Summer is well and truly underway with Sydney copping it’s second hottest December night in 150 years last week. Everybody has their strategy for dealing with the heat; some head to the beach to strut their dad bods, some blast their air con while drinking frozen margaritas and listening to Tycho and some head to the pub to steal an ice cold brew.
While you’re stocking up on sunscreen, meticulously curating your ‘Summer <3’ playlist and desperately detoxing in preparation for the Christmas period, get your brain and body ready for the coming months with this love letter and humble suggestion to the chillest of bars in existence; those on a sunny rooftop.
The combo of sun, booze and music is a triple-threat nobody will disagree with, and the best place to experience it all at once is a damn fine rooftop bar.
Taylor’s Rooftop in Sydney is a recent provocateur in the rooftop-orientated world of gigging. Despite a relatively short lifespan to date, Taylor’s has become a beacon within the Sydney dance circuit for it’s thumping sound system, calming greenery and prime position amongst the city skyline.
While most rooftop bars forgo their massive potential as musical wonderlands, Taylor’s has embraced it to the fullest, partnering with local labels and dance collectives to bring huge acts to their decks, recently including Dom Dolla and Pantheon.
The entrance is a hole in the wall, opening onto a staircase littered with technicolour graffiti that makes you feel as if you’re taking the secret entrance to Warhol’s Factory. Start your day in the sun with your choice of poison and an easygoing acoustic set to lubricate the beginnings of your bender, and then stick around for the filthy night of dance tunes you’re in for if you stick around.
If you’re keen, they’re putting on a massive New Years Eve gig. Aside from a festival, it’s probably your only Sydney option if you want to watch some great DJs strut their chops without being stuck in a low-ceilinged sweat bunker that’ll reach 40 degrees.
Aside from Taylor’s, there’s a few other rooftop options around Sydney, but not nearly as many as there should be, and next to none that also host gigs. Without discounting the magic of knocking back your choice of poison in the fresh air way above the city streets, it’s simply a prime opportunity that shouldn’t be so tough to find.
Rooftop bars are God’s gift to the Australian summer, a golden union of pretty much everything punters have fallen in love with since Federation, and the country will be rushing their sweaty bodies inside of them all summer long.
NYE sorted.
