Sydney

An older woman shows a younger woman photographs in an album.

Theatre Review: Looking for Alibrandi at Belvoir is heartfelt and courageous

Based on the 1992 novel by Melina Marchetta and adapted for the stage by Vidya Rajan, Looking for Alibrandi follows the trials and tribulations of 17 year old Josephine Alibrandi, a third generation Italian migrant, as she navigates life over the course of her final year of high school. Directed by Stephen Nicolazzo, the play…

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Review: Milk Crate Theatre’s DUST is a collaborative work in reframing lockdown

For over 20 years, Milk Crate Theatre have engaged with disadvantaged people, devising works which challenge norms of performance. Developed over the 2020 and 2021 lockdowns, DUST was conceived over a number of zoom sessions before being fleshed-out in the person earlier this year. Drawing on themes of isolation and enforced reflection, the story centres…

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Review: Sydney Theatre Company’s A Raisin in the Sun is as urgent as ever, 65 years later.

A Raisin in the Sun was the first play in Broadway to be written by an African American woman, premiering in 1959 and starring Sidney Poitier. Sixty-five years later, it finally makes its Australian mainstage premiere, presented by Sydney Theatre Company. Three generations of Youngers live in a cramped 2-bedroom apartment on Chicago’s gritty south…

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Live Review: Sigur Ros stuns with epic three-hour concert in Sydney

It’s really not fair that Sigur Ros lives over there, and not over here. The iconic Icelandic band is still one of the most unique live acts in the world, regularly spurring these incredible live performances that are forever stamped all across YouTube above an invariably adoring comment section built with praise like “life-changing” and…

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Live Review: JPEGMAFIA keeps it raw and real at Sydney’s Enmore Theatre (21.07.22)

It’s crazy sometimes to see how few people seem to share your interest in your favourite smaller artists, especially when you can’t get over just how brilliant they are. This is exactly how I feel about JPEGMAFIA, a.k.a Peggy. As one of my favourite artists, I can never seem to get enough of his music….

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Theatre Review: What Moulin Rouge! lacks in cohesiveness it makes up for in charm

Charming. That’s the word I’d best use to describe what Moulin Rouge! has bought to a Sydney crowd that’s absolutely aching for a playful musical following the previous few years. While he’s busy doing the round in Australia right now for his new movie Elvis, Baz Luhrmann has no doubt already been through the Capitol…

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“Honest, brave and dedicated”: Camp Cope and Birdz shine at Sydney’s Enmore Theatre

The artist, known as Birdz, a proud Butchulla rapper, original from Katherine in the NT, arrived on the expansive Enmore stage to a smattering of early arrivals. It didn’t take much encouragement for the main floor the start filling as he introduced himself and dove into a visceral highlight from his 2021 Legacy album, ‘Aussie…

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Photo Gallery: Camp Cope + Birdz – Enmore Theatre (12.05.22)

Camp Cope showcased songs from their third album Running with the Hurricane and played all their favourites to an enthusiastic crowd at Enmore Theatre supported by Australian Hip Hop artist Birdz. Pete Dovgan brings you the photos.  

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Kid Kyoto is still one of Sydney’s most charming Japanese dining experiences

Kid Kyoto is like your trendy cousin. You envy their effortless style and try to imitate their endearing nature, but no matter how hard you attempt to recreate their swagger, it just isn’t right. These are my favourite types of dining experiences – the ones you genuinely can’t replicate at home. As I walked Bridge…

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This weekend’s best Mardi Gras day party is a Sunday roast in Camperdown

While Sydney is no doubt going to be jam-packed with fun things to do during Mardi Gras weekend, we’ve gone and picked out just one event that we think will be essential come next weekend. That’s the Absolut and Heaps Gay party in Camperdown on Sunday 6th March, fashioned as a Sunday roast but moving…

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Surry Hills’ legendary Vasco rolls into a new era with a refreshed food and drink menu

Since 2012, Vasco has been slapped with legendary status on Surry Hills’ Cleveland Street, stuck at the forefront of the kinetic strip amongst neighbourhood gems like The Norfolk, Brickfields, and Mjolner. That’s ten years of serving as the grungy neighbourhood cocktail bar, with renown for slinging some of the area’s best concoctions backed by a…

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Sydney’s iconic Mister Gee gets fruity with Alize Pineapple for a 2-night only block party

Mister Gee North Strathfield, which is still rolling after many years as one of the absolute best burger joints Sydney has ever seen, is about to drop something very, very unexpected on us. Teaming up with Alizé to celebrate the new Alizé Pineapple infusion, Gee will be taking a hard left turn from what one…

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These are the 3 best Sydney restaurants with live music

Restaurants are back. As Sydney keeps on opening up, more and more people are flocking back to their old and new favourite spots to make up for lost time when it comes to eating well, drinking even better, and catching up with friends. Throw some live music in the mix from talented local bands, from…

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Forget the chicken parm: Surry Hills icon The Clock Hotel now has a great French bistro menu

Surry Hills iconic The Clock Hotel has been through more than a few changes in its lifetime, and I’m hoping the latest is nice and permanent for the long-standing venue. That would be moving away from the typical pub grub associated with such a popular hotel into undeniably French territory, dissing the parma for some…

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Woolloomooloo’s Wharf set for a big change as Il Pontile brings regional Italian flare

Woolloomooloo’s iconic Finger Wharf would be a dream location for any restaurateur, so I couldn’t even begin to imagine how overjoyed Mario Percuoco is right now as he collaborates with the latest opening by Audacia Enterprises. As the son of Buon Ricordo’s Armando Percuoco, there’s an obvious pedigree and love for hospitality that sits behind…

