Former The Gaso Owners Respond To New Ownership: 'This Is No Longer The Gaso'

The Gasometer Hotel’s former owners have responded to the news that the beloved Melbourne venue has been “saved” by the new ownership of Aussie chef Scott Pickett.

Earlier this week, The Music reported on the news that Pickett plans to operate the space, affectionately dubbed as The Gaso, as a music venue once again.

Pickett – who also operates restaurants such as the nearby Smith Street Bistro in Collingwood and Longrain in the Melbourne CBD – stated to The Age that the building will be separated as part venue, part dining, with the latter dubbed Picko’s.

“It will be leaning into a cool dirty dive bar, but clean,” Pickett said, explaining that standard pub fare such as burgers, pies, and parmas would be on the limited menu.

“I want to pay homage to what the Gaso has been for so long,” he told the publication. “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.”

Noting a desire to “support live music and be a pub for the people,” Pickett claimed he’d love to get names like Spiderbait or Regurgitator on hand for some of the first events back.

Following the reports, The Gaso’s former owners, led by venue director James Martelletti, stated that the venue under this new ownership is “no longer The Gaso.”

In a post shared to social media, The Gaso’s former owners stated that it’s “probably a little easier” to establish a business at the venue when allegedly “stiffing the previous owners out of around $250k.”

The post continues, “Landlords being greedy landlords they decided to refuse our perfectly reasonable offer for another party to take over the business with the name and other business assets which lead to us losing the sale price, paying for liquidation and having to make our staff redundant.

“This is no longer The Gaso, this is a cheap shady imitation who have decided to shit on its legacy instead of support it. Stolen, not saved.

“Fuck this place off and go somewhere that actually supports local music.”

The Music reached out to Pickett for comment, but at the time of publication, hasn’t received a response.

With a storied history dating back to 1860, The Gaso has long been an institution in Melbourne’s live music scene. However, news broke earlier this year that the venue would be closing its doors at the end of March after Martelletti stepped down after three years.

After disputing claims made by 3AW radio host Tom Elliott that the venue’s closure happened due to “going woke,” it was revealed that The Gaso would be no more after the building owners “rejected the offers” from interested parties in taking over operations.

“As of the 30th of March, the venue that you’ve come to know, love, hang out at or danced all night in, will cease to exist,” it was announced. “This is not the outcome we had hoped for, and we’re left disappointed that we are unable to pass the torch on.

“So, we’re treating this as the end.”

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