Hi All,

You may have noticed that we’ve recently been referring to Tiki Lounge and Bar as “TikiLAB”.   At the time we though this was a cute contraction of the full name of the bar and that, we thought was that.   It has just come to our attention, however, that there was already a site at http://tikilab.com which is home to the Deborah Harry and Blondie Internet Service!  Now we have no desire here at Tiki Lounge and Bar to upset or confuse Blondie fans (we’re quite partial to spinning the Nouvelle Vague version of “Heart of Glass” every now and then down at Tiki), so we’d like to apologise to Louis (who’s a great guy who runs tikilab.com and contacted us to let us know we were inadvertantly stepping on some digital toes).

Now that’s all sorted and all is well for the Internet community.

Cheers,

Tiki Lounge and Bar

Happy New Year Tiki fans!

Tiki Lounge and Bar reopens following the Christmas/New Year break on Friday January 9th and we’re straight back into the swing of things!

The incredibly scary yet stylish and alluring girls from the Victorian Roller Derby League will be holding a Trivia night down at TikiLAB on January 9th.  Doors open at 6pm and there is a $6 Cover charge to participate.

Details in the flyer below or at http://www.myspace.com/melbournegrindgirls.

Hope to see you there!

Cheers,
TikiLAB Crew

 Well Tiki-sters,

It’s come to the end of another great year for Tiki Lounge and Bar.  We’d like to thank you all for your support during the year, and invite you all to join us for an awesome 2009!   We’ll be shutting down for Christmas with our last night tonight (Dec 20th) and reopening again on January 9th.   In the new year expect some great new stuff from us – we’ve got loads of events in the pipeworks with our all new menu (which we will announce properly soon) and some great bands as well as more of the quirky cabaret you’ve come to expect from TikiLAB (someone at the bar may have even rediscovered the joy of firetwirling, so be forewarned!).

Things to look forward to in the new year include our new menu, a Bettie Page Tribute night some time in the early part of the new year (Rest in Peace) our great new air-conditioner (tropical drinks without the tropical climate), an excellent bar food menu currently being developed in the laboratory, and our new bar service night on a Thursday when we will be putting on some great events for locals and loyal regulars.

Of course we’ve had some great highlights from this year in no particular order:

Inviting a bunch of Zombies from the Melbourne Zombie Shuffle back to the bar for Cocktails and Brains

Filling the venue with Mini-skirted, knee-high-booted GoGo dancers in Cages for Mondo-a-Go-Go

The drink that “The Boss” would drink – our very own Bruce Mangosteen cocktail.

Our hilarious tribute to particle physics – the Large Hadron Colada

The schlock horror stylings of Cinema Exotica

All the great bands who played at TikiLAB throughout the year (special mention to Mariachi Los Romanticos for their efforts on Day of the Dead – both with the music they played and the lovely ladies they danced the night away with after their show!)

And who can forget Purplo’s (the honey cocktail sausage) and our short lived attempt at Cocktails and Snags.

If you have any photos of any misspent nights at the bar, please feel free to email them to photos@tikiloungeandbar.com and we’ll put them up in our gallery.

Once again we’ve all had a ball with all our customers this year and we hope to be able to see some old (and new) faces in the new year!

Merry Christmas,

The Crew at TikiLAB.

Image stolen from picture-book.com

Tiki

Originally uploaded by echolalalia

This photo was taken by a lovely photographer sent by the Mini Bar magazine published by BEAT here in Melbourne… I know where *I* want to drink on the weekned…

The always exciting, sun-drenched Instrumental Asylum are waxing down their surfboards and celebrating the beginning of Summer proper by joining the grommets down at Tiki Lounge and Bar (or TikiLAB as I’ve seen it referred to).  You all know the drill – Instrumental Asylum play surf inspired guitar rock – think Duane Eddy.

Gig starts some time after 8 ish, and there will be a cover charge of 8 clams.

