Recently we asked our fans and followers to name their favourite balcony or rooftop in Melbourne. If the enthusiastic responses are anything to go by (we’ve lost count of the number of exclamation marks used) our love for open spaces and city views did not waver during winter.

Fortunately for us outdoor-loving souls, Melbourne has no shortage of quality bars offering a perch above the city streets. We’re so perch-happy in fact that we’ve had to split this story into two parts. If we missed your favourite here, wait for the part two, we have more coming!

And so, on with the show: Part 1 of our guide to rooftops and balconies in Melbourne city ­– as dictated by our Melbourne-loving fans and followers.

Siglo Bar

With one of the most impressive views in the city, Siglo is the icing on the cake for the building that houses The European (ground floor) and The Melbourne Supper Club (level one). Flanked by the beautiful Princess Theatre, and facing Parliament House (pretty as a picture at night), Siglo offers an elegant, sophisticated balcony experience with an extensive drink list.

Red Hummingbird
Flamboyant but tasteful décor, an array of actually comfortable couches plus generous cocktail mixes is enough to get noticed in the Melbourne bar scene, but when you add an awesome rooftop bar to the mix, you get a special scarlet feather in your hummingbird’s cap. Look for the red bird cage on Russell Street to find the entrance to this lovely spot.

Emerald Peacock
There’s plenty to admire at the Peacock. Vintage wallpapers give each space its own distinctive look. Perch on a plumped ottoman sipping the house cocktail until the sun comes out, then dash up to the knock-out rooftop deck and roost yourself in front of a respectable view.  During summer Emerald Peacock hosts Manhattan Sundays on the deck with DJs, laid back urban beats, ‘hot dawgs’ and a summer breeze.

Sarti
Found in Russell Place, Sarti is a sophisticated spot for those who like their al fresco authentically Italian. Boasting a seriously urban view and extensive wine list, Sarti offers a stylish, quiet nook to hideaway in the middle of the city. Toast to good food, wine and friends. This is living!

PALMZ at The Carlton Hotel
If you like Piña Coladas, make the climb to the top of The Carlton Hotel for a touch of tropicana above Bourke Street. The split-level PALMZ is where you might expect Malibu Barbie to hang out should she visit Melbourne. Vividly coloured plastic furniture, bar staff in Hawaiian shirts, and bamboo, bougainvillea and palm trees make the colourful cocktails (and you’ll need one after the final flight of stairs) seem right at home.

Madame Brussels
The darling of Melbourne’s balconies is Madame Brussels. The décor – the astroturf, lawn furniture, staff in old fashioned country club outfits – makes a casual drink feel like a fancy dress party. Enjoy cucumber sandwiches, delightful frosted cupcakes and a Pimms on the terrace. Then garden party like it’s 1869.*

The Deck, Mercantile Place
Summer is perfect for wandering along the Yarra. Why not wander past the Aquarium to the corner of Flinders and King Street and up the stairs to Deck Mercantile Place, atop The Waterside Hotel. This open air deck is huge and boasts a barbecue, comfortable outdoor lounges and unique views of the city. On Tuesdays, nibble on a gourmet pizza and wash it down with a beer or glass of wine for a mere $10.

Match Bar + Grill
There’s nowhere quite like Match in Melbourne – although it does have sister bars in London and Ibiza. This swanky clubhouse comprises a restaurant, cocktail bar, lounge and ‘Wine Wall’ (just insert credit card). But Match’s pride and joy is its sprawling, partly-covered deck overlooking the State Library lawn, where you can loll blissfully upon lounges as though Swanston Street is your Mediterranean Sea.*

Transit Lounge
On the roof of Transport Hotel, Transit Lounge is cosy in a sumptuous, leather-upholstered, flatteringly-lit kind of way. The spacious outdoor deck offers river and city views, perfect for a sun downer. For a birds-eye view of the Yarra, Transit Lounge Garden is a pole-vault away on level three at Transport.*

