Palms nightclub is launching a free mid-week gay meet night set to rival Stonewall’s long-running Malebox.
Called MRMR, it’s a chance for people to meet in person instead of on apps like Grindr, Sniffies, Hinge or Tinder.
Hosted by Kevin Kaila (also known as Kevininthecity), the regular weekly event begins on Wednesday, April 9, at 8.30pm and will include a live on-stage dating game show aimed at matching a new couple each week.
It will go until 10.30pm before the night continues with drag queen Faux Fur and her Wheel of Fauxtunes show.
“Each week we will have ice breakers, competitions and mini games hosted by myself … and my sexy buttlers,” Kevininthecity told Gay Sydney News.
“The dating game show will have a signup that you can put your name down in hopes of being matched up.”
On entrance, patrons will get a coloured wristband that will “help let everyone know a little bit about your intentions and be a topic for opening conversations,” said Kevininthecity.
Asked what the colours meant, he said “you will just have to come to find out”.
MRMR is aimed at “all the guys in the city who are looking for a new way to connect,” said Kevininthecity
“It’s not just for singles either, we want people to make great new friends and/or potentially a new beau!”
Palms renovated in the past year and has changed up its entertainment offering, which includes holding regular comedy nights. The venue has been having what Kevininthecity described as a “resurgence”.
“We are seeing that our clientele is from their 20s to their 60s,” he said.
He added that he noticed there is a lack of spaces for guys in their 20s and 30s who want to go out – but not necessarily to a late-night club.
“So MRMR is that mid week chance to get out and make some new connections.”
Venue manager Michael Lewis told GSN the new night would replace a trivia event it had been holding.
“Unfortunately the days of bingo and trivia … they’re getting so overexposed. Everyone’s got trivia or bingo. So I think people are looking for something a little bit more interactive, a bit more fun, a bit more engaging, where they get to … be the star,” he said.
Lewis said Palms’ point of difference to Stonewall’s Malebox would be the interactive game show format.
Malebox has been running at Stonewall for 26 years. Starting at 9pm on Wednesdays, the free pick-up night involves participants wearing a sticker with a number on it and writing mail to one another via a post box.
People posting letters write down the person’s number they are sending their letter to and are encouraged to leave their number so that the receiver can send a note back. Mail is then collected by the host and the numbers of those with letters are displayed on a screen for them to pick-up their mail.
Lewis emphasised that MRMR was a “gay meet night” and “not a dating night”.
This was because “dating tends to get a little bit more serious, and people sort of, you know, overthink it”.
Elsewhere on Wednesday nights, Universal this week announced its replacement for the recently axed Slay 4 Pay drag competition.
Starting this Wednesday (April 2) at 10pm, “West End Wednesdays” will be Universal’s new mid-week Broadway and West End-inspired entertainment.
Starring drag queens and “leading ladies” Carmen Geddit, Charisma Belle and Hannah Conda, the night will involve them reliving some of their most popular on stage productions.
Universal is offering a complimentary house drink to those who have come to the night from the theatre.
“Dance to all of your favourite party tracks, paired DELICIOUSLY with some of Broadway and the West End’s biggest hits curated by DJ Rachel K & DJ Sexy Galexy,” Universal’s said in an email to its customers this week.
Correction: MRMR’s first night is Wednesday April 9, not April 7 as originally published. We got the Wednesday right, just not the date.
Gay Sydney News editor