Music

Packed gay bar ascending to Lady Gaga’s Chromatica II into 911 has the entire world jealous of Australia

Partygoers at Melbourne queer bar Poof Doof bopping to Lady Gag

Partygoers at Melbourne queer bar Poof Doof bopping to Lady Gaga. (Screen captures via Twitter/@material_girl)

In a nightclub in Australia, a scene that would otherwise be an ordinary Saturday night unfolds – revellers rammed in a sticky bar dancing to Lady Gaga.

They’re squeezed onto the dancefloor, hair preened, drinks spilling as arms fly up high. Gaga’s “Chromatica II” transitions into “911” and the partygoers scream, cheer and do that emotion you haven’t felt in about a decade: happiness.

Remember that?

While the sight would undoubtedly cause headaches for law enforcement and public health chiefs in coronavirus-wracked Britain or the US, people in Melbourne, Victoria, are getting ready to party.

Mobile phone footage uploaded by Twitter user Matt of “Snap, Crackle, Pop!” clubbers at Poof Doof, a queer club in the South Yarra neighbourhood, has sparked an uncomfortable range of emotions online.

For an Australia cut off from the world, clubbers dance on planet Chromatica

For locals, users beamed with pride at a capital city that has all but banished the rampaging coronavirus, at least for now – it’s been 19 days since the last locally acquired case, Victoria’s health authorities said Sunday (24 January).

The video shows one Lady Gaga fan, his eyes rolling back in euphoria, his hands almost forming a prayer motion around his glass – capturing the relief felt after Melbourne’s 112-day-long lockdown ended in late October, 2020.

“The night was amazing, it was so nice to be out with friends again, dancing to pop music after the 2020 we had,” Matt told PinkNews.

“Hearing the transition into ‘911’ was euphoric and just a cherry on top of a great night.”

But for those outside of Australia’s fortified borders, sadness, anger and envy mingled.

Many, almost in a daze, mourned hitting a club – or sitting on a public bench for that matter – as it remains a distant dream for them as death tolls tick upwards, caseloads continue to swell, lockdowns tighten and leaders fumble.

In the early days of the pandemic, Australian state leaders all but cut themselves off from the outside world. With borders shuttered – including between states – Australians responded to the hardline, longstanding measures with diligence and acceptance, polls suggested.

As a remote island, states drummed the virus into submission with lockdowns that, for residents, may have felt they were going to last forever.

But it paid off. Melbourne, a city of some five million, remained frozen for 112 days – a hibernation that brought to heel what was a deadly second wave for many of the rest of the world.

And with the state thawed and Victorians gingerly emerging from their homes, clubbing to Lady Gaga’s Chromatica is certainly to way to celebrate.

“I have a lot of friends overseas and I feel for them and how things have/have not been handled around the world,” Matt reflected.

“But at the same time, Melbourne endured two lockdowns, one being one of the strictest lockdowns in the world.

“It was tough, but we did it and pulled through and look where we are today. It was hard but it worked. We deserved a night like that night the video was taken on.

“Hopefully, if people continue to do the right thing, keep safe and wear their mask, they can be out of this sooner rather than later.”

In the meantime, the rest of the world will have to make do with Spotify and cheap Bluetooth speakers.

 

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