The iconic music venue will be missed.
It’s a sad day when any live music venue shuts its doors and with The Workers Club Geelong being the newest addition to the list of fallen venues, we here at Forté are getting a bit teary.
The key takeaways
- One of Geelongs favourite live music venues has closed its doors
- The Workers Club Geelong has supported the local live music scene for the past six years
- The business will continue to operate as Workers Barbecue focusing on smoked meats
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Since replacing the old Kitty O’Shea’s on Little Malop Steet back in 2015, The Workers Club has become one of Geelong’s most iconic live music venues, attracting some of Australia’s most renowned musicians and performers over the years, including Mojo Juju, The Bennies, LANKS, Hein Cooper, Lime Cordiale, Abbe May, Client Liaison, Northeast Party House, Luca Brasi, and British India – just to name a few.
Not only has the venue played host to a seemingly endless list of Australian and international talent, but The Workers Club also prided itself on promoting the local acts that were well on the way to making themselves known across the country, including the likes of Famous Will, Sweethearts, The Kite Machine, The Run, Ocean Grove, Modern Divide, Alice Ivy, and Lash78.
A mecca for original live music in Geelong, on February 18 the business announced the closure of its venue on Little Malop Street.
“2020 was a year of massive change, sadness and adaptation and unfortunately 2021 comes with some bittersweet news,” the post to Facebook said.
“Today, it is with a heavy heart that a full stop comes to the end of this chapter – the closing of doors of The Worker’s Club Geelong.
After struggling through COVID-19 within a decimated music industry and grieving the loss of my father and advisor, the decision has been made to focus a little more on – LIFE.”
With coronavirus derailing the live music and touring industry and live music being their major source of income over the past 12 months, Workers Geelong was forced to adapt to the climate, and found a creative way to survive – and even thrive – during the coronavirus pandemic with their new hustle, Workers Barbecue.
“Well we kind of had an inkling that things were going to (logically) get really bad for the hospo and entertainment industry a couple of weeks before lockdown,” Worker’s Club owner Steven Nichols explained early last year.
“We were scrambling behind the scenes while gigs were being cancelled and postponed left, right and centre to work out how to pivot into a food-focused business,” Steven continues.
This venture was an extension of their already established operations as a smokehouse, which has earned themselves a solid reputation as the home of smoked meats, with a menu featuring the likes of mouth-watering ribs, beef brisket, chicken dippers, and macaroni balls over the past few years. Workers Barbecue kept their virtual doors open through contactless pickup and delivery, allowing loyal customers to tuck into the charred, succulent and profoundly flavoursome barbecue meats from the comfort of their own homes seven days a week.
From beef brisket, pulled pork, and buffalo wings, Workers had locals sorted with their selection of American barbecue packs which come complete with slaw, potato salad and bourbon BBQ Sauce. These are served cold for you to reheat when you please, requiring minimal effort.
While the smoked meats are their forte, the Workers team also started been slinging juicy, stacked creations and satisfying our hunger cravings and undying affection for meat in a bun. There’s the Philly cheese beef burger, the beef and bacon burger, a southern fried chicken burger, and a pulled pork burger, amongst others. Our pick though is the Mac N Cheese burger, completed with more cheese, slaw and chipotle mayo, and they’re fully-loaded fries or tater tots, the cheesy mac bites, juicy boneless chicken or give the twinkie a go.
Despite the Workers Club Geelong closing its doors, the Workers Barbecue will continue to thrive, remaining a deep-seated passion for Steven and the team. They’ll be introducing a new space soon, but for now all you need to know is they’ll be delivering their delicious smoked meats from Tuesday to Saturday between 5pm and 9pm.
You can check it all out here.
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