With party-goers dancing down its streets and character oozing from its walls, Kings Cross holds an iconic place in Sydney’s night life scene. Long the place for hosting big and up-and-coming names across eclectic venues that are filled to capacity, multi-venue music event Go Here Go There, will celebrate the Cross precinct’s buzzing character for a packed night of music and camaraderie. On Saturday, October 20, one wristband will provide access to an array of legendary Kings Cross venues, including The World Bar, Kings Cross Hotel, Candy’s, Potts Point Hotel, Jangling Jacks and Crane Bar. Putting some oomph back in to the Cross’s nightlife, this event highlights the depth of community in this legendary area.

With an eclectic mix of artists featuring across the venues, hopping between these Kings Cross icons will allow people to taste-test different artists catering to different styles. Some names include Kat and Laura from Sydney’s favourite industrial dance-punk duo Mezko who will perform at The World Bar, and DJs Alex Dyson, Flexmami and Levins, who will spread across the other hosting venues to spin some banger tunes.

Coming off the back of last year’s success with Meet Me At the Cross which hosted big names like Hermitude, Thundamentals and Nina Las Vegas, and attracted around 3000 people, the precinct’s venues were keen to revive a similar event. The inimitable nightlife-dedicated area of Kings Cross and the history contained within the worn dancefloors will animate Go Here Go There, as event co-director Chris Williams describes.

“If you started from scratch in a new suburb or new area, you just can’t recreate that in this day in age because of the way things develop,” Williams observed, “there’s some real history there, if you go to World Bar it still has Kylie Minogue and Michael Hutchence graffiti scribbled on the walls from the 80s.”

The event aims to introduce people to some of the beloved and historic Kings Cross venues that contribute to keeping Sydney’s nightlife alive and thriving. Exposure to the unique personality of each venue will allow people to suss out different places that fit their personality and discover new venue favourites. Williams reflected, “Candy’s is an amazing space, there are some moments there that you just want to capture and keep forever. If those walls could talk, they would just speak in events.”

While it might be impossible to mention the Cross now without also noting the impact of lockouts, Go Here Go There seeks to reignite the area’s reputation for a great night and show the value that the area has for music as a whole.

“Some of the new artists who have broken out of that scene like Golden Features, if you think about it, it wasn’t that long ago that you’d be going to Candies to see Golden Features and now he’s selling out the Hordern,” noted Williams.

Having so many venues in close proximity also contributes to the diversity of music on offer. Recalling a night where the World Bar had hip hop artists upstairs and techno playing elsewhere, Williams could see the audiences cross pollinating as each discovered new music.

Although tastes change and music moves around the city, for Sydney, in comparison to London and New York, there are not as many areas where live music can flow between. As Williams stated, “if it’s not Kings Cross or Newtown, where is it?”

The return to the Cross is part of this, and also about refocusing our conversations on the tenacity of an industry that has had to thrive against the odds. Williams sees the industry thriving in times like this, and looks to a resurgence on the horizon.

“What I like about the way our society works, the more oppressive and unreasonable a government is the more resilience there is in the creative sector, it foes underground and thrives and soon enough it breaks through again, and here we go.”

Go Here Go There takes place on October 20. Venues hosting the event are Candys, Crane Bar, Jangling Jack’s, Kings Cross Hotel, Potts Point Hotel and World Bar. Check individual venue websites for artist listings. For tickets head here: https://events.ticketbooth.com.au/event/go-here-go-there