World Travel Guide

City Guide  - Johannesburg  - Nightlife
Nightlife

Café Bars: From street bashes (all invited) and gumba-gumba (traditional house parties in Soweto) to jols (any good party) and lang-arm (ballroom dances) in the suburbs, Johannesburg has a lively nightlife, although quite divided between white and black venues. There are a somewhat bewildering selection of shebeens (informal drinking place - usually in someone's home), taverns (more fancy than a shebeen, may have live music), bars (often male and sport-dominated) and pubs (more genteel and expensive than bars) and nightclubs (cover charge, smart-casual, late, usually dancing) to choose from. Every Friday the Mail & Guardian publishes exhaustive listings of what's on where.

The nightlife is focused around distinct districts, with Melville/Brixton being one of the most popular areas. Other northern suburbs, such as Rosebank, Norwood, Rivonia and Orange Grove, are also popular with more affluent party animals, while the CBD, Yeoville, Braamfontein and Newtown also get going after dark. Going out alone in Soweto is not advised but do go with a local or take a guided tour or 'Shebeen Crawl' (see Soweto in the Key Attractions section).

There are no strict licensing hours, and many clubs stay open until sunrise and beyond. Some of the upmarket hotels do have a smart-casual dress code. In virtually all other establishments, anything goes. Admission charges, generally R10-50, are fairly common, and a certainty when there is a live band lpaying. Raves, a popular Joburg experience, can be expensive at R80-170.

Bars:
Melville gets really busy after dark. Catz Pajamas, a 24-hour restaurant and pub on Main Road, or The Full Stop, a café on Fourth Avenue, are good places to start the night. The Ratz Bar, Seventh Street, is another vibrant young bar, and Roxy Rhythm Bar is a laid-back place for a drink and a game of pool or pinball, but does get busy later as local bands play every night. Donna Diego's Tobacconist, Seventh Street, is a tobacconist's shop that is home to a tiny, comfortable but upmarket bar. The bar is a great place to buy the smoke of your choice and savour it while sipping a brandy and listening to classical music.

In Braamfontein, Champions, corner of Wolmarans and Rissik Streets, is Johannesburg's oldest gay bar. The mixed atmosphere inside is friendly, although the district is not the safest. Carfax, 39 Pim Street, in Newtown, is the place to go if you're in the mood for performance art with your beer and it also arranges raves. One of Johannesburg's oldest bars is Radium Beer Hall, 282 Louis Botha Avenue, in Orange Grove. It started life as a tearoom in 1929 and was converted to a beer hall in 1944 - and has never looked back. Alternatively, for real upmarket swank in the suburbs, try Jabulani's, Park Hyatt Hotel, Oxford Road, Rosebank.

Casinos:
The new Montecasino (tel: (011) 511 0247) gambling complex is located in the suburb of Fourways.

Clubs:
Melville has its fair share of trendy nightclubs - look into the indescribable Buzz 9, on Seventh Street - but Hillbrow and Yeoville still offer the most authentically 'South African' club scene. You'll find an eclectic mix of disco, soul, hip hop, mbaqanga and kwaito on offer, and a friendly up-for-it crowd. Base, on the corner of Twist and Kotze Streets, Hillbrow, attracts a well-dressed clientele and benefits from a superb chill-out balcony. Da Flava, Rockey Street, Yeoville, is also for the well-dressed, and plays a lot of hip hop. The trendy young black crowd go to Piccadilly Café, corner of Rockey and Cavendish Streets, Yeoville. 206 Live, 206 Louis Botha Avenue, Orange Grove, is a good place to go for funk and drum'n'bass.

A thriving rave culture is centred around Ice Productions (web site: http://ice.powerzone.co.za/) with mammoth Ice Festivals. Their Freedom Festival happens at The Electric Workshop in the Megamusic precinct, Gough Street (between Jeppe and Commissioner Streets), Newtown. Favoured venues are Reality, 248 Jeppe Street, which has three dance floors and offers a blend of hip hop, house and drum'n' bass; Bump, corner of Alexander and Aitken Roads, Midrand, the home of some big parties of note; and Carfax, 39 Pim Street, Newtown, which is a prime venue for launches and parties. Big Brother Productions (web site: www.bigbroprod.co.za) hosts regular H˛O parties at Wildwaters in Boksburg east of Johannesburg. Other unusual venues for raves include the Mega Music warehouse (the turbine hall of a derelict power station). Tickets are available on-line (web site: www.ticketweb.co.za).

Live music:
Melville's The Bassline, Seventh Street, is one of the most popular jazz and blues venues in Johannesburg and has hosted many great local live bands (such as Tananas). Also in Melville, Roxy Rhythm Bar (see above) may lean towards students, but despite its brawny rock and basic burger atmosphere you are still certain of a great local music line-up. Rosebank has the dark, smoky Blues Room in the Village Walk complex on Rivonia Road, which is rated as the best jazz and blues venue in town. In Newtown, Kippies, at the Market Theatre, also hosts very good - and consequently packed - jazz nights. If you're really into live music, do take a guided tour of Soweto's shebeens.



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