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Evelyn Hotel

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If you’re walking down Brunswick Street one Friday night and bump into a long line of hipster punters standing outside a non-descript, shabby looking pub, that’ll probably be the Evelyn Hotel.

Editorial


Looks can be deceiving, and I think that's the way the locals on Brunswick Street like it. Set smack-bang in the middle of the action is the little pub that could - a pub that has outlasted so many live music venues that have since packed up their drumkits and gone home. The Evelyn has been hosting live music since back in the dinosaur days of grunge - was it the late '80s or early '90s? Not sure, but if you can remember, you probably weren't there.

On the outside the pub looks like someone is halfway through demolishing it; I think this kind of design is called something like 'post-apocalyptic deconstructivist', but it belies a heart of gold hidden inside. And it's not in the shabby couches, or the worn armchairs that I'm sure they picked up at some dead person's garage sale; it's in what the Melbourne live music scene is really all about - a vibrant living music culture and its people.

The Evelyn will look after you with an outdoor beer garden, side bar with pool table and a 400-head capacity band room with live music seven nights a week. Many of Australia's top acts got their start on this stage, and if you can't afford the cover charge, you can always hang in the side bar and still hear the music. On Thursday nights there's $6.50 Jagerbombs and $2.50 pots, so don't complain you're too broke to go out. Mondays and Tuesdays feature $10 jugs of beer. And you can buy a bottle of wine from the bottle shop attached and drink it in the bar. So, as you've probably guessed, the crowd is mostly uni students and young hipster punks, but if you're old school you'll still fit in and feel most welcome. Even the bouncers are friendly here, which is indeed a rare treat. Food, especially pizza, can be ordered in from nearby along the Brunswick Street strip. To find out what bands are playing, check out their gig guide.

Meri Harli, March 2010

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Andre Di Cioccio
July 03, 2010


Great live bands here... you'll spend the whole night easy... and amazing drink prices too!

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