Alhambra Lounge

I am pretty indifferent about Alhmabra Lounge. I am not the clubbing type, nor am I a student anymore so «Lambda night» does not interest me. Overall, I find it to be an OK music venue but would not write home about it.
Lambda is not all that spacious, the place is best suited to medium sized gigs– think 300 people max. Here is the first downside– it gets way too packed on popular nights that it becomes so hard to manœuvre around everyone. I also find the place to be really dark so it can get pretty frustrating if you are looking for people.
Lambda looks pretty though; the bar is nice and wide, there are sofas and tables for people to chill out and the bathrooms look kind of groovy. This is probably what makes this place so popular because it does «look cool».
I have been to Lambda a few times, have had some good nights, some bad nights and OK nights. Like a lot of places, it has some good things and bad things about it.

Alhambra is on the smaller side of venues in the Valley but that shouldn’t steer you away from this place. It has the potential to host very good nights depending on the event being hosted. Thursday nights over the last few years have always been the busiest nights, tapping into the student demand for good music and cheap drinks. Lambda as the event is called draws in a unique crowd of people all looking to see some good local bands rock their faces off to an energetic crowd.
Be careful on nights that are insanely packed out. Being quite small the place has a tendency to turn into a bit of a sauna on a warm night. But the cocktail lounge with the couches are a definite favourite for locals and are a welcome relief to anyone looking to relax in what can be a pretty hectic scene in the valley.

Alhambra is home to (among many other things) club night Lambda every Thursday night, where you are guaranteed some live music, a stiff drink, and a longing look from some cute indie kid. You can get up to some pretty crazy antics here, but don’t act out too much or you WILL get kicked out, that I can assure you. There’s always a crowd of young people here looking for a good night out, and this particularly rings true come Thursday night. At Lambda you’ll find slushies and secluded corners, and upon going there, I have always run into someone I know. That’s the beauty of Brisbane; if there’s an indie venue, everyone you know will visit it as least once.
Depending on the week, lining up after 11 can get really hectic, and during winter it’s colder than your girlfriend’s heart. So if you want to avoid waiting, mosey on in before then and chill to some music while you and your friends grab a drink. Stand around awkwardly like I do or swoop in on one of the cushy lounges. But settle in for a wild ride because there’s always fun to be had at Alhambra when it’s Lambda.

I remember going to Alhambra when it first opened (during my ‘raging’ years). setting up its scenic digs (inspired by the Spanish castle) under the shadow of the neighbouring megaclub Family. What instantly struck me was how welcoming and unpretentious the vibe was — a welcome change from the prevailing attitude at some of the Valley’s more ‘exclusive’ clubs, who seem to enforce some indecipherable and constantly evolving dress code.
That first night a friend of mine was told he was too casually dressed. «Here we go,» I thought. «Time to find somewhere else to spend our money…» but wait! I’d thought too soon… The nice girl on the door offered to lend my mate a shirt to wear so he could come in and join the fun. So refreshing!
Once we got in the music impressed too. More than just the usual DJ styles, the act featured live instrumentation combined with sexy house music sounds. It really got the dance floor going!
I’ve revisited the place and it’s great to see that the welcoming vibe remains. They now tend to pull the crowds as much for their live bands — some of the hippest up-​and-​coming indie acts from around the nation — as they do for their DJs. Thursday’s Lambda student night usually features a local or interstate band (indie, pop, post-​punk, rock being the prevalent genres) while the Friday and Saturday generally offers up the electronic sounds.
Alhambra is a cool looking venue, with its various hidden rooms and lounges. They are available for function hire and catering is also an option, making it a good place for a party of the formal or informal variety!

Alhambra Lounge used to be huge a few years ago. I swear, there was a time when everyone I had ever met would converge on a Thursday night for Lambda (as it was known). Things seemed to have diminished with the passing of time, but I must admit that I still consider Alhambra Lounge to be a fantastic venue.
I’ll be honest from the beginning; I have only ever been to Alhambra on a Thursday night. This being said, I’ve been there a lot on a Thursday night. It really is one of the best places to go in Brisbane on this night of the week if you feel like relatively cheap beverages and a great atmosphere. I have heard of people heading to the Alhambra Lounge during the weekend, however this is something I am yet to subscribe to.
The venue itself has a great look. It seems to combine some sort of university with grunge with something more indefinably glamorous. Ultimately the effect is that everyone is comfortable and the lights are so dark it’s hard to gauge what your surroundings actually are.
Bands are known to play here and they sometimes charge you a bit more at the door if they are particularly well known. As I have stated before I am not really into live music, but I tend to come to Alhambra for the atmosphere more then the bands.
The drinks are great value. I did shame myself there last week. They seemed to introduce this new drink card deal, in which you get three basics for $ 10. Unfortunately, they don’t consider gin a basic so I had to switch back to vodka. Big mistake. I may have voided my stomach in the bathroom after having some enthusiastic chats with strangers in the awesome smoking area.
I have had some of my best nights out at Alhambra Lounge. A lot of them aren’t that pretty but they were a lot of fun. This being said, Alhambra Lounge caters to a lot of different taste and anyone can find something they enjoy here. Secretly I wish everyone would come back to Alhambra Lounge on a Thursday night. They were great times. Check it out.

Alhambra Lounge boasts a wide array of entertaining delights, that start with the student night-​club goer on Thursdays, band-​loving cheesy tunes ilk on Friday, all the way to Saturday with the best House music in Brisbane. It features a number of VIP and function spaces, as well as an award winning bar. Alhambra is a great venue but it’s not a single club catering for one type of crowd. Quite often other events are held there, from big bands, such as Unknown Mortal Orchestra to some amazing funk, disco and house DJs.
The staff are pretty amazing too, and can make you whatever you desire. The price is reasonable, and is fairly standard for night clubs these days. The cover charge varies from being practically free to $ 25+ — again it depends on the act that’s on. It has a smoking section and reasonable toilets. It also caters for wheel-​chair access. Unfortunately, there is no parking, however the club is situated right in from a taxi cab.
The décor of Alhambra features an almost Arabian theme but mixed with the trendy simplicity of exposed brick and ceiling. The lounges are far too big for normal human-​being and quite often end up being difficult to sit in. Still, the place screams warmth, with dimly-​lit candles echoing the room and a lighting setup that falls on the side of cozy, rather than bold illumination.