This is the interactive club. ERA is new, its namesake is apt.
I was lucky enough to attend one of the opening nights for the coolest club I think South Africa has ever seen. It’s called ERA and it opened in August in Cape Town on Loop Street.
As it goes, opening nights happen to be a speciality of mine. I’m incredibly good at drinking copious amounts of bubbly, eating salmon balls, wearing turbans and talking shit to anyone who’ll listen. However, that was the very least of it. Our awesome hostess, Shannon, (manages the PR for the coolest parties in the city, kind of like Samantha from SATC but with Carrie’s hair and Charlotte’s class) took us on a tour of ERA after the hors d’oeuvres. It was something else from doorstep to dance-floor.
The first thing you pick up is: attention to detail. Everything is classy, stylish, chic and sexy. All the fine finishes and concept furnishings add up to quality with a capital Q, and that’s just the first floor. They’ve gone in with an idea and crafted the interior to make ERA’s guests feel like they ‘have arrived.’ This is somewhere you go with the intention to look and feel, fabulous.
My plus one, Sam and I were whirling around, taking it all in, collapsing in the enormous headphone seating and jabbering to each other about our most personal gossip when we discovered the bathrooms. There are three and each comes with a fantastic theme and idea that takes you on a journey. It’s the art show of ablutions. There’s the ladies loo, which is a shrine to pink diamonds, pink panthers and glitter embedded in the walk-way. Then there is the unisex bathroom. Go in with your girl or guy bestie, do your thing and then wash your hands with a sculpture of a multi-coloured orgy. I made one of the appendages sticking out, excrete water on my hands.
The little boys’ room is reminiscent of a traditional public swimming pool. We went Roman and partied pretty hard in there.
A quick refill and downstairs to the dance floor. Like I said, this is the interactive club. The roof and walls are covered in 1.2 km of LED lights which literally turn your visuals into a scene from Scarface or Las Vegas. There’s also the motion wall which mimics your movement patterns. You dance, it dance, Wii dance.
I haven’t yet been there for a proper jol but this is deemed to become the next EDM hotspot in the country for the night times. Weekdays, you can get turnt up for tapas, vinyl and jazz. Like I said, this is the coolest club you’ll ever go to.
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Words by Eliza Cro Day
