Rocket Bar & Rooftop

Had some friends visiting from Melbourne so took them to Rocket on Friday night and the vibes were amazing all round. Drinks were slightly pricey but worth it for the experience you get at this club. The staff out front were so lovely, the short one was super sweet and so was the one inside. Was glad to be able to give my friends the proper Adelaide experience.

Probably the worst place I’ve ever encountered. Whoever was the girl sitting taking entry at the door at 10:45pm on Saturday 7th of June was absolutely horrible. Her attitude and demeanour was appalling. I think her customer service needs to be reviewed. I understand you have rules but treating customers and people in general that way is absolutely appalling. We were kicked out for wearing a hat as she spoke to us with disgusting profanity and told we were to throw our hats out and line up all over again or we would be removed after another worker informed us we were fine to go through. We were nothing but friendly and understanding and queried why we wouldn’t be allowed in with a hate and she spoke to us with such a horrible profanity and language that it was borderline bullying.

Lined up to go into Rocket on Saturday at about 2am. Line was huge. Midway through the line up they start splitting people into two lanes. Kinda felt like they’ve already made their decision on patrons who they want to enter. Felt like a cattle cart. My friend was first out of group to be ‘assessed’ and was told he couldn’t go in. It was my turn next and the bouncer looked me up and down (checking me out?) and declared I could go inside. I explained I’m not going in without my friends, bouncers became aggressive towards my friends and blocked them from the entrance after another bouncer had said we could all go in? Mixed messaging and terrible aggressive attitudes from staff. Don’t bother.

When it came time to be let in I was getting my License from my wallet at the front of the door. I was told by the security guard to show my ID to another bouncer standing outside of the line. When I walked over to him he told me to go away. I asked him why and he asked how many drinks I had and I told him (3). He accused me of lying and said that I was sent over to him because I was too drunk. I was pretty clear with him that I was not lying and I was clearly not drunk, talking fine, standing fine, and so on. He told me to go speak to the other guy again. When I did, he asked me how many drinks I had, and I answered, he laughed and said "if you were honest I would have let you in" which was obviously a lie because he was not planning on letting me in anyway. He told me to go back to the other guy and said "he's the boss go talk to him". When I spoke to him, I asked him why he thought I was drunk and he kept giving childish responses like "nothing, I'm kicking you out for no reason" and "the police are walking past if you want to ask them". I told him that he was obviously saying it to get rid of me because the police were not going to make them let me in. At this point, my friend who had been let in, was waiting for me at the side of the entrance, where he was told he was allowed to stand but after he mentioned that he was waiting for me, the bouncer that checked my ID and his buddy grabbed him under the arms and threw him into me. Then the guy I was sent to and the guy that checked my ID (and assaulted my friend) kept saying "it's not my decision, go speak to the other guy" amongst other things like telling me I'm "bullshitting" and to "piss off". By this point it was obvious the guy I was sent to and two guys that assaulted my friend were making fun of me by sending me back and fourth because they kept looking at each other and laughing while being rude to me. Then when I got annoyed at them for laughing, they started yelling at us and the security manager came out and pulled me and my friend aside to talk to me about what happened. He explained that they have a job to do and it is within their rights to decline someone based on a "visual assessment" of how drunk someone is. I acknowledged that, but I made a point of how rude they were in doing so, and how they did not even tell me what was going on until I asked. He said that he still cannot let me in because he has to stand by their decisions, which is pretty poor given the fact that I had demonstrated that I was not intoxicated like they were saying. He was agreeing with whatever I said to him and it was clear to me that he was just trying to get rid of me and my friend, he said that he will review the footage and if what I am saying is true, it will be addressed. Then I asked if I could be let know what the outcome was, his response was "these guys are pretty replaceable, if you don't see them standing here, then you know it was dealt with". Was annoying because if he handled the situation properly, he would have gotten my contact details. He obviously had no plans of addressing the situation and advised us to go somewhere else to continue the night (it was 15 minutes before lockout at this point), but my question is, if he thought that I was sober enough to go somewhere else, why not let us in here? Needless to say, I was really annoyed at what had happened, and even more annoyed that after having agreed with me that what happened was wrong. The manager still didn't let me in or do anything to resolve the situation beyond speaking to me (i.e getting my contact details, asking them to apologies, or letting me in). Even after having written an email to rocket rooftop bar about it, I was not surprised when I was not told how this was dealt with and the same people were standing at the door when I returned, giving me the same attitude.

Strap yourselves in. I am what my friends call a rocket rat - or I used to be. Back in the glory days I was going to rocket every weekend dancing my little heart away, getting my life. As you can imagine, rocket will always have a soft spot in my heart but my feelings have changed over the past few years, as has the overall vibe and experience. Starting off with the music, I really like the music at rocket. On the bar floor it is housey, and electronic, and dancey, but still a lot of popular songs so people who aren't particularly into those genres will still have a good time. Now, I love the music upstairs on the rooftop. On a good night, it is very disco. But this really isn't for everyone, and I know a lot of people who hate the more lowkey disco house that is played upstairs, but that's all personal preference. To each their own. Next the overall club vibes. Now I don't know about yall, but for me, the club is a place to dance. Rocket's dancefloor is very hit or miss. Some nights it is going off, its is a party, it is a movie, we are getting our liifee, and other nights.. honey, more like a stand floor. So, you just have to manifest that you get lucky but I will add - if you want the dancefloor vibes to be high, you need to bring the high vibes yourself. Lots of people are too scared to be the first dancing, or they feel embarrassed, but you just gotta let the music set you free. If that doesn't sound like something you can do, then maybe the club isn't the place for you. Bar service is pretty good, but can be slow at times with staff talking to each other. Door girls.. oh door girls. Yall. Sometimes they are super sweet and sometimes its giving sour candy by lady gaga ft black pink. I know the door girls have to be somewhat strict, that's their job. But at the same time, the line and the entry is where the vibe of the venue begins and they need to get those vibes going at the door, otherwise the inside suffers. I must also add that there is a hint of discrimination at the door. One night I was lined up, quite late 1:30/2am ish, there was almost no line at that point. A group of arab blokes were just ahead of us in the line and one of the door girls kept saying to them "It's very busy, we're at capacity the line could be a while like 40 mins to an hour" seemingly trying to convince them to leave. Sure enough, the left the line, then she turned to us and said something along the lines of "we don't want their type in here. they cause problems" and next minute me and my friends were inside in no time. I was taken back; all my friends were. This was one of my favorite places to come and enjoy myself and meet new people, and to find out it was being run in a discriminatory way. I was devastated. Finally, somewhat tying back into my dancing point I just want to touch on how I feel it has changed over the years. Very obviously, people don't dance like they used to. This isn't unique to rocket though, lots of clubs are suffering. They are becoming, as I said, a stand around fest. If you want a boogie in town, especially if you are out for a dance by yourself, I would not recommend coming here - not anymore. The responsibility is on us, the people, to bring back the once legendary vibes. Even the staff and their friends, I see them mostly sitting around upstairs not dancing either. Maybe that's the vibe rocket is now going for, and if so, that's ok. But I miss what it used to be. I miss being able to come here by myself and dance till dawn with others who are there the same. 5 stars if it were 3 years ago, -2 because the vibes have changed. Also, one final final point for those wondering, I see you - this is the go to club for the DL bi men of Adelaide, trust, if you're looking.. yall know where to go.