The Gaso was one of those rooms people assumed would always be there, right up until it wasn't. Now the band room at 484 Smith Street is reopening – this time as Smith St Hotel.
Behind it is Scott Pickett, the Melbourne chef known for Estelle, Longrain and Chancery Lane. He took on the Collingwood site to keep a live music room on the strip rather than lose it to redevelopment.
Live music sits with Yours & Owls, the Wollongong booking company and festival operator with close to 20 years behind it. Co-founder Ben Tillman is steering the program.
Smith St Hotel opening weekender
- Where: Smith St Hotel, 484 Smith Street, Collingwood
- When: 19 July – Carla Geneve Finally Broke Me tour, presented by Billions
- When: 24 July – Cool Sounds, Mouseatouille, Bananagun, kisses, Piggietails, Babyccino
- When: 25 July – Posseshot, Romy Vager, Garage Sale, Snowy Band, Milly Strange, dogworld, Think About You, LXRP, DS Heavy, PIRRITU, Postures, Glyconic, UNIT
- When: 26 July – DJ Jnett, Toni Yotzi, Kuzco, DJ Luv You, Ciara, ANIKA
- When: 1 August – Pisco Sour Summer single launch, presented by Mushroom Booking Agency
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“We are really excited to be working with Smith Street Hotel because of its rich history and its deep ties to the Melbourne live music community,” Tillman says.
PBS general manager Kristen Paterson welcomed the reopening. “Spaces like Smith St Hotel are essential to how audiences discover artists and how scenes stay connected,” Paterson says.
Pickett is blunt about what the place is and isn’t. “Are we a gastro pub? Fuck no,” he says. “We’re a live music venue, with great food and drinks.”
The room warms up on 19 July with Carla Geneve’s Finally Broke Me tour before the official opening weekender from 24 July. That run packs in Cool Sounds, Bananagun and Mouseatouille on 24 July, a long 25 July bill led by Romy Vager and Posseshot, and a DJ-heavy 26 July with DJ Jnett and Toni Yotzi.
Pisco Sour launch their Summer single on 1 August. Programming will spread across touring acts and local talent once the doors settle into a rhythm. The team has kept the bones of the old room intact, restored the fireplace and tightened the sound. Emily Ulman worked on the venue’s setup and positioning.
The kitchen leans into pub food done properly. There’s the Picko Roll, Pickett’s take on the Chiko Roll, plus Nashville hot chicken tenders, cabana with cheddar and pickles, and salt and vinegar potato cakes with tarama.
Through the week the pub rotates its nights – steak, pie, parma, burger, a Longrain curry night and a Sunday roast. The drinks list stays short: local beers, wine and spirits, nothing precious.
The pub will trade most of the week once open, with later closes as things ramp up.
For more information, head here.
