Nicolas Tang's Blog

ST March 11, 2007
Battle of clubs
Party Central is now firmly focused on the trinity of Zouk, Ministry of Sound and St James Power Station, each with its rabid fans

By Sandra Leong

IF YOU haven’t been out on the town for a couple of months, prepare yourself for a shock as you get set to spin around that disco ball.

In that short space of time, Singapore’s nightclub scene has exploded to centralise around three monster clubs, with news emerging yesterday that the dancefloor shake-up has claimed its first victim.

Smaller clubs are taking a thumping – literally. Thumper at Goodwood Park Hotel revealed that it has had to shut down.

The mid-sized nightclub was hit by falling takings as clubbers streamed to what has quickly become Party Central’s unholy trinity: iconic Zouk, massive Ministry of Sound (MoS) and the newcomer that drove the nail into Thumper’s coffin, St James Power Station.

One of Thumper’s owners, Mr David Chin, says the club’s downward spiral started last November when ‘all the big places started opening’, adding: ‘St James and all that… it took a big chunk out of us’.

But what do partygoers care: Many of them are no doubt pondering more pressing issues, like what to wear to St James’ official opening tomorrow night – a $600,000 bash, no less.

The megaclub opened in September with a soft launch, but immediately blasted the old scene to bits. It split Singapore revellers into three distinct tribes, based on what nightclub they prefer to go to.

New friendships were forged. Old ones failed. All hinges on what crowd you identify with. Are you a Smoover? Or a Dragonfly buzzer? Or does ol’ Velvet do it for you?

A whole new cultural touchpoint has sprung up, virtually overnight.

As one clubber, 26-year-old accounts manager Lisa Yeo, puts it: ‘Zouk people are the trendiest, MoS people are those who want to be trendy, and St James people are those who really don’t give a damn.’

WORLD-renowned Zouk at Jiak Kim Street; British legendary dance club MoS at Clarke Quay; and all-in-one entertainment complex St James Power Station at HarbourFront already account for up to 40 per cent of the nightlife scene’s estimated $250 million-a-year revenue, say industry players.

Although new, St James is the heavyweight of the three. Standing at over 70,000 sq ft with nine separate clubs, it is more than twice the size of Zouk and 11/2 times MoS – making the former coal-fired power station the biggest entertainment venue in Singapore.

Spruced up for a hefty $43 million, it has already garnered a reputation as a one-stop, hip spot offering everything from house to live music. Though it is targeted at PMEBs (professionals, managers, executives and businessmen), its crowd ranges from teens to 50somethings.

Tomorrow’s launch extravaganza is expected to be attended by more than 5,000 revellers. The $600,000 bill includes entertainment, food and drinks; and three cars, one to be given away every four months.

It will also be attended by Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean, which is probably the first time a club opening has received such a high-powered guest of honour.

St James chief executive officer Dennis Foo says Mr Teo was invited through the Workforce Development Agency, which has recognised the megaclub’s efforts to train its 350 staff in the hospitality trade.

Next up in size is the 40,000 sq ft MoS, which opened in December 2005 amid much hype. The franchise club has five themed rooms playing anything from retro to hip-hop and is touted as the most lavish MoS in the world.

Completing the trio, 16-year-old Zouk also upped the ante recently when it underwent a $5 million revamp in September 2005. At about 30,000 sq ft, it is still the smallest of the three, but what it lacks in size it makes up in reputation.

YET just two years ago, Thumper at Goodwood Park Hotel was the darling of Singapore’s nightlife scene, playing host to a bevy of Beautiful People, and even picking up the coveted Best Nightspot title awarded by the Singapore Tourism Board.

But today the mid-sized joint popular for its live band and sophisticated crowds is no more, no thanks to flagging crowds and a 70 per cent drop in business.

Over 1,000 nightspots – ranging from big-name establishments to neighbourhood pubs – now dot the island. But as far as some revellers are concerned – and as Thumper found to its cost – the trinity rules them all.

Indeed, Thumper’s Mr Chin owns another nightspot, Q Bar at The Old Parliament House, and he says its business dropped by about 50 per cent in January, though other factors such as heavy rain and the post-festive season also came into play.

Over at another mid-sized club, Attica, marketing manager Amanda Ng laments: ‘The growing number of such superclubs, mid-sized clubs and bars popping up does not justify the population of clubbers… ultimately, all in this industry will somehow or other be affected by this trend.’

St James’ Mr Foo, a nightclub scene veteran who also owns Devils Bar in Orchard Hotel, says: ‘Nowadays, customers look for the biggest, with the most, and having the best.’

Still, some would have thought the presence of incumbent biggies Zouk and MoS would have deterred St James from throwing its hat in the ring.

Indeed, when St James’ first outlet, mandopop jive Dragonfly, opened in September, it had a dry three weeks, recalls Mr Foo.

‘I was initially quite worried. But after the third week, the response grew and I can say the feeling was like coming out of a whirlwind into a clear blue sky.’

St James now makes close to $1 million every month, with every one of its outlets profitable, he reveals. That’s no small beer.

However, Mr Michel Lu, who ran the now-defunct Centro and now owns chill-out lounges like Suba and The Hacienda, notes: ‘I’m very confident that Dennis will do well… his focus is there because St James has many different offerings.’

WITH St James already proving a runaway success, neither Zouk nor MoS will admit to feeling any jitters, though.

Mr Clement Lee, executive director of MoS’ parent company LifeBrandz, says: ‘We have each targeted different markets. The proposition is different, the music is different.’

While St James may be big on live music, MoS, he says, is frequented by savvy dance music lovers who appreciate the ‘heritage’ of the brand, which has its roots in British youth culture.

From August to October last year, LifeBrandz’ lifestyle sector chalked up takings of $6.5 million, the majority of which came from MoS. The club sees about 20,000 to 30,000 partygoers a week.

Similarly, Zouk’s marketing manager, Ms Tracy Philips, counters that going by sales, the club had its ‘best year’ in its 16-year history. ‘The economy picked up, we had a lot of noteworthy events and we still enjoy a strong following.’

Though Zouk was initially hit by the entry of MoS, with business dropping by about 20 per cent, St James has not made much of a dent. Says Ms Philips: ‘In terms of size, we’re a mid-sized club. But in terms of status and quality, we are a super club. So I’d like to think we are somewhere in between in our own niche.’

Even Mr Foo stresses that St James was never designed to rival the other big boys. ‘From the start, we were clear about our different target audience – PMEBs. So St James merely filled what was a vacuum in the scene.’

St James’ chief operating officer, Mr Andrew Ing, also points out that about one-third of the club’s clientele comes from ‘latent’ demand – people who never used to club, but are now inspired to paint the town red.

So rather than compete, the relationship between the Big Three is complementary, with each generating interest for the other, says Ms Philips. ‘Every new outlet that opens now lends its success to the people who paved the way before.’

But some observers feel the ‘different strokes, different folks’ refrain is too convenient an explanation.

Says one industry player who declines to be named: ‘The Velvet (a club within Zouk) crowd has gone to Dragonfly (one of St James’ outlets), the Zouk people have gone to Power House. I would say Zouk has been widely affected.’

Adds Mr Lu: ‘The pie has grown a lot larger but, unfortunately, not large enough. Someone’s gonna hurt… Inevitably there will be some loss of crowd somewhere. Anyone who says his business is better than ever, it cannot be. How can it add up?’

Still, Mr Foo believes there is room for a fourth super club in Singapore.

He says: ‘It’s like saying, is there room for another six-star hotel. When St James first opened up, people said there wouldn’t be enough people. But the people will come.’