When I read the other fella talking about stopping the smaller dealers, I thought, what if you fuck up and a small dealer is not a small dealer? Seems a bad idea to perpetrate much on someone who knows where you'll be standing all the time.
It's interesting to be on the gold coast and just kind of seeing bikies (bikers) openly running clubs. Did that happen in melbourne?
I've been out of the industry a few years, but from the time I started (around 1990) to 2011 I can't say I ever worked at a venue that was run - either officially or unofficially by bikies. Things in the gold coast (and so I'm lead to believe Adelaide and possibly one or two places in Perth) are a bit different.
I have worked at a couple of venues that were run by guys obviously into crime and it would seem they were laundering money. They were smart enough (if you can call anyone running a nightclub smart) not to deal on the premises. There were probably people there selling their gear, but not in any official capacity, they just happened to be down the food chain of that particular group. Which was a smarter move, no official involvement, and nobody getting around as a protected species (which is just screaming out to be investigated/closed down).
When ecstacy first hit the scene big time in the early 90s we all thought things were changing forever. Hard blokes were acting like innocent kids on the stuff, and not causing dramas (actually on that note, the book 'muscle' by carlton leach - the real guy who was somewhat fictionalised in 'rise of the footsoldier' - details that, and most of it parallels what I saw in Melbourne).
Back then the clubs that had the most drugs actually had the least amount of trouble, and the venues where they were huge drinkers tended to have the most. It was partly the nature of the drugs, but also the rave scene itself.
Probably my favourite clubs were the goth clubs. No dramas (as long as you did the door right and didn't let in any people that were just there to gawk like looking at animals at the zoo) and girls in goth clothes/makeup look pretty bloody hot, and I also tended to have by far the most interesting/intelligent conversations with girls (and just people in general) there.
Gay clubs (I worked a few, more gay dance parties than regular club gigs) were also very seldom the scene for trouble, and if someone took too much gear the rest of their friends typically would be right there to help them out and make sure it was all ok. Probably the easiest money to be made in the industry, and again all that was needed was to do the door right and make sure you weren't letting in people that couldn't handle that scene/group of people.
Question should be who and why would anyone want to be a low wage Bouncer.
When I started (as a wide eyed kid) I was approached by the manager of a club who knew me. The regular guys had left and the guys working there weren't doing to well with it. He put on the charm and said 'hey XXXX when are you going to come and work for us'. And as a young man I thought, hey it'd be like going out and getting paid for it.... How wrong I was
. There's definitely some fun to be had at most clubs, but it is also boring a lot of the time, and a little risky. On the low wage thing, most are likely low paid, but if you are either the right look or alternatively know how to handle yourself (both physically but far more importantly verbally) you can get better money. Probably the big thing that held me back was seriously that I look like I just got out of an asylum. I'm not kidding when I say I'm fairly ugly. But I was big enough (never looked like a bodybuilder, though I would have if I could, just don't have the genetics, but carried enough size and was pretty strong - at best I probably looked like a slightly smaller version of westside era Mark Bell in size/condition but I hasten to add I was nowhere near his strength level!) and had imho well above average communication skills, and that got me across the line.
Aside from the money being potentially ok-ish - a lot of the time it is cash in hand (so I'm told
) so you can do it as a second job and not have a yuge tax hit.
When I was between jobs I did work several shifts per week, but predominantly I did weekends and worked another 'regular' job during the week. I'd hate to be even thinking about doing it full time now.
Hi
It was called the Tongue and Groove, not far from Acland street I believe.
Barely have time to do a shift now as I'm working FT and studying part-time, but will occasionally work at easy venues like Forum Theater or Moonee Valley.
mooney valley
- if you ever share a hookup story from there remember I'm from melbourne and know what kind of crowd that is
