Loss of a loophole space
“RIP to another Sydney landmark. Thank you, Ding Dong Dang, for many nights drunkenly belting away into the wee hours of the morning.” In this and other laments that were posted recently on reddit , Ding Dong Dang is described as iconic, legendary, an institution. Its demise another blow dealt by the extraordinary year that is 2020. Two accompanying photos show the karaoke bar’s well-known neon sign – in the first it’s lit up at night against the distinctive green and grey chequerboard tiled front wall of the building, in the second it is disconnected, dull, resting amongst demolition debris on the street in front of a door. Since the 1990s, in a mazy space on the ground floor of a small and scruffy warehouse building on Randle Street, right next to Sydney’s Central Station, Ding Dong Dang has given late night revellers the chance to belt out songs in Korean/English/Japanese/Chinese while imbibing heavily in darkened rooms painted with glow-in-the-dark murals. Its messiness and grunge ...