Australian artists, promoters and media personalities – including Midnight Oil drummer Jim Moginie, Violent Femmes bassist Brian Ritchie and Frenzal Rhomb vocalist Jay Whalley – have joined the fight to save Hobart's iconic Brisbane Hotel, which is facing the cancellation of its live music license.
The 200-year-old venue and beloved fixture of the Tasmanian live music scene has been given under two months to convince Hobart City Council to reinstate its licence or raise $100,000 to upgrade the heritage-listed building.
The council withdrew the Brisbane’s live music licence on the grounds that it was not compliant with new building legislation. It has been granted a temporary occupancy license, which will allow it to continue to play music, but the venue’s future remains unclear.
Casey Bond and Christopher 'Gibbo' Giblett did not just work tirelessly to co-create iconic Hobart institution Brisbane Hotel. They started a family. For the misfits. For the layabouts. For the awkward and the avant-garde. For those that have something to say and those that want to listen.
Image © Claire Antagonym
A family that is there for you when your own is absent or distant or useless. A family where the boys can dress as girls and the girls can dress as boys, and everyone can rock up dressed as rhinos in tutus and it will all be OK, so long as everyone respects each other.
A family that bred internationally renowned and encouraged emerging locals to try again and keep going even when they sucked. Where the house wine is goon and we know what kind of Cascade you drink, and people got $2 pints tattooed on their ankles.
Image © Claire Antagonym
The structural work required to meet council requirements will cost $100,000. Support has mostly come from the Tasmanian community, but the pub is now calling out for those from across the country who know its name to lend a helping hand.
The Brisbane Hotel was established more than 200 years ago and has been a venue supporting the Tasmanian music scene during that time, a stalwart of the community. Countless Tasmanian bands, including triple j favourites Luca Brasi, got their start by playing the Brisbane, building on a community that loves and supports live music.
Bond and Gibbo have dedicated a large chunk of their lives to the hotel, and live and breathe the culture that they support. Tasmania is suffering from elevated levels of unemployment and homelessness. Social wellbeing hinges on community bonds, safety and entertainment during hard times.
Image © Claire Antagonym
This is something that the venue offers to anyone and everyone that enters its doors.
"It went off. We played at the Brisbane with The Break to a full house full of anticipation and excited Hobartians in 2010. In Sydney, where draconian laws, developers and NIMBYs have killed the live music scene, people still wax lyrical about the now departed Hopetoun; the Annandale; the Basement; the Trade Union Club; French’s and more; all bastions of live music where bands and artists can hone their craft and audiences can disconnect from the grid and lose themselves for a while in music and time. Sydney is a dead zone now, and the scene has just gone elsewhere. Don’t let this happen to you, Hobart." - Jim Moginie, Midnight Oil
“The Brisbane Hotel has been a staple of our band Frenzal Rhomb’s many tours of Tasmania. Their commitment to original music and fostering up and coming, as well as established bands cannot be understated. The loss of the Brisbane Hotel as a music venue would be a major blow to the local and national touring music industry." - Jay Whalley, Frenzal Rhomb
“I’ve played at the Brisbane Hotel in Hobart more times than I can remember. It’s my favourite pub venue in Australia. It is the most fun you can have in Australia on a Saturday night. I’m not lying. Like The Tote in Melbourne, it’s not one of a new breed of nation-wide franchised ‘rock and roll’ venues the exist solely for ticket and booze sales. Being wholly independent, it’s vulnerable to encroaching gentrification and its sense of entitlement. Culture is the fabric of all healthy human societies. Always has been. Culture isn’t created by putting money in the pockets of developers. It’s not born in highfalutin galleries or shiny pre-fab apartment blocks. People like Shakespeare, Bob Dylan, Richard Flanagan and Paul Kelly come out of places like the Brisbane Hotel." - Gareth Liddiard, The Drones/ Tropical F... Storm
“The Brisbane Hotel in Hobart is a ripper music venue and a great stop for up-and-coming bands. There are super-nice staff and definitely something that should be cherished." - BC Michaels, Dune Rats
“The Brisbane Hotel is a venerable, yet funky venue showcasing acts ranging from up and coming local artists to eminent touring acts from around the globe. It serves an irreplaceable role as an incubator for Tasmanian bands and is also a kick-ass place to share a beer with friends. The Brisbane Hotel's support for live music is needed more now than ever. We live in an era where real music made by real people is assailed left and right. The Brisbane Hotel is an oasis for music lovers." - Brian 'Tairaku' Ritchie, Violent Femmes
“We played our first show at the Bris, I saw all my favourite shows at the Bris, with my best mates and my favourite bands. I've slept in the Bris, both in the accom and at the bar. I've stayed awake partying for days at the Bris. I've made mistakes at the Bris, been forgiven, made friends at the Bris. Some of the best times I've ever had have been in that building, with the most gracious hosts you could ask for. I hope the next generation gets to experience what I did at the place. It's an asset and an icon, just like the people who run it." - Tye Richo, Luca Brasi
“The role a venue plays in developing and fostering a particular music scene is often understated, or even forgotten. No one forgets the name of 'that' amazing singer, or 'this' influential guitarist. But who remembers the publican who gave them their first 20-30 gigs, where they fine-tuned their craft, where they turned from hack to pro? The majority of touring artists who have played Hobart in the last ten years would know the names of Gibbo and Casey, and the Brisbane Hotel." - David Haley, Psycroptic
"The Brisbane Hotel. It's not just four walls and a roof with beer taps attached – it's the Mecca for a community. A community of those who otherwise wouldn't have one; the youth who need an escape from the mundanity of mainstream culture; artists and those who appreciate art and alternative culture; the old punters who have been rejected from the archetypical 'dream life'. All who are welcoming are welcome and encouraged to participate, including an 18-year-old me. For myself, the Brisbane, its staff and its community were the things I needed when entering adulthood and working out what the f... I actually wanted from life. Without that comfortable space, where I was encouraged to be myself, who knows what would've happened? I could've ended up being a banker or something equally uninteresting. It's worth a fight to save this last bastion for the real." - Andrew Hassler, A. Swayze and the Ghosts
