You’ll never never know, if you never ever go

You’ll never never know, if you never ever go

By Alison Kinkade

Some Yarra’s Edge residents have concerns about the proximity of Melbourne’s newest mega nightclub, Neverland. So the Docklands News decided to check it out.

Arriving at the nightclub on Friday, January 22 at 9.30pm, the first thing we checked out was the parking facilities. We counted about 100 car spaces (with only 10 taken at that stage of the night), a small number for a club that’s licensed to hold 1500, we thought.

The club’s website says it opens at 9pm but when we rounded the corner to Neverland’s entry we were surprised to find a line of approximately 30 people and a club that hadn’t yet opened – luckily for us it was a fairly balmy night to be standing in line.

After waiting in line for half an hour the nightclub’s entrance was opened and the patrons began to filter through. Impressively, every individual, including females, had both their body and drivers licence scanned before being able to proceed to the counter to pay for entry. Being our first impression of the staff, we found that the security, though in high supply, were very friendly.

The entry fee was another error which the venue encountered on their website. Advertised on their site as $15 guest-list and $20 for non-guests, the venue only charge $10 and $15 respectively – not that we’re complaining about a discount.

As we entered the nightclub we found the hexagonal dance floor, reminiscent of the venue’s past life as a SAAB car yard. Though no one was dancing, it didn’t take long before the floor was packed with revellers who began breaking moves to the popular commercial house music. From a balcony above the floor the DJ looked down upon the dancers controlling them like puppets with every change of a song.

A quick run to the bar and I was disappointed to find that my drink of choice, a Malibu and pineapple, was overpriced at $9.50 and, due to the amount of ice in the glass, it only took two sips to drink. Other drinks were fairly standard with Corona priced at $9, Pure Blonde at $6.50 and Japanese Asahi at $11.50.

After drinking my overpriced beverage, I decided it was time to head home at 12pm. At that stage of the night the club would have been lucky to have 400 patrons – well under the 1500 patrons it is licensed for. Leaving the venue, I was generously handed a free pass to the nightclub for the following week, which I’m sure would have left many customers smiling.

On my way out I enquired about the venue’s shuttle bus. According to staff, the bus runs from the start of the night and drops off to Crown Casino, Flinders St Station, Southern Cross Station and a few other places in the city – an option which I’m sure Docklands residents hope revellers will take.

Upon entering the car park at 12pm we found security doing a check of the area, with only five parking places left available. Outside the venue there was very little noise from the partying going on inside the venue, although there was a hotdog van for any customers with the late night munchies from all their partying.

Overall we had a great night at the nightclub. Although the drinks were overpriced, the music was fantastic, the venue was stylish and its staff were all very helpful. I’m sure we’ll be back.

Join Our Facebook Group