204 Viaduct Quay,
Viaduct
Auckland,
(09) 377 7811
The ViewAuckland Review
4 out of 5
It's not often that you arrive at a club at 3.30am to find queues heading both inwards and out.
The ones leaving are queuing to shake the bouncers' hands, while those going in just have to wait—it's one in, one out.
Such is life when Spy Bar rolls out a free party, bringing in DJs from the UK and backing them with sax and percussion. The night is Tabu: the main man was Steve Richards—and Spy is, well, different.
Come here enough and you'll see the same faces again and again. Tonight, though, a few regulars are absent—and while the rest are here, they're looking less serious than is the usual Spy Bar standard.
In a word, Spy Bar is pumping. And as the hands on the clock wind round, this place just keeps winding itself up.
Spy's normal, cool, cave-like décor has been warmed up for tonight with palm fronds laid over the room. The tunes have a distinctly Mediterranean, guitar-led vibe.
Steve Richards has a residency in Ayia Napa in Cyprus, so the above is kind of expected. But the result is still surprising. Kiwis are usually, well, a little reticent. But the crowd here is letting loose, surging and moving as one.
Even people sitting seem to be dancing, unconsciously, through rhythmic spine twists and shoulder dips.
I find myself among them, sitting tapping my beer bottle with the ring on my finger like I'm playing castanets.
As the beat destroys the place I realise it's time to dance... and I do, for quite some time.
Spy Bar has been reviewed by 11 users