Trough X

Located in the heart of surry hills, trough x Sydney is a dedicated space for underground electronic music and late-night culture. Conceived back in 2005, trough emerged from the subversive darkrooms of Melbourne/naarm’s queer fetish scenE WITH THE event trough f****t party. After ruffling a few feathers with the name, trough f****t party quickly built a cult-like following at its original home, inflation, as an event for alternative gays and their admirers. After two years of stomping its boots into the dark corners of the Melbourne/naarm techno underground, trough f****t party was ready to give the gays a much needed sexually-liberated dance-club experience. In 2010, trough matured into the x-rated moniker, trough x and settled inside Melbourne/naarm’s iconic 4-level men’s cruising venue, club80. This quickly became the new home for homos, queers and jocks, strapped up in their finest fetish-wears, coming together to UNSHACKLE their s*xual inhibition and energies on the dance-floors and in the darkrooms. WHEN CLUB80 CLOSED ITS DOORS IN 2020, TROUGH MADE IT THEIR MISSION TO CONTINUE ITS LEGACY. RETURNING TO THEIR ORIGINAL HOME AT INFLATION, TROUGH SET ABOUT TRANSFORMING INTO A MOBILE CRUISE CLUB, WHICH THEY DEPLOYED ACROSS A NUMBER OF MELBOURNE'S BEST-LOVED CLUBBING INSTITUTIONS, KEEPING THE CLUB80 SPIRIT ALIVE THROUGH IT'S POP-UP EXPERIENCE BY PROVIDING A MAZE OF SLINGS, GLORY HOLES, INTIMATE AND COLLECTIVE SPACES THAT HAVE PAVED THE WAY FOR A NEW GENERATION OF SEX-POSITIVE CREATIVES TO EXPLORE NEW POSSIBILITIES AND BREAK NEW GROUND. IN 2024 TROUGH WAS OFFERED THE OPPORTUNITY TO ESTABLISH A PERMANENT HOME AT THE HISTORIC 273 CROWN ST, SURRY HILLS (FORMERLY THE SITE OF CRUISING INSTITUTION HEADQUARTERS & TRADE, AS WELL AS AUSTRALIA'S FIRST LESBIAN BAR - RUBY REDS) AND SET THEIR SIGHTS ON PROVIDING SYDNEY WITH A DEDICATED HOME TO HOST THE KIND OF EVENTS WE MADE POSSIBLE IN MELBOURNE, WITH THE EXPLICIT GOAL OF FOSTERING A NEW LATE-NIGHT CULTURE IN THIS CITY. TROUGH X SYDNEY IS THE RESULT OF EXTENSIVE WORKS UNDERTAKEN TO BUILD UPON THE LEGACY OF ITS FOREBEARS, WHILE IMPROVING THE SAFETY AND FUNCTIONALITY OF THE SPACE FOR A NEW GENERATION. BUILT FOR DURABILITY, ACOUSTIC PERFORMANCE AND INTEGRATING PROVOCATIVE PHOTOGRAPHY AND VIDEO ART DIRECTLY INTO ITS ARCHITECTURAL LAYOUT, TROUGH X SYDNEY OPERATES AS AN IMMERSIVE, LIVING INSTALLATION. THIS APPROACH ENSURES THAT OUR PROGRAMMING WORKS IN TANDEM WITH THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT, WHERE PATRONS CAN FULLY ENGAGE WITH THE SPACE AND MAKE IT THEIR OWN, ENSURING THAT IT REMAINS A DEDICATED ASSET FOR THE COMMUNITY IT SERVES FOR YEARS TO COME.