‘Twas a balmy night. ‘Twas a glamourous night to be. ‘Twas a Friday night at what I discovered to be the most happening before-hours venue in Brisbane. Before you start looking for GoMA in the nightlife directory, let me shatter your dreams of posing in a funky new bar now – because GoMA is the Gallery of Modern Art in South Brisbane, featuring the Up Late sessions as part of the Valentino Exhibit – right in the middle of the annual Brisbane Festival. Being a modern establishment also means being a bastian of avant garde. You can’t get much more “out there” than marrying the music style of Bang Gang Deejays and the celebrated fashion house, Valentino – or maybe you can. Dangerous Dan was once a leading Aussie fashionista with his former fashion house label Ksubi found on almost every butt in the club and party scene.

But when it came to Up Late, I wasn’t really sure of exactly what to expect. After all, a live house music set in an art gallery doesn’t happen everyday – at least not in Brisbane. What will the music be like? What should I wear? Where am I going to go after this event?”. Not to my surprise, many others that night had thought through these questions as well. The environs of GoMA screamed classy with the theme of the night varying from red, red and very red. The people dressed accordingly, with even the gentlemen making a special effort to dress the part. Let’s just say that if you are a woman and would rather a dash of haute couture over pret-a-porter in your wardrobe, you may just be in heaven. The dresses were bespoke and spoke volumes about the eras they were created in. The crowd was not as skewed as I initially thought it would’ve been. After gallivanting around the vast display of wearable art, I wandered off to the ‘action area’ tracing the casual, relaxed melodies to a very lively, very funky bar and seating area. The Bang Gang Deejays were keeping the tunes pumping while the grapejuice kept flowing. After lingering around that area for a while, it quickly became apparent that the music added to the vibe, but wasn’t there to take over the show. After all, we were in an art gallery and there was art to be seen. Some familiar tunes were churned through the vinyl press including an interesting remix of Home by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes.

In all, the event made us feel like we were part of a very sophisticated, well-run event. It must be said that although we were there for the music, this time it held the honour of silhouetting the soulful wearable art that represents the story of Valentino Clemente Ludovico Garavani.