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Lorraine’s Bistro is a fantastic French home run for Waverley’s Robin Hood Hotel

Sydney will never have enough French restaurants. The cuisine can arguably outmuscle Italian and Japanese when it comes to density, with some of the city’s most beloved dining institutions favouring the regional delicacies of France. Sydney’s already got a new spat of finer dining, more upscale French restaurants with Porcine and Bistro 916, but our…

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Five spots to book next week now that “Freedom Day” is upon Sydney

Not that it should be grotesquely touted as “freedom day” like it’s a signal to the ongoing pandemic is over, but October 11th has now been confirmed as the day when the fully vaccinated will be able to once again start enjoying fewer restrictions in Sydney. That means that we’re now able to book in…

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a’Mare, Crown Sydney Review: Golden-age service with a side of theatre

Alessandro Pavoni doesn’t have anything to prove. His Ormeggio at the Spit – old enough to be considered legendary – has always been a reference point for Sydney’s excellent spread of trattoria-inspired eateries. The Mosman restaurant’s more recent turn, skewing seafood and flirting with Puglia, has only solidified that reputation. But the chef is clearly…

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West Hotel Review: A strong atmosphere makes up for a lack of space (Sydney)

As part of Hilton’s boutique-minded Curio Collection, West Hotel comes to Sydney off the back of a strong and prodigious history of hotelling. Although unlike the Hilton chain, Curio clearly skews more designer, and focuses on more than just a few details to echo that ethos. Does Sydney’s property really fit into the brand’s identity?…

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Vivid Sydney

Vivid Sydney 2021 Highlights: Our top picks of the program

Promising epic art installations, fascinating panels, and incredible performances, we’re so excited to see Vivid Sydney reappearing on our calendars later this year. The lights may have gone out in 2020, but the self-styled “playground of the unexpected” will return this August, for three weeks of celebrating light, music, ideas, and the city of Sydney…

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hilton sydney

Hilton Sydney Review: History gets a slick refresh

Hilton Sydney is one of the city’s most reliable CBD hotels. It’s been that way for a long time, but not necessarily because of the guest rooms. The location, directly opposite the Queen Victoria Building, is of course one of the primary reasons for the hotel’s enduring success, despite stiff competition from fresher-faced and more…

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Sydney Solstice: 6 highlights of the new winter festival

Sydney isn’t about to let the postponement of Vivid get in the way of a good winter festival. Although our two major winter events – Sydney Film Festival and Vivid Sydney – have both been rescheduled and shifted to later this year, a new two-week replacement will more than fill the need for all that…

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Elder Scrolls Online Hot Sauce

This Elder Scrolls Online hot sauce has us extremely hungry

To promote the launch of The Elder Scrolls Online: Blackwood, Bethesda ANZ has partnered with Melbourne Hot Sauce to create an ultra-spicy hot sauce. The sauce, called the “Hot Sauce of Oblivion,” weighs in at around 600,000 scovilles, the unit used to measure the heat contained in spicy food. As off-the-shelf hot sauces go, that’s pretty…

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Cam Avery has curated a score for one of Sydney’s most luxurious spa treatments

Until the end of May (so you only have a week), Sydneysiders will have access to a different kind of luxury spa treatment at The Darling Spa. How different? Well, one of the The Darling Spa’s signature treatments, the 90-minute Li’tya Mala Mayi, has been elevated with a multisensory approach in collaboration with Aussie musician…

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SOUL Deli, Sydney Review: A necessary addition to the local café scene

When you think of Korean food in Sydney you either conjure images of wagyu sizzling on a built-in grill, or obscenely crispy fried chicken dripping with a tangy house-made sauce. Illa Kim and Daero Lee have been redefining that image for years at their Surry Hills restaurant, Soul Dining, often bringing in influences from other…

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Little National Hotel Sydney Review: Designed for city staycations

The gentle tune of minimalism sweeps through Sydney’s Little National Hotel. Opened in September of last year, the latest from Canberra-dominating Doma Group is a conscious push against the often irresistible excesses of big-city hospitality. Not just that, the hotel’s soft, soulful accommodation is an obvious embrace of Japanese-influenced, less-is-more philosophy, gently sketched onto Sydney’s…

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Free live music to arrive in Sydney every Friday this month

This May, Sydney’s Seymour Centre will be introducing a new weekly event to its annual calendar: Seymour Nights. The night is part of the venue’s contemporary music program, and will kick off this Friday – May 7th – with two sets from beloved alt-bluegrass outfit The Morrisons. The night kicks off just after sunset, at…

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Theatre Review: Belvoir’s Stop Girl is a powerful and compelling story

Trigger warning: review contains references to mental illness and trauma. Sally Sara is a Walkley award-winning journalist, writer and author who has reported from more than 40 countries as a foreign correspondent with the ABC. Her debut play Stop Girl at Belvoir in Sydney is a powerful and compelling story of a woman’s struggle with…

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Live Review: Dan Sultan delivers a heartfelt show that sparkles with human emotion in full technicolour

In “Magnetic”, Dan Sultan sang, “I’m trying to keep it simple/But I’m a complicated man.” Never were truer words uttered. Sultan’s one-off show at the Enmore Theatre certainly saw him keeping things modest. With his commanding voce and an acoustic guitar, he charmed the audience. The songs were wistful about the past and also had a…

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Opera Kitchen is now a vibrant Italian & Japanese food hall

It’s one of Sydney’s most sought after dining spots, given it sides right up to Sydney Harbour, and now Opera Kitchen has reopened with a fresh new approach to dining. The venue is now a multi-cuisine food hall, giving Opera Bar more than a few new neighbours for anyone keen to mix-and-match their dining experience….

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