Campari House
Campari and soda with a slice of orange is the definitive taste of summer, so the happily named Campari House is a good spot for a bit of wiling away a hot summer nights. The 1968 building has been lovingly restored, offering multiple floors from which to marvel at the décor and art-lined staircase. On the rooftop you can sup on tasty wood-fired pizzas while taking in amazing city panoramas.*

Stay tuned for Part 2 featuring Rooftop Bar, Cho Gao, Workshop, Cabinet, Blue Diamond, Order of Melbourne and Cookie.  Have we missed anything? Let us know!

*Words taken from our beloved Hot Spots publications.

First, the memory of Melbourne Spring Fashion Week  still looms large in our wardrobes. Second, we’re rather excited about today’s launch of the first ever Melbourne Music program. We’ve decided to combine these obsessions to bring you a fashion-focused guide to the Melbourne Music program.

The Bedroom Philosopher: dressing for the 86 tram.

Having just finished his Songs From The 86 Tram national album tour, Justin Heazlewood (aka the Bedroom Philosopher) is getting ready to play some sets on ‘actual trams’ during Melbourne Music as part of the Live On The Tracks series. How should you dress for the shows?

Based on the YouTube hit ‘Northcote (So Hungover)’, filmed on the 86 (Bourke Street) tram, we guess he’d tell you to wear something that’s ‘all about anger and fashion.’ Be careful in those skinny pants, though. Justin had to go to hospital the other day.

‘It’s these new jeans man. I just couldn’t get my wallet out.’

Fashion forward buskers 

Working in Melbourne’s great outdoors adds a degree of difficulty to any task - especially when it comes to your outfit. How do buskers decide what wear? How do they choose between a plastic poncho or head-to-toe silver paint?

Melbourne’s buskers will come together during Melbourne Music to battle it out for the title of Best Busker in the Street Change concert at City Square. For once they’ll have a covered stage, so they can leave the poncho at home. 

We’re not sure who will be entering this event, but, just in case, we would like to nominate  jazz busker group Milestones for the ‘Melbourne’s Best Reservoir Dogs Look-Alike’ Street Change award.

Serge Gainsbourg style tips

Screening at ACMI for Melbourne Music, Je t’aime: The Filmic Lives of Gainsbourg and Birkin is a series of films celebrating the work of French music icon Serge Gainsbourg – and his famous love. The late Frenchman was a brooding pin-up for classic elegance in men’s fashion, and the tailored leather jacket was one of his wardrobe staples.

For the Gainsbourg look, we recommend a visit to Swedish fashion house and creative collective Acne, based in Melbourne’s GPO. 

Visit www.melbmusic.com to view the full Melbourne Music program.

Between now and then, though, there’s a far less grown-up Craft Cubed event that you shouldn’t miss.

The brainchild of Ben Landau and Alex Desebrock, The Play Team is a series of workshops for grown ups at Birrarung Marr’s (usually) kids-only art space, Art Play.

Ben and Alex know that, buried deep beneath our worries about tax returns, car insurance and the interest payments we can avoid through credit debt transfers, lies a crazy child who just wants to ride a cardboard box down the stairs. So they’re inviting us to come and make some toys with them on 1, 2 and 3 September.

You: ‘Toys? What are they?’

Ben: ‘Remember building a box cubby to keep the dragons out? How many ways can you make a giraffe? Remember everything a cardboard tube can be?!’

Don’t deny it, you totally remember. Book yourself a spot on the Play Team. At $5 a pop, each session will cost you a week’s pocket money. Ask your mum for a loan though, ‘cos all the other kids are going.

The Play Team, 1, 2 and 3 September, 5.30pm to 7pm. Book here.

Hot Spots caught up with Drew Pettifer from Bus Projects  to find out what makes this gallery’s wheels go round (and round).

What makes Bus different from other artist-run initiatives (ARIs) and independent art spaces?