I’ve embedded a video from their last gig up at Tiki… Hope you like it!

Cheers,
Tiki LAB.

Many thanks go to the souls who braved last night’s horrid Melbourne weather to come on down for Mondo-a-Go-G0!  A good time was had by a dedicated core of hardy party-goers who weren’t going to let a little rain stand in the time of a good Hustle or Watusi!

Just a reminder to those who have any photos of the Tiki Bar that you’d like to share from last night or any of the other recent events held at the bar (I KNOW I saw some photos being taken of the boys from Mariachi Los Romanticos a few weeks back!) we have an email address for guest photo submissions – photos@tikiloungeandbar.com.  We can also embed YouTube videos in the site – if you have any video of the bar on YouTube that you’d like to share, email us the link at info@tikiloungeandbar.com.

We’re looking forward to seeing some great guest snaps!

Cheers,

Kev

*The photo in this post is of the driveway of another Tiki Bar – the La Mariana Sailing Club in Honolulu – following a bit of rain.

What a time of year!

Last week’s awesome performance by North Carolina has left us reeling with thier great funk/soul outpouring.  There was Aretha, Prince, Stevie… and was that a pinch of Salt n Pepa?!

Anyway, we’ll have barely had the time to peel the funk off the walls (in a good way) when the good folk from Mondo-a-Go-Go sweep into the bar and transform it into a hip 60s discothèque complete with mini skirts, turtlenecks and Robotic DJs (that’s exactly what it was like – trust me!  I was there!).  If last Mondo-a-Go-Go is anything to Go-Go by, the venue will become a feast for the senses with great music and tripped out visual installations.

Another event not to be missed!

Stake a claim on the dancefloor early from 8pm for an 8:30, kneehigh-booted kick off.  $8 covercharge.

327 Swan Street,

Richmond

More details at info@tikiloungeandbar.com.

Hello Music fans!

Some of you may have noticed the little event Google calendar widget on the right-hand side of this website showing some upcoming event – one of which will be happening tomorrow night and is shaping up to be AWESOME!

We’ve got yet another group of talented musicians for your aural pleasure performing at our humble bar!

Magificent Melbourne funk/soul band North Carolina (http://www.myspace.com/northcarolinafunk) dropped the Tiki Bar an email a little while ago saying, and I quote, “Tiki Lounge and Bar is the bee’s knees of soul venues in Melbourne as far as we’re concerned”. Despite not believing this high praise at first, we’ve now pretty much convinced ourselves that this is a universal truth and decided in our deluded state to welcome the folk from North Carolina to Tiki on Saturday November 15th to cut loose with their wonderful female vocal led jazz grooves. These guys are not to be missed! One might even say they’re the bee’s knees…

Time: After 8pm Saturday November 15th – $8 Cover Charge.

Email info@tikiloungeandbar.com for more details or call 9428 4336.

Cheers,
Tiki Lounge and Bar

Don’t forget Day of the Dead Saturday November 1st!

Mexican Day of the Dead – Dia de los Muertos

This Saturday November 1st is the Mexican Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos).  Tiki Lounge and Bar has asked Melbourne’s Premier Mariachi Band “Mariachi los Romanticos” (www.mariachilosromanticos.com.au/) to help them celebrate this special day, along with our very own Cabaret tribute to this Mexican tradition.

Our Barstaff will be serving up classic Margaritas all night with fine premium Jose Cuervo Tequila and fresh lime juice, as well as the spicy tomato juice-based Mexican specialty Sangrita to be served with shots of aged 1800 Tequila at the bar.  We will also be serving a limited supply of Sol Cerveza (maybe even with a slice of lime if you ask very nicely).

Hope to see you all there!

Festivities begin around 8pm – get in quick to try our Sangrita…before the bar staff polish it all off!

Check out the following video of Mariachi Los Romanticos on “The Footy Show”!

Cheers,

Tiki Bar.