24 years ago, when Kuta in Bali was a small fishing village with bamboo huts and mud tracks, only known to late Hippies and a handful of adventurous low budget tourists, something interesting happened.
Amidst the serenity of its 8km long stretch of sand and (back then) clean waters a night club opened opened in Legian/Seminyak.
It was located directly at the beach, an open concept and opened until the wee hours of the next day. From 6pm to 6am. Thus Club 66 was born.
This weekend, Bali’s most well-known Club, an institution and trendsetter once, closed its gates forever, to be replaced by just a another hip resort.
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With its 15.000 Watts Sound System, Club Doublesix was a famous venue and in the hearts and minds of most party goers and visitors to Bali – many international top DJs from all around the world like Tiesto, Pete Tong, Steve Gerrard, Mike Hiratzka and countless more rocked the crowds over the years here.
For the last stand, nothing was spared and lots of effort was put into making this a special night to remember – anything was possible. The venue was decked out with lavish decorations and light beams, lasers, big screens, 60 DJ’s (!) for this 1 night and a total of 6 stages and music areas all entertaining patrons at the same time.
Venues like Syndicate and Bacio, not necessarily better going Clubs in the area, were joining in the fun and were connected with 66, but walled off from the beaches and surrounding areas.
And they came in droves.
While Club 66 was deserted most of the last couple of months – for the last stand – everyone and his dog who was in Bali came to join the fun one last time.
Around 9pm the place was starting to fill up and even around 4am new guests were still coming and paying the cover charge of 100K Rupiah, to get in and ‘be part of history’ as the final flyer put it.
It was definitely the party of the year so far in Bali!
The owner, Pak Kadek, who also runs several other venues in Bali, was holding court in Bacio, with TV crews and photographers swarming around him to get the best pictures.
The crowds were an interesting mix of Locals, Bali Expats, Hippies, Rasta Men, Butterflies of the Night, Jakarta Nightlife Pros, Bali Residents and Tourists – a lot of different people you usually don’t see together all in the same place.
Most people wore their best or even glamorous attire, meeting old friends and partying the night away in the heaviest fashion.
Heyyyy – but if all is gold, why is it closing?
The truth is, nothing was as good as it seems, already a while.
But nobody, maybe with the exception of Pak Kadek – the owner – knew for sure.
It seems, Club 66 fell out of fashion already months ago. The center of mayhem and night entertainment slowly shifted back to Kuta over the last couple of years.
With the opening of Skygarden and Ocean Beach Club (later closed due to land disputes and re-integrated into Skygarden), Clubs without Cover Charge became the norm. Fire Dancers, Acrobats, Stage Shows, Live Music and Bikini or Lingerie Models dancing on top of bars are all a common sight now in the Clubs of Kuta.
Yeah, you can even drink for free in some of those clubs or use the many drink promos to get your fix of booze for special low prices all night long, if you know where.
While night spots like Skygarden, Surfer Bar, Apache, Taverna or Espresso Bar are packed any night of the week – the signs became clearer that something wasn’t going right in the Doublesix area.
Club 66 with its steep cover charges, dark atmosphere and unchanged ancient concept of heavy techno beats with light shows and nothing else couldn’t or didn’t want to compete with the young and hungry Party Club Cowboys in Kuta.
A ray of hope came through, when the owners of the area around Legian beach tried to transform the place into higher class night venues. Clubs like DeJaVu, Syndicate, Bacio or lately Cocoon Beach Club opened and had initial success.
But it wasn’t good enough.
Nearby La Vida Loca (a pickup place, full of the oldest and ugliest night birds, was doing its best part to spoil the fun of the high-rolling crowd. And of course the stench of the open sewage system just down the road of Jalan Arjuna (or Jalan Doublesix back in the days) still leaves an indifferent feeling of filth in an otherwise high-price nightlife area.
Drug sellers (fake and real) around the toilet areas in Club 66 and several police raids and undercover busts and constant ripoffs also left dark stains in the minds of carefree party goers.
The Clubs in the area stagnated and were already near empty almost every single night of the last couple of months, maybe with the exception of some weekend nights and special events.
