Sorry so many of these things are in the inner-west, but hey, it is the COOLEST part of Sydney.

Every Thursday for as long as I can remember, omnipod piano maestro and Sydney identity Chuck Yates has held court at the unpretentious local the Bald Faced Stag, playing three sets of impro-heavy trad jazz, with a rotating array of horn players, including on at least one occasion - no less than three trombonists. For free. Til very late. Usually with a free supper at midnight. Needless to say, Sydney's starving students and jazz-starved music fans ate it up - literally. One of the best free nights out Sydney had on offer, last thursday was supposedly the last of Yates' nights at the Stag. But i get the feeling he'll back.

Rumour has it one Thursday after playing a set of their pop-heavy hits at the Annandale, the multi-talented Thirsty Merc then wondered up the road to the Stag and played a jazz set, which I reckon probably would have been more enjoyable than hearing them play Thirsty Merc songs.

The Bald Faced Stag is at 345 Paramatta Road, Leichhardt.

NOTE: I leave Sydney in a week to go live in Canada for a year, so don't expect any new entries for a while. I started this blog as a piss-takey way of remembering the things i love about Sydney, and hopefully despite increasing commercialisation and over-crowding, most of these things will stay so i have something to look forward to coming back to. Rock over Sydney!

Seriously, most of the fun nights I've had in my twenties have somehow involved this man in some way, as DJ, organiser or generally just the glue holding it all together. He's just always there. No matter where you are - a crazy warehouse party, an illegal beach party, a rowdy pub, a bush party, a crazy gallery opening, Health Club - you just turn around and he gives you a high-five. He's ubiquitously Sydney.

Okay, so I'm biased. I've done some volunteer video editing on the Underbely festival the past two years and i'm a huge fan. Melbourne has long been considered Australia's home to the arts and creative expression, but the Underbelly Festival (held annually at Carriageworks) certainly gives Melbourne a run for its money in terms of creativity on offer and coldness of temperature inside the venue.

It works like this: 40+ collectives comprising of 250+ artists work for 2 weeks on various new collaboations that premier during the 2 day festival. The festival is a visual and aural orgy, and in typical Sydney fashion - there's way too much to do, too many places to be and not enough time. For those cash-obsessed Sydneysiders who devalue both art and artists, i dare you to come down and not be blown away and/or inspired by the sheer amount of hard work, unique collaborative process and sheer creative thinking that goes into the dozens of various, indescribable art projects crammed into two weeks work. Oh and there's beer and most of Newtown there too.

Underbelly is on this weekend, July 12-13 at Carriageworks. Tickets thru ticketbastard or on the door.
for more info: underbelly.com.au.

Look, it had to be in here sooner or later. The Townie was the source of many of my ex-girlfriends and a depository for most of my food money in my early 20's. Between the age of about 21 and 22, for me, the Townie quickly went from being the dirty place you went to at the end of the night, to the place where you knew everybody and everybody knew you. How lame were we! But it arguably still is the most friendly and unpretentious late-night dive bar in all of Sydney.

Look, I haven't gone back since Coopers broke the $5 mark and everyone managed to stay the same age but somehow got five years younger than me, but if i do ever go back here is my $2 juke box triple play that would always get the night going:
1. Sweet Child Of Mine: Guns N Roses
2. Warewolves of London: Warren Zevon
3. Hey Ya: Outkast

Many pubs and bars claim to make you feel like you're in your own lounge room - but the Clare really DOES resemble my lounge room. It's full of mismatched op-shop furniture, strewn pizza boxes, fellow ABC co-workers and a solid collection of current streetpress. And with mix CDs with the likes of Rock Steady Crew and Cyndi Lauper chosen by the bartenders, it has a house party vibe as the night goes on.

Yeah look, it's the only pub near my work that has a cool crowd and a non-pretentious vibe, and it was one of the first pubs to react against the gentrification of Sydney bars and "de-renovate" back to its tiled walls and back alley furnishings. The Clare is a comfy (though at times loud and crowded) corduroy oasis in a city of chrome and stainless steel.

File Under: Dive Bar.

The Clare is at 20 Broadway, Broadway.

The Excelsior in Glebe was home to some of the happiest memories of my early 20s. As an underemployed TAFE student at the time, this was the place a poor person could rock up and get a great nights entertainment. Their regular rotation of free bands included many future stars and under-rated talents, including Peregrine (who had like a 3 year residency from memory), Melanie Horsnell (before she did TV ads), Andy Clockwise (before he was cunt), Bertie Blackman (back when she was still a folk singer), Panda before they became Extended Family and starting selling out the Basement, Paul Greene, Tim Ireland and The Hands. Wednesday (and then Thursday) nights were programmed by Brett, the lead singer of Peregrine, and such was his friendly demeanour, he could convince anyone who popped in to jump on stage and join in on a song. Rai from Thirsty Merc would sing a future hit on a solo acoustic, Peta Morris would re-imagine her Paul Mac with Wesley Carr, Panda would lay down a 20 minute version of Rollercoaster that would blast into outerspace, ditto Peregrine with a drunken train-wreck of the Dave Matthews jammer Jimi Thing. Bertie had Andy Clockwise on drums, and has never sounded better or stronger. And it was always free and welcoming, and the music was generally always amazing. Nights ended either at some stranger's house party or the Different Drummer.