New venue set to be metal magnet
A NEW hideaway hangout in the heart of Townsville’s CBD has been described as “a place for people who don’t have a place’’ in the city’s nightlife scene.
Empire Alternacade’s new space The Gaslight will provide a separate metal music venue on Friday and Saturday nights, complete with its own private bar.
Empire owner Tim Pellegrino said The Gaslight was a breakaway room that capitalised on the venue’s niche market.
“For us it would have been easy just to open a function space or an extension of Empire, but this is something a little bit different,” Mr Pellegrino said.
“We’re giving metalheads somewhere to be on a Friday and Saturday night.
“It’s more like a speak- easy vibe to catch up and have some drinks – we’ve got a huge range of tequilas and mezcals, which is also different for Townsville.”
Mr Pellegrino said a lot of the renovations were completed by himself with partner Dan Lynch, with the artwork both at The Gaslight and across the whole of Empire created by local artist Kennie Deaner.
“This was a storeroom for the last 30 years. The Gaslight bar itself was a kitchen,” he said. “We only fit about 30 people in here, it’s not meant to be a big million- dollar bar business.”
Mr Pellegrino said it was crucial for the Empire and Gaslight teams to provide a sense of community.
“It’s not a rough place, it’s not about getting boozy, it’s about enjoying yourself, having a chat, talking to actual people rather than being on a keyboard,” he said.
“We put a lot of thought and effort into making these spaces really welcoming and comfortable.”
Empire first opened in July and trades from 7pm to midnight seven days a week.
The Gaslight received an overwhelming response when it first opened on Halloween, with about 80 people turning up to check out and enjoy the new space.
“We were pretty happy with that,” Mr Pellegrino said.
“One of our focuses was to always be evolving, changing and growing, so three months in, we said ‘ let’s open another bar’.”
Mr Pellegrino said the next phase for Empire’s growth would be to host large- scale events, with five planned for 2019 already including the Game and Geek Festival planned for April and some music events – those details are still under lock and key, with more information expected to be released in coming weeks.
He said he hoped to expand the Empire brand to Mackay and potentially Cairns in the future.