So the inevitable happened. Last week already DeJaVu closed and Club 66 followed this weekend.
If Bacio can stay a strong contender in the area, remains to be seen. Cocoon might probably survive, as its Lounge and Pool Concept with various shows through the week is unique to the area and proved to be quite successful so far.
It’s a pity., Club 66 has to close now, but it had a good run. TIme to enjoy the sunset at Doublesix Beach again in its full serenity, at least the name remains. Oh wait….places like La Plancha and Crystal Palace mushroomed there lately and do there best to keep their patrons happy.
As Pak Kadek put it in his 66 Closing Speech published in Bali Advertiser:
It was a place to meet, where a lot of romance and madness happened, eventually Doublesix became a raving discotheque for all different shapes and colors from around the planet.
If the walls could talk, the stories that went on from opening to the closing would make a great novel. Lots of secrets and memories that will never be told
The tales of hedonistic debauchery that happened in Club 66 would surely leave many breathless! After all – this was Bali’s first super-club, and last weekend, it all came to an end.
Farewell Club 66 and RIP!
For some impressions of the Final Party at Club 66, check out the embedded Youtube Video below:
People Bungy Jumping above the crowds at the Closing Party of Club 66:
So far it seems, that Hackett’s Bungy Jumping Tower will remain on the area of the former Club 66, but nothing is certain. After all, the area will be demolished and transformed into a new resort, so who knows what will happen.
Anyone has the latest rumors? How did you enjoy the Final Party at 66? Please scroll down and leave your comment below!
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October 2nd, 2011 at 11:17 am
Seems that Bacio now closed down also? They didn’t open this Friday night…can’t imagine that they leave out a weekend day. Anyone has any news on that?
October 8th, 2011 at 3:49 pm
Oh yeah, and DejaVu is rumored to be closed for renovations only. Hmmmm….let’s see how that turns out….I thought so far, they had quite a nice and modern ambience, don’t know how they want to improve that. We’ve gotta wait and see.
October 13th, 2011 at 5:04 pm
Great article. I like the videos.
November 15th, 2011 at 10:50 am
I want to freeze time and dance in that final club night forever. This was great to read. Keep traveling. Keep writing about it. I’ll keep reading.
November 15th, 2011 at 9:11 pm
Great story of Club 66…like it very much as I can feel it from this that how was the day when club 66 at his youth age.
But feel ver sad fot its sunset as such places are never been forgotten.
I am not lucky enough to visit this place otherwise I will definately going to share my night life at DOUBLE 6.
Thanks a lot for this.
December 27th, 2011 at 5:58 pm
Thanks for the info, Chris! Great article. I’m going to Bali in February and stay nearby Double Six, too bad it is not there anymore. Do u personally like Double Six?
Could you recommend what are best clubs in Bali? Preferably with cheap cover charge and not many “Night Butterflies”.
Thanks
December 27th, 2011 at 9:56 pm
Kezia Gusmawan: you might want to try Skygarden in Kuta, they are the trendsetter at the moment. Also check out the other places surrounding Skygarden, like ViAiPi, Eikon, Apache, Taverna, Espresso Bar, Engine Room.
Avoid Bounty or Paddy’s, as those are 99% full with prostitutes and people looking for a fight. mBargo is a mixed bag, they seemed to have sobered up recently, but mainly locals go there now – read more here, if you are interested.
If you think you can afford a level higher, you might want to try Living Room, Hu’u Bar, Mint, Potato Head or Kudeta in Seminyak/Jalan Petitenget or Maria Magdalena, JP’s in Jalan Dhyana Pura/Legian. Night Butterflies are almost anywhere these days, just sometimes they are harder to identify, which is a plus or minus, depending on your preferences. Enjoy your trip and the crazy Bali nightlife! :D
January 12th, 2012 at 11:43 am
Ah thank you Chris! Can’t wait to go there! I’ll try Skygarden, the sorrounding ones, Living Room and Mint. Thank you and good day http://nomad4ever.com/wp-includes/images/yahoo/yahoo4.gif