Fitzroy’s filthiest icon The Old Bar turns 21 this year and they are throwing themselves a big birthday bash on Saturday December 3.
The Oldie will celebrate two decades of blood, sweat and beers with an epic lineup, featuring Cash Savage and The Last Drinks, SPOD, Skyscraper Stan and The Commission Flats, Ute Root and Streetsweeper. Proudly presented by ALWAYS LIVE and Mountain Goat, the show kicks off at 7pm and tickets will only be available on the door.
Melbourne’s divest dive bar is renowned for showcasing some of this country’s biggest talents on the smallest stage. This massive handpicked lineup represents everything the owners – Joel Morrison, Singa Unlayati and Liam Matthews – love about the place, with many of the artists cutting their teeth in the legendary venue including Cash Savage and The Last Drinks who considers The Old Bar their spiritual home.
“Cash is pretty much our patron saint of the Oldie,” says Morrison. “From playing heaps and heaps of gigs here early on and just generally being here all the time (including being told to stop being so loud in the front bar when there were quieter gigs on midweek), to coaching the Old Bar Unicorns footy team and celebrating all our milestones along the way, Cash has always had our back and it’s a very special bond we don’t take lightly. Seeing Cash and The Last Drinks play for the first time at Oldie you just knew they were world class and if we helped along the way then that’s one of the reasons Oldie is a special place.”
The Old Bar has well and truly earned its status as a shining beacon of filth in a sea of gentrification. While the building may be falling apart, The Old Bar remains a steadfast haven in the face of an ever-changing suburb where every new development is slicker than the last.
“When I see a cool dive bar in a film I get so warm and fuzzy and always wanted to be a part of that,” adds Matthews. “The reality though is very different, keeping the place (kinda) clean is almost impossible, stopping jerks from breaking shit and writing their names on everything is an ongoing nightmare and the building is slowly crumbling around us. But the alternative is that fake dive bar aesthetic that some go for which just sucks. The area keeps getting shiny around us but we are just the lump of coal in the diamond mine – is that a saying? It is now.”
This show is part of ALWAYS LIVE, a new state-wide celebration of contemporary live music supported by the Victorian Government through Visit Victoria.
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