Station Arcade opens this weekend - beneath the actual Station Arcade - bringing a mix of mainstream tunes and on tap guava Vodka Cruisers to Hindley Street.

When walking downstairs into the Station Arcade club, beneath the namesake pedestrian thoroughfare connecting Hindley Street to Adelaide Railway Station, a familiar anthem graced CityMag’s ears.

Co-owner Alex Karatassa was up on the stage behind neon lights and a DJ deck, playing Taylor Swift’s ‘Cruel Summer’ and testing out the vibe before opening night this Friday.

After turning the sound down to sit and have a chat, she explained this was what to expect on a regular night at the city’s newest nightclub.

“I wanted it to be a space for everyone, and wanted to play music for everyone,” Alex says – including mainstream pop tunes and radio bangers.

“I have just always loved going out with my friends to a place where we can stay on the dance floor and scream all night and cultivate like a little bit of a community.

“You know that feeling where everyone’s in a circle and yelling at each other, screaming lyrics — that’s the kind of vibe that we want to create here.

“I always think that along with those moments on a dance floor, people make new friends, little communities are built [and] magic happens — that’s what we want to build here.”

As we continue our conversation, Troye Sivan’s new album track ‘Rush’ plays softly in the background — CityMag is in.

The Station Arcade team is no stranger to Adelaide nightlife.

Its four co-owners include Alex, who also directs Plus One Co., Justin Walkden, as well as directors of Five Four Entertainment, Ross Osmon and Craig Lock.

Five Four Entertainment owns venues like Lion Arts Factory, Hindley Street Music Hall and Super California.

Through this experience, they have been able to create a space they believe is missing on Hindley Street.

“I would like to say that nothing is off limits,” Alex says. “No genre restrictions, no time period restrictions, just anything that was a banger at one point in time.”

These mainstream pop tunes will regularly blast Station Arcade’s speakers on a normal Saturday night, but the crew say their Friday night programming will find room for every kind of partygoer.

“We’re doing the idea that Friday night will be anything and can be any genre. Might be a country night, might be an indie night,” Alex says. “Disney party,” Ross elaborates.

This Friday night affair will be programmed by Plus One Co., Five Four Entertainment’s sister company, which brings themed genre nights like ‘Transmission‘ and ‘No Scrubs‘ to clubs.

Opening night this Friday is titled Call Me Maybe, and will blast bangers released in the 2000s and 2010s

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But with a long list of Hindley Street nightclub names, the Station Arcade crew believe what’s inside their venue that counts, and will set them apart from competitors.

“Massive long bars — it’s going to be heaps easy for everybody to get a drink. Huge dance floor… booth seating so people can have a break and chat to their friends,” Ross says.

The branding is vibrant with pink and blue neon lighting illuminating the interior space.

Like any good nightclub, the alcohol offering is simple — house spirits, beers and a few cocktails like espresso martinis and Long Island iced teas.

To match their mainstream music choices, the team has included guava Vodka Cruisers on tap that will always be “ice cold” as Alex says.

“It’s so funny — the pipes that it connects to it’s like pink and these fluro colours rather than like beer and [brown] colours,” Ross says as the duo laugh.

They weren’t lying

Alex says the new club’s space “hasn’t existed as anything for 20 years”. But Ross recalls rumours of a food court back in the 90s.

“There was a Fringe show here maybe in 2019 called Trainspotting and this place did not look anything like this — totally unused, dusty, heaps of trash everywhere which was why they did the show here,” Ross says.

“I came down and checked it out and it’s like this is a really cool space, I wonder if we can ever do something here.

“I think Trainspotting is one of the only things I’ve seen ever do a short-term lease here… but you could just see it in its dilapidated state — this could work.”

Station Arcade opens this Friday and is located at 52 Hindley Street, Adelaide.

Buy tickets to the opening night Call Me Maybe party, or connect with the business on Instagram for more.