Opening its doors in 2010 after a mercurial two-year existence as a club night, a record label, and a back-room dancefloor of a Spanish restaurant, Goodgod Small Club quickly became one of the best live music venues in Sydney. Now, just over five years later, Goodgod Small Club has been sold and will take on new life as Plan B.
I can still remember walking through the doors and down the stairs into Goodgod for the first time, and absolutely loving the cave-like stone-textured fixtures and the tropical ambiance of the venue's front bar. Incongruously, the Danceteria in the back, which has played host to artists as diverse as UK dance king Jamie xx, urban folkie Willis Earl Beal and Sydney's soulful garage rock heroes Royal Headache, is fitted out in wood like a blues-loving whisky bar.
Goodgod Small Club was never confined to one thing. It's inclusive of all genres and styles and types of people, from people who want to listen, people who want to feast, people who want to learn, and (especially) people who want to dance. Featuring weekly trivia that was enormously popular (each week having a different pop culture theme), dance parties, live shows, panel discussions and more, Goodgod was all about making the most of every opportunity.
The Goodgod name is going out with a bang this week, celebrating the awesome run the venue's had by inviting back some of its favourite performers. The likes of Melbourne indie rockers Twerps and Sydney's own analogue-minded producer Pelvis will be hitting the stage to ring in the next phase in the venue's life. Check out the Sydney Scoop calendar to see what's on offer so that you too can visit the venue one last time before the changeover.
No need to fear: the delicious Belly Bao will remain steaming up a storm in the underground club, and all events that have been scheduled will go ahead as planned. This is not really an ending, but an exciting new frontier for the venue and for Sydney's live music scene.
