I had not been to Purple Sneakers for a while, for over a year in fact. I was in the same situation as many of my friends, as we had tired of Sneakers and had ventured to Club 77, Pheonix and Oxford Arts Factory. So on Friday night we decided to give Sneakers another chance. I hadn’t been out in the city for a while – I’d been through a bit of a rough patch in my relationship with Sydney night life, and we just weren’t clicking anymore. But thankfully Sneakers rekindled all that was lost.

Not that Sneakers wasn’t still worthy of our attention – we had just grown weary of the same crowd each Friday night with the same music and the same obscene drunken 18 year olds. This Friday night however, proved us horribly wrong. On arrival we were pretty psyched to be returning to one of the first places that we had ever ventured to in the city, so on Friday night I found myself lining up for Sneakers again. In And while waiting, I found myself starting to dwell on all the memories I had from Sneakers past; watching random hooking up and vomiting everywhere, a way too small dancefloor, disgusting stained lounges and jager bombs aplenty. After walking inside I downed my first drink and started chatting to some people, only to find a striking similarity to my own situation; there was a significant amount of people returning to Sneakers after at least a year long break. Why? Sneakers lost its appeal to many as they sought out new and exciting adventures, but then something bought us all back.

To be honest, I think that everything we grew tired of ultimately drew us back. It’s a homely kind of place, it’s kind of cool going out and seeing the people you were chatting to in the queue for the bathroom only a few weeks before. And I love going out and just listening to the tunes that everybody loves, not some DJ trying to be cutting-edge by playing a whole heap of stuff nobody has ever heard of. Sneakers is not, and has never tried to be, pretentious and that appeals to many people. Purple Sneakers DJs pull out the same tunes each week, and that gives it a house party vibe. And the vomiting and/or randoms hooking up with each other? They make entertainment for those not willing to go downstairs and bust out a move. All the things I disliked about Sneakers suddenly had a new twist, and I think many there shared my feelings. Purple Sneakers was back, with a new signature fruit punch also. I have no idea what was in that drink, it didnt taste too alcoholic, but it did taste good.

So it was a pretty awesome night that arose from an approach of zero expectations. We moved away from Sneakers because of the monotony, and I began to appreciate it again because of that exact same reason. Going to Sneakers is so much more laid back than any other night in Sydney – why would you even bother going all the way over to Oxford Street? After an extended period as a complete domestic hermit I actually feel like going out on the weekends again. After falling in hate with Sydney nightlife, Sneakers has made me fall in love again.