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Nightlife
From street bashes (all invited) and gumba-gumba (traditional house parties in Soweto) to jols (any good party) and lang-arm (ballroom dances) in the suburbs, Johannesburg has a lively nightlife, although it is quite divided between white and black venues. There are a somewhat bewildering selection of shebeens (informal drinking places – usually in someone’s home), taverns (more fancy than a shebeens, possibly with live music), bars (often male and sport dominated), pubs (more genteel and expensive than bars) and nightclubs (venues with cover charges, smart-casual dress codes, late openings and usually with dancing) to choose from. Every Friday, the Mail & Guardian (website: www.mg.co.za) publishes exhaustive listings of what is on where. A highly recommended listings website is www.jhblive.co.za.
The nightlife is focused around distinct districts, with Melville/Brixton being one of the most popular areas. Other northern suburbs (such as Rosebank, Norwood, Rivonia and Orange Grove) are also popular with more affluent party animals, while the Central Business District, Yeoville, Braamfontein and Newtown also get going after dark. Going out alone in Soweto is not advised, although do go with a local or take a guided tour or ‘Shebeen Crawl’ (see Soweto Tours in the Key Attractions section). There are no strict licensing hours and many clubs stay open until sunrise and beyond. The legal drinking age in South Africa is 18. Some of the upmarket hotels have a smart-casual dress code, although in almost all other establishments, anything goes. Admission charges (generally R10-50) are fairly common and a certainty when there is a live band playing. Raves, a popular Joburg experience, can be expensive at R80-170. Tickets to these and other events can be purchased online (website: www.ticketweb.co.za).
Bars: The trendiest bar in town, where the young yuppies and the financial elite sit side by side and suck wine coolers or sip daiquiris and discuss music and millions, is Kilimanjaro in Melrose Arch (tel: 684 1418; website: www.melrosearch.co.za). Catz Pajamas, a 24-hour restaurant and pub on Main Road, or The Full Stop, a caf on Fourth Avenue, are good places to start the night. The Ratz Bar, Seventh Street, is another vibrant young bar, and Roxy Rhythm Bar, 20 Main Road, Melville, is a laid-back place for a drink and a game of pool or pinball, although it does get busy later, as local bands play every night. Donna Diego’s Tobacconist, Seventh Street, is a tobacconist’s shop that is home to a tiny, comfortable but upmarket bar. The bar is a great place to buy the smoke of your choice and savour it while sipping a brandy and listening to classical music.
In Braamfontein, Champions, on the corner of Wolmarans and Rissik Streets, is Johannesburg’s oldest gay bar. The mixed atmosphere is friendly, although the district is not the safest. Carfax, 39 Pim Street, in Newtown, is the place to go if you are in the mood for performance art with your beer – it also arranges raves. One of the city’s oldest bars is Radium Beer Hall (website: www.theradium.co.za), 282 Louis Botha Avenue, in Orange Grove. It started life as a tea room in 1929, was converted to a beer hall in 1944 and has never looked back. Alternatively, for real upmarket swank in the suburbs, try Jabulani’s, Park Hyatt Hotel, Oxford Road, Rosebank.
Casinos: The new Montecasino (website: www.montecasino.co.za) gambling complex is located in the suburb of Fourways. The complex, which is a replica of a fortified Tuscan village, includes restaurants, cinemas, theatres, clubs and shows. It covers and area of five hectares (20 acres) and is a labyrinth underneath a false summer-night sky. The casino offers the full gamut of games and is separated from the shops and restaurants by an artificial stream. The age limit is 18 years and identification may be needed. There is no dress code but shorts and sandals are not encouraged.
Clubs: Melville has its fair share of trendy nightclubs (look into the indescribable Buzz 9, Seventh Street), but Hillbrow and Yeoville still offer the most authentically South African club scene. You will find an eclectic mix of disco, soul, hip hop, mbaqanga and kwaito on offer here, as well as a friendly and up-for-it crowd. Base, on the corner of Twist and Kotze Streets, Hillbrow, attracts a well-dressed clientele and benefits from a superb chill-out balcony. Da Flava, Rockey Street, Yeoville, is also for the well dressed, playing a lot of hip hop. The trendy young black crowd go to Piccadilly Caf, corner of Rockey and Cavendish Streets, Yeoville. 206 Live, 206 Louis Botha Avenue, Orange Grove, is a good place to go for funk and drum’n’bass.
A thriving rave culture is centred around Ice Productions (website: http://ice.powerzone.co.za) with its mammoth Ice Festivals. Their Freedom Festival happens at The Electric Workshop, in the Mega Music precinct, Gough Street (between Jeppe and Commissioner Streets), Newtown – an area comprising a revamped old turbine house and various smaller venues. Favoured venues are Reality, 248 Jeppe Street, which has three dance floors and offers a blend of hip hop, house and drum’n’bass, Bump, on the corner of Alexander and Aitken Roads, Midrand, the home of some big parties of note, and Carfax, 39 Pim Street, Newtown, which is a prime venue for launches and parties. Big Brother Productions (clubs website: www.clubzone.co.za) hosts regular HO parties at Wildwaters, a water theme park in Boksburg, east of Johannesburg. Other unusual venues for raves include the Newtown Music Hall (formerly the Mega Music Warehouse), between Pim, Goch, Bezuidenhout and President Streets, Newtown – the turbine hall of a derelict power station.
Live music: Melville’s The Bassline (website: www.basslinejazzclub.co.za has) moved to the Newtown Music Hall (formerly Mega Music Warehouse) in the Newtown Cultural Precinct and is still one of the most popular jazz and blues venues in Johannesburg, hosting many great local live bands (such as Tananas). In Melville, Roxy Rhythm Bar (see above) may lean towards students but, despite its brawny rock and basic burger atmosphere, you are still certain of a great local music line-up. Rosebank has the dark, smoky Blues Room (website: www.bluesroom.co.za), located in the Village Walk complex on Rivonia Road, which is rated as the best jazz and blues venue in town. In Newtown, Kippies, at the Market Theatre, 121 Bree Street, also hosts very good (and consequently packed) jazz nights. If you are really into live music, do take a guided tour of Soweto’s shebeens. Julian’s Bistro and Music Theatre, 286 Acacia Road, Blackheath, is open from Wednesdays to Sundays and specialises in blues, jazz blues, blues rock and fusion. Excellent sites to visit are www.tonight.co.za and www.sarockdigest.co.za
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Nightlife