Pubs & Bars: @ Newtown (52 Enmore Rd. Newtown).

I'll be honest. When I was asked to check this place out, I was totally non-plussed to be peeping a place with a name like a fucking e-mail address. It made me assumed the place was half webcafe, full of sunburnt, nubile Swedes and irritatingly-accented English chaps. It made me think the drinks menu would read 'appl3t1n1s r h3aps yum n onl1 n9n3 buck$$ lolz.' And it made me assume whoever named the place was drunk and far too enamoured with their shift key.

But despite my apprehensions at the dubious name, @ delivers in a totally non-internet-related way. It's a sister venue to the Petersham RSL, but unlike an RSL club there are few very drooling gambling addicts to be found. Instead, @ dishes up divinely comfy lounges, well-priced pints of beer and frankly awesome live entertainment.

Jackie Orszaczky plays on Tuesday nights, and you'd be hard-pressed to find better free entertainment in Sydney. When I last saw this Jackie O character I was almost tempted to dance until I remembered I was a drunk white male and decided to spare society such a sight. In a world gone made with drug-fuelled capitalist greed, it's a pleasure to see a place that sets out to support the arts, especially when the arts involves such a talented individual as that bespectacled, piccolo bass playing genius.

@'s website says the venue is 'Sexy, Atmospheric, Inspiring.' Whilst someone needs to get their fuckin' hand off it, I'm going to make the rare move of not being a total sarcastic bastard and dismissing the place just because of that wanktastic slogan. In fact, I actually hope this place is inspiring. If more venues took a leaf out of @'s book, we'd have a much healthier live music scene, and I wouldn't be forced to rely on drunken renditions of Khe Sanh in my search for in-pub entertainment. Which would be nice.

(Originally published in The Brag as part of the Under The Bar column).