Sydneysiders get ready to party like it’s 2009 all over again because Chippendale’s once-vibrant The Abercrombie is set to reopen, just days before Christmas, as Sydney’s only 24-hour nightclub. What’s more is that the former home of legendary club nights like Sash and Purple Sneakers will now be a multi-concept venue with three distinct spaces, ordained with a 36-hour kick-off party that’ll run from 5 PM on Friday, December 23 non-stop until 5 AM on Christmas Day.
The 100-year-old heritage venue became a bit of a ghost town after long-running party Purple Sneakers was forced to move out at the top of 2010. And for the past decade has stood awkwardly as one of Solotel’s more forgotten diner-style venues.
Now in just a few weeks, Solotel attempts to restore The Abercrombie to its former glory, splitting the venue into a club space and public bar on the ground floor with that famed beer garden still in-tact, as well as a late-night Italo-disco cocktail lounge called Casa Rosa up top and a newly built terrace for wine bar and shop Lil’ Sis.
All three spaces will form The Ambercrombie 3.0, threaded together with a rare 24-hour license that’ll give Solotel a lot of wiggle room to curate what’s hoped to be some of the biggest parties Sydney has ever seen. And to help, the hospitality group is enlisting the city’s best tastemakers including House of Mince, Sweat It Out, the inimitable Future Classic, Motorik, and – best of all – a reinvigorated Purple Sneakers.
Aside from the 36-hour opening party, The Abercrombie will be hitting the NYE period hard with a 7-day run of events from Boxing Day through to New Year’s Day. This will include a Boxing Day special curated by House of Mince, a NYE party by Motorik with a “secret international headliner,” and visits from international floor-fillers Webbha and Jaytech (Anjunabeats) on NYD.
When the venue isn’t heaving with all the party-minded shenanigans, The Abercrombie will serve as a typical gastropub by day with a heavy focus on pizza-by-the-slice and a solid drinks list.
The Abercrombie
Address: 100 Broadway, Chippendale (cnr Broadway and Abercrombie Street)
Opening Hours: Monday – Tuesday (10 am – 2 am); Wednesday – Thursday (10 am – 3 am); Friday – Saturday (10 am – 5 am); Sunday (10 am – 3 am)
