NOTES FROM THE UNDERGROUND
During its 45-year run, The Basement hosted many notable acts, among them Prince, Martha Wainwright, Christine Anu and Dizzy Gillespie. The stories are legion, and Jake Smyth has a few of his own.
The co-owner of Mary’s recalls “sitting on the steps with my little brother Steve and waiting for the staff to take pity on us and let us into a sold-out Rufus Wainwright show”. The sad-eye ploy worked; they made it into the gig. “He played solo for nearly three hours,” Smyth recalls. “I think he pashed a pal of mine at some point, too.”
The Sydney venue closed last year, but expect more highlights now that
Smyth and his Mary’s partner Kenny Graham have revived the joint as Mary’s Underground, due to open this month.
As they did with the Lansdowne Hotel, they’ll be updating a storied site. “We will be honouring its spirit, while kicking it square in that ass and into 2019,” says Smyth. The two-level space will feature a Mary’s-style menu upstairs, with signature burgers and an expanded menu for vegans (“we hope to blow their ethical little minds – and waists”), while downstairs will be more refined. “Expect classic, simple, elegant Euro-American cuisine with fun Aussie flourishes from our head chef Scott Williams.”
As the former Bacco chef roasts ducks on a rôtisserie, Mary’s Underground will host gigs nightly. Smyth’s mother (an ex “door bitch” at The Basement) will help launch the venue, and her son wants to continue the legacy of “hallowed ground to all young dreamers with music in their ears”. Mary’s Underground, 7 Macquarie Pl, Sydney, NSW, marysunderground.com