Bus Projects focuses on the exhibition of sound and spatial art, which certainly distinguishes it from other ARIs and independent art spaces. 

We are still open to all forms of contemporary art production, particularly if it is experimental or adventurous, but sound and spatial art is our main focus.  Our mission is ultimately to get more art by more young and emerging artists seen by more people more often.

What kind of artists have you had on your roster in the past?

Bus has shown a broad range of different artists during the past nine and a bit years. Artists such as Chris Bond, Helen Johnson, Tai Snaith and Viv Miller have all acknowledged the significant role Bus played in the development of their artistic careers. 

We’ve had some great sound performances at the gallery too, by artists such as Marco Fusinato, Phil Samartzis and Rod Cooper. 

Bus closed its Little Lonsdale gallery doors in March.  Is Bus now going to move into a real bus?

That’s certainly part of the plan…We had planned to launch a mobile art space on a bus earlier in the year, but had problems with the roadworthiness of the vehicle we had in mind.  I think our ideal situation is to have both a permanent gallery space and a bus which we use as a mobile project space.  Hopefully, in the coming months, one or both of these spaces will become a reality.

Is there a stronger focus on off-site projects? 

We’re interested in satellite projects and project spaces and engaging artists and audiences in new ways.  Until we have a new space of our own we will certainly continue functioning as a kind of roaming gallery – we’ll certainly be sticking around for a while longer.

Keep an eye on the Bus Projects website for details of coming projects. Some big things are in the wings, we hear.

www.busprojects.com.au

Here are a few of our favourite city-dwelling artisans.

J.S. Roberts: Handmade Footwear and Leather Goods

Fancy yourself a gentleman dandy or lady about town? Well, then, you’re going to need the shoes to match that devil-may-care swagger. James Roberts is just the man to shod you, hand-crafting bespoke footwear from his perch in manly haven Captains of Industry.  

Pony Bikes

If you don’t think bikes come under the artisanal umbrella, then you haven’t been to Pony Bikes. No-nonsense lady owner Sasha custom-builds small masterpieces for you to ride atop, as well as offering repair, paint, powdercoat, and restoration services. Visit her West Melbourne workshop for consultations and general hang-outs.

AD Jewellery

Master gold and silversmith Michaela Bruton has turned her hand to jewellery-making with a selection of earthen-inspired crystal necklaces and rings. She forges these gems from her studio in West Melbourne, and they are available exclusively for sale at Alice Euphemia.  

COUNTER at Craft Victoria

Craft Victoria’s retail hub COUNTER is the mothership of all things handmade and local. With everything from hand-moulded ceramics to hand-knitted egg cosies, it’s the perfect place to find a unique gift that special someone (or yourself, if you’ve been good).

Image credit: Elizabeth from Primoeza

Jazz is actually great. Now where are you going to find it? Paris, New York and Tokyo are a given. But who wants to board a long haul flight for a bit of toe-tapping? You’ll find that Melbourne has some mighty fine jazz destinations of its own, tucked away down some of the city’s laneways. If Miles was around today he’d surely be dusting off his brass at one of the following venues.

Bennetts Lane Jazz Club
Nearly in its second decade, the Bennetts Lane Jazz Club is a stalwart of Melbourne’s syncopated tune scene. On any given evening there’ll be a local or international big name belting it out on the Jazz Club or the Jazz Lab stage.

The Paris Cat 
A newer face to Melbourne’s jazz scene, The Paris Cat is an intimate and dimly lit affair that serves up top shelf swing you’ll need at least one hand to click to. The other one will be clutching a Bond-quality martini from the cocktail bar.

Guildford Lane Gallery
The Guildford Lane Gallery will be continuing Friday Night Jazz throughout the winter months. There’s no better way to wind up your working week than with a spontaneous on-stage musical collaboration of emerging and talented Melbourne jazz minds. Not to mention a well-priced drink from the well-stocked bar to wash it down with.

