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It’s a rare and delicious thing to see a Sydney dancefloor packed out on a weeknight – all low lights and sweaty bodies and overflowing cups. Thanks to Dead Set – Darlinghurst’s new underground live music venue – it’s becoming a more common sight. Hiding in a basement just off one of Sydney’s busiest streets, Dead Set is a gritty new live-music room bringing a solid hit of rock ’n’ roll energy to Taylor Square.
The vibe is unapologetically rock: deep red lighting, heavily graffitied walls, arcade machines blinking in the corner and a soundtrack that swings from punk to metal to indie sleaze. There’s beer on tap and frozen margs served in house party-style solid red cups, a simple menu of late night salty snacks, and a sort of unpretentious, anonymous energy that makes you feel like you could be anywhere in the world.
From Thursday through Sunday, the venue runs as a hard-rock hangout, with live bands taking over the stage on Friday and Saturday nights and DJs into the small hours.
Programming leans deep into rock’s wilder corners – punk, doom, metal and alt – with a mix of local talent, touring acts and the odd surprise show or after-party, including a recent gig with Ghanaian-Australian icon Genesis Owusu (run as part of Vodafone’s First Night Only exclusive gig series).
The name itself is a nod to both live “sets” and the building’s past. The basement sits beneath what was once the funeral chapel at Kinselas Hotel, and rumours have it that the room once housed a morgue.
Dead Set is open Thursdays through Sundays, from 5pm until late – with a daily happy hour from 5pm-7pm. Learn more over here.
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