “I’m not going for your throats tonight, I’m going for your minds.” I haven’t seen a full room at Goodgod so intently follow but so completely rock out to every tune as they did for Gaslamp. Definitely one of the most emotional DJ sets I’ve ever witnessed.


Holiday Sidewinder’s Wild at Heart: David Lynch tribute night
August 4, 2011
Photo: Ed Watson

A favourite song to wind down the Front Bar early on a Sunday morning is Julee Cruise’s Floating – the incredible jam featured in the truckstop scene of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks. Whenever it played Goodgod regular Holiday Sidewinder always insisted she wanted to cover Julee’s music. So then, could we transform the danceteria into a truckstop?

Yes, and for the record, Holiday eclipses Julee Cruise at her own game. The night she presented in tribute to the music of Lynch films was soaringly intimate. Backed by an incredible band with members from Decoder Ring and Bridezilla, Holiday had this capacity truckstop transfixed and barely breathing.

Other just as great party memories…

– NYC’s Drop the Lime playing the first ever Goodgod party at Jimmy Sing’s Record Stand. With a compulsory limbo competition.

– Bizarrely our first gig using the current danceteria room back in June 2008 (when it was still the Spanish joint) was a Ro Sham Bo gig with none other than Mr. stoner rap Kid Cudi! Before his annoying Crookers remix hit Nova!

– The original monthly Goodgod Small Club nights in 2009 with its membership cards, dedicated following, strict utilitarian dancewear uniform (blue jeans and white tees) and no genre policy are still inspiring. And hell, this is where our favourite Toni Toni Lee was born.

– Canyons capacity launch of their first single on DFA. We changed every light to green, brought in dozens of palm fronds and had broken air-con. Hothouse!

– Slow Blow’s incredible monthly night never ceases to surprise: G-Orgy and Pari are a hilarious charisma that’s seen their crowd follow them through whatever they want to play. Add ridiculous themes (like Dreamtime and Under the Sea), over the top addiction to smoke and lasers and you can see why they’ve had The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Azari & III and 2 Many DJs down. In fact, it was a Slow Blow that saw us closing at 6am with the Soulwax boys still playing in the Front Bar!

– Jingle Jangle Halloween really caught us unaware. For a monthly night of 50’s R&B, exotica and gospel this Halloween showed us how dedicated people would get for a Jingle Jangle. More than 450 were trying to get into the 250 person room meaning a total bottle neck which pretty much meant no one out, no one in for hours.

– Daniel Stricker of Siberia Records (and Midnight Juggernauts) has always made the most of what we dreamed Goodgod to be: a place for total spontaneous fun. My highlight has to be the Goodgod House Band he put together for last year’s Front Bar opening. All garage rock covers of 90’s dance hits: where else?! His bandmate Vinnie singing Guru Josh’s Infinity before their tour manager Dale ripped into the saxophone solo is forever. Come down on Sunday to see the next incarnation of the House Band.

– Royal Headache album launch, September 2011: Royal Headache are as close to a soul band I think we’ll ever see grow up in Goodgod. After such a long hiatus, I was again blown away this month at how directly these guys deliver emotions that you can sing along to. BTW, album of the year.

Words by Jimmy Sing

Goodgod celebrates its first birthday from tonight with three consecutive nights of distinctly curated mayhem. Purchase tickets here. Or try your hand at winning a golden pass here.

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