Jazz cats, perhaps you might know some other haunts in Melbourne find smooth jazz tunes?

LINKS:
Photo Credit: Laki Sideris, Melbourne Jazz Photographs

Lucky for us here in Melbourne, those racks are going to be in the real world until 21 July, with Claire Inc. becoming the latest in a long line of tightly-curated fashion residencies at local sartorial haven Alice Euphemia. This is your one-off pop-up stop for well-edited vintage, avant-garde jewels and madcap accessories. Ladies, get your game face on – there’s going to be a stampede of Lion King proportions!

Claire Inc. residency at Alice Euphemia

Where did Rat vs Possum emerge from?
We’ve all been friends for years, living in share houses together, going to parties together, working together and now we make music together.

Your performances are always glitter-filled good times. How do you come up with new ways to dazzle your audience?
When we first started we used to really enjoy making every show different and more performance based and interactive for the audience in some kind of way. We started out playing in warehouses, or galleries, or house parties, so there was a lot of room to be creative and work outside the square of usual venues that might get upset if you make a big mess with glitter and fresh produce. At the moment though we’re really enjoying stripping things back and playing as a five-piece band and writing music as our priority. Crazy, I know.

Which venues in the city do you most enjoy bringing your jungle beats to?
There are heaps of great warehouse spaces in the inner north that we love playing at, venue wise though we generally always have a good gig at The Toff.

Where are your favourite places to eat / read / go out / knit in Melbourne?
Rooftop Bar for a drink in the summer and 1000 £ Bend for a coffee in winter.

What do you love about Melbourne?
A great community as well as lots of different opportunities and options for exhibiting art and playing music.

What kind of good vibes are you getting from other Melbourne-based creatives?
Local techno-rap posse Keith! Party are about to release their album which sounds amazing and is unlike anything else going on anywhere.

What is the next sparkling frontier for Rat vs Possum?
Release a 7” in a few months, get started on recording our next album and fit in one more tour in September.

LINKS:
Rat vs Possum

Waterside Hotel
 This Yarra-side watering hole was a nineteenth century favourite amongst Melbourne dockworkers, and now sure to be everyone’s favourite serving up delicious pub fare and well-priced drinks. Especially on Mondays when meals are 2 for 1.

The Red Hummingbird
A stylish haunt atop a Russell Street stairway, Red Hummingbird should also be atop your after-works drinks list.

Woolshed Pub
With panoramic views across the water and lofty ceilings that are a nod to its previous life as a wool storage facility, Docklands’ newly-opened Woolshed Pub offers fireside fine dining or casual reclining.

Double Happiness
Pull up a crimson embroidered cushion by the authentic-looking glow in this Chinatown laneway bar. True, it’s not a genuine open fire, but with Mao on its mantelpiece it’s certainly serious about keeping you warm.

Fat
Fat have armloads of scarves ready to wrap around your neck parts. Our favourites are the creamy, loose-knit Fat Development scarf ($62) and a First Born’s multi-colour, pure wool creation, hand crafted by artisans in South America ($160).

Gorman
Lisa Gorman’s sustainable lady label does a super toasty black and white merino wool scarf. It’s huge and only $120!

Somewhere
Pristine Swedish retail galley Somewhere has turned to British winter accessories label Dents to provide a selection of coloured and tartan woolly scarves. Prices will shock your pants off, but in a good way.

Incu Menswear
Men, beware, the ladies will like these ones too! There’s the rugged Coal Headwear Andes scarf in Army Green and Midnight ($59) or the stylishly deconstructed Surface 2 Air x Kings of Leon Fringe Scarf in grey ($245).

Alice Euphemia
Are you nifty with the knitting needles? Local fashion emporium Alice Euphemia has a swag of Nikki Gabriel knitting patterns and bespoke yarns for you to set about making your own custom creations. From $20.