Peel Dance Bar

Wow. The staff here were so terribly rude! Good crowd but getting through the door and grabbing a drink was painful… A little less screaming and a little more smile would go a long way.

This review goes out to the ladies.
So you have been asked to queue… I think we’ve all gotten that little brochure by now. While a part of me gets a little resentful when my friends just shunted behind a rope just because I am with them, I get it. I get the point of this policy. I do. I just also like to think that I should clearly be exempt from that kind of policy because I have an overinflated sense of self. But then, every other girl in line is probably thinking the same thing: «I mean, come on! I’m just here to hang out with my friends. I’m not like these other girls!»
So I make some token indignant noises quietly to my friends, and then wait patiently. Do I think it is the best approach? Personally, I would rather they take the Circuit route and have some open nights and others men only. Or there was one club I went to in Barcelona that simply charged women more, which worked to keep the ratio down and the hag quality high. But at the end of the day, the most important thing is that the managers do what they do to ensure the club serves its core clientele. You want to bitch about gender inequality? Let’s talk about the Melbourne Club. Not even the Prime Minister and Governor-​General can get in there.
Once inside, the Peel is standard issue cheesy club fun — loud pop music, pricey drinks, crowded smoking area. If you’re there with fab friends, you will have a fab time.
My advice, ladies, is don’t find the queuing thing prohibitive. Except if you are gaggle of girls out for a laugh or a hen’s night, in which case you should go somewhere else because you’re spoiling it for the rest of us. For the rest of you normal girls who just happen to be out with your gay friends, just line up and deal with it. You’ve probably got a better chance of getting in than the Prime Minister.

The Peel is a Melbourne gay institution, and definitely one of the more fun gay bars around. It’s bright, buzzing, blaring with bad top-40’s dance tunes, and filled with topless muscled dudes chewing their faces off on ecstasy. It’s also a serious meat-​market, so be prepared for the occasional sleazy encounter (welcome or unwelcome). But even though there’s a definitive sleazy element to the Peel, it’s also a lot of fun, and doesn’t have the more sinister vibe that some other local gay haunts do.
So leave your shirt and your music taste at the door, come inside and party to Cher remixes like it aint no thang. You’ll probably regret it tomorrow, but at least you’ll enjoy yourself tonight!

1. They are picky, as stated, with allowing entry to women. However, you can bring a couple girlfriends, but you really must make sure they’re dressed ready to dance and be looked at. Good shoes and cute outfits. That will give you the best chances.
2. The multitude of rooms make it easier to handle, but don’t go alone because these are pack-​hunters, you won’t stand a chance all by yourself.
3. Get cash before you get there. Drinks are not cheap, and the cash machine always seems to have a long line.
4. Cruise past the DJ booth if you go, because many nights it is a drag queen spinning the beats. There is just something immensely fun in my opinion to see a tall, blonde-​wigged DIVA giving you the musical energy that you need.

Flashing disco lights, electro beats and boys as far as the eye can see.
Peel dance bar is not the kind of place you bring your girlfriends, its almost what some will call a ‘boys-​club’.
Peel is a great venue, large, open and plenty of mirrors. You will find a large dance-​floor, three bars, lounges and even uni-​sex bathrooms.
I find Peel a little too much sometimes though, it’s definitely a dance-​bar, not really a venue for deep and meaningful conversation. There is a large smoking area out back but the venue fills up pretty quick and is hard to navigate through.
For me, its downfall is the ratio of women — men. It’s 95% men, 5% women and even then they will start rejecting girls at the door. I have been to the venue a few times with a couple girls and they were rejected, sure the Peel is a lot of fun but whats the point of going when your mates cant get in with you.

There are really only two Gay clubs in Melbourne that your average reveller might find themselves in. They are the Peel and the Market. The market is great — best sound system in Melbourne — but stuck in trendy South Yarra, it comes with a SOHO sized pretention and entrance fee.
The Peel ithough is a gay club for the people. For the people with no money and no ability to enter any other club after 3 in the morning. The recent renevation has ended the sex on site upper floor and united the secretive rear dance area with a substantial neo classic smoking zone. Full cloke room, three bars, pool table and a huge dance floor allow for more mainstream activities.
This is a really friendly place. Bear, Cub, straight, gay, Polish Catholic, got a weird thing for Morgan Freeman films, everyone is your friend when you walk into this place.
Music is a bit Kylie but hey, the place is always free, except on nude night.