Connections Nightclub celebrated its 50th birthday with a massive party on Saturday night filled with community connection, emotional performances and memories.
The event, which ran for 12 hours, saw performers from years gone by return to the Connections stage, while the club’s current crop of entertainers excelled with a series of shows that breamed with excitement, queer joy and camp classics.
Throughout the night guests were treated to surprise performances from luminaries including Sheila Mann, Val Nourished and the acclaimed Strykermeyer.
Dean Misdale filled the dance floor early with a succession of camp classics, while Scout, H Sailor, Cooper Cooper and Henry Boles also delivered perfect sets of club classics.
There were also several full scale production shows that were enthusiastically received by an adoring crowd.
The club’s co-owners Tim Brown and Tracy and Steve Holland took to the stage surrounded by their management team and reflected on the venue’s five decade history.
Speaking to the crowd Tim Brown spoke about how Connections had always been a place that celebrated difference.
“We celebrate that difference because it makes people feel like they belong.”
Brown also reflected on the generations of people who have stood on the Connections dancefloor, and sat down on it when it was time for a show.
“Most people only go out clubbing for a few years, when they’re in their prime, they are young and care free, and very often these are the best years of their lives.
“People always say, ‘it’s not as good as it used to be’, but it is for anyone experiencing that time right now. It was and it always will be. We make the best year’s of people’s lives, repeatedly.” Brown said describing what the club’s staff achieve night after night.
The event began with a VIP reception which saw guests greeted with a glass of champagne of Moet and Chandon in the club’s main room which had been transformed into a gold grotto.
While guests all dressed in gold filed through to get their photo taken DJ Tasty played the tunes and acrobatic performers contorted and spun nearby.
Upstairs on the terrace DJ H Sailor created a relaxed atmosphere and the crowd mingled and schmoozed. Among the guests Perth’s Lord Mayor Bruce Reynolds and Deputy Lord Mayor David Goncalves, former Greens MLC Giz Watson, former Senator Louise Pratt and Housing Minister John Carey.
Throughout the night waves of people worked their way through the club, spending time in each of it’s different zones. Meeting for the first time, seeing old friends once again, hitting the dance floor and sampling the cocktails.
Here’s to 50 more years of Connections Nightclub.
Check out some of the photos from the big night.
