Venerated local haunt the Northcote Social Club is well and truly back in action after last night officially reopening following a period of renovation for the long-serving live-music venue's bars and band room.
The results of the first overhaul for the space since 2004 are a sight to behold, too, pegged as a mark of the Northcote Social Club's "continuing commitment to loyal patrons as well as future generations".
"The Northcote Social Club is proud to be part of the vibrant inner north, manager-director Andrew Mansfield said in a statement. "After a decade of trade and a couple of thousand shows, we've renovated the bars and band room to prepare ourselves for the next bunch of amazing gigs, long lunches, boozy arvos and unforgettable late nights.
"The Melbourne live music community and the amazing locals that have always supported us have made it easy to continue reinvesting in what we love," he continued.
The venue's renovations were helmed by the talented team at Breathe Architecture, who were tasked with improving the space's general functionality and ease of transit for show-goers and food'n'bev buffs alike, informed by the firm's "simple" approach to design, described by Breathe's Bettina Robinson as being "to strip, expose and express the bones of the old hotel structure and enhance the allure of the traditional bar", in addition to the inclusion of a lush new furniture layout.
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Punters' appetites are well catered for, of course, with Euro-trained chef Martin De Korte (ex Brownkorte's, Yarra Valley) heading up the kitchen team to realise the Northcote Social Club's culinary vision, designed as a testament to the venue's core values of "equity, respect, fun and, of course, good old-fashioned hospitality". Meals are available in the front bar and deck dining areas, and vegetarians and meat-lovers alike will find plenty to please their taste buds.
Perhaps most importantly, though, there's the live music offerings — and Northcote Social Club are well and truly keeping up their end of the bargain as far as promising to maintain their legacy of putting on killer shows — this week alone, Mustered Courage (21 August), Timberwolf (22 August, EP launch), Lucie Thorne & Hamish Stuart (23 August, matinee album launch) and Time For Three (23 August, evening show) are all lined up, with the weekly Monday Night Mass party — which kicked off the venue's return revelry last night — popping up at the start of each week and plenty more standalone gigs in the pipeline, including two performances from UK troubadour Jamie Lawson (25 & 26 August, the latter of which is sold out), two sold-out gigs from Megan Washington (27-28 August), plus performances from Lowtide (29 August), Jebediah (2 September), Regurgitator (3 September, sold out), Bootleg Rascal (4 September), Alex Lloyd (5 September), Adalita (6 September) and the Poison City Weekender Fest featuring Modern Baseball, Iron Chic and The Sidekicks (7 September). And that's just the next few weeks.
For more information about everything that's happening at the freshly reimagined Northcote Social Club, see the venue's website.
