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“I want to pay homage to what the Gaso has been for so long. The back room I will keep for live music, but seven themed nights, one night comedy … one night uni night, an open night mic that can be any kind of performance, there will be a jam night for young up-and-coming artists, then three nights of big live music.”
Pickett said one live music night would be retro, and he would try to get bands such as Spiderbait or Regurgitator. There would also be two nights of contemporary music from techno to rock to blues.
“I want to support live music and be a pub for the people,” Pickett said.
However, the pub’s sticky carpet will not remain – Pickett has filled eight skips cleaning up the pub.
Back in town: Jet’s Cam Muncey, Chris Cester, Nic Cester and Mark Wilson return to the stage at Melbourne’s Gasometer.Credit: Brian Purnell/Mushroom Creative
“We have ripped up the carpets and started again,” Pickett said. “I have carpet squares coming as I am sure we will have to replace them every year.”
Pickett has started opening the front bar at weekends and says he will open the rest of the pub in stages.
The Gasometer is believed to have operated continuously since it was first licensed in 1861 until its closure, and headliners over the years have included Jet, Paul Dempsey and the Saints.
When he shut the pub’s doors in March, the previous operator, James Martelletti, said he did not expect it would continue as a live music venue.
“The state of the market for the past few years and the economics of live music just don’t really make sense any more,” he said.
“It’s been a steady decline with me losing money along the way, just hoping that things would turn around.”
Music venues around the city are under pressure from increasing public liability insurance and soaring operating costs hitting everything from alcohol prices to utility bills.
“There’s rent going up, insurance going up, utilities going up,” Martelletti said. “The amount of cost for bands to even tour these days just makes it not really viable. The business model is based around selling alcohol, and there’s just not enough patrons with enough money to spend these days.”
Former operator of the Gasometer Hotel, James Martelletti, was worried the venue would no longer host live music when his lease ended in April. Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui
When the Gasometer’s closure was first announced, patrons expressed their shock and dismay at the news in social media posts.
“I can’t count the amount of times I’ve played the Gaso,” musician Gabriella Joelle posted. “Thank you for being such a pivotal place for musicians. Can’t believe this news.”
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City of Yarra Mayor Stephen Jolly welcomed the announcement that the Gasometer would remain a live music venue.
“It’s obviously really good news, and there will be a lot of relief in the area that we will not lose another live music venue,” he said.
Jolly said live music operators in Melbourne faced many challenges.
“They’ve been battered from pillar to post by the increased insurance costs, every six months the beer price goes up, and just general increases in rent,” he said. “They’re hanging in there by their fingernails.”
He said the Gasometer’s heritage status had helped protect the pub from development.
“Because it is heritage listed it would be really difficult for developers just to put apartments there,” he said.
In 2023, a crowdfunding campaign saved nearby live music venue the Tote, with organisers raising more than $3 million towards the pub’s purchase.
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