First Look: The Gaso Is Reborn as Smith St Hotel – With the Bandroom Intact

When The Gaso announced its closure in March last year, locals lamented the loss of another Melbourne music venue.

Former director James Martelletti decided not to renew the lease, citing the unsustainable business economics and wider struggles in the live music industry. At the time, he told Broadsheet he had passed on “a few compelling offers [to take over the business] from people already in the industry”, but the landlord opted to “go their own way” instead. Many thought that was the end of the live music venue. But last July, restaurateur Scott Pickett announced his takeover of the venue and said the bandroom was there to stay.

He may seem an unlikely candidate, but Pickett (Chancery Lane, Longrain), is a self-described music lover who insists he’s just as passionate about preserving venues as anyone.

“We’re losing too many of these spaces,” he says. “I’ve lived and worked around Collingwood forever, and I reckon pubs are part of the heartbeat of a neighbourhood. Some of the best nights of my life have happened in places exactly like this.”

Not only does the bandroom remain at the newly minted Smith St Hotel, the iconic retractable roof does too. Aside from improvements to the flow of service and amenities, the team has worked to retain The Gaso’s original look and feel.

“We’ve cleaned it up, tightened things up operationally, and put a lot into the sound, hospitality and overall experience for both artists and punters, but it still feels like the same old dark bandroom underneath it all,” Pickett says.

Ben Tillman, co-founder of Wollongong’s Yours & Owls festival and booking company, has been tapped to oversee the music program.

Pickett says the line-up will be “all over the place in the best way: emerging local acts, touring internationals, left-of-centre artists, heavier stuff, weird stuff, DJs and special one-off gigs.”

While The Gaso was a venue first and restaurant second, the front dining room gives food a more prominent role, drawing on the building’s history as a neighbourhood pub dating back to the late 1850s. A recent trip to Nashville to explore the city’s live-music and dive-bar scene also helped shape Pickett’s menu.

The nostalgic pub offering includes house-made cabana sausages; potato cakes with tarama and salt-and-vinegar seasoning; dim sims with chilli crisp; and the Picko Roll: Pickett’s take on the classic Chiko Roll, filled with spiced cabbage, carrot and onion, then crumbed, fried and served with spicy tomato sambal.

There are also Nashville-style hot chicken tenders, and changing weekly specials consisting of pub staples like steaks, pies, parmas and burgers, alongside curries borrowed from his Thai-inspired restaurant, Longrain. Drinks are equally unfussy, with a pared-back selection of local beers, wines and spirits.

But Pickett is quick to clarify that he wants the venue to remain an everyday sort of place. “Are we a gastro pub? Fuck no,” he says. “We’re a live music venue with really good food and drinks.”

Smith St Hotel opens Friday July 24.

Smith St Hotel
484 Smith Street, Collingwood

Hours:
Tue & Wed 4pm–11pm
Thu midday–2am
Fri & Sat midday–3am
Sun midday–1am

smithsthotel.com.au