By DARREN COYNE
Lismore’s live music lovers and patrons of the Tatts Hotel were devastated last week to hear their favourite Keen Street watering hole had closed its door.
But as of tomorrow, publicans Rod and Kim Bradbury, assisted by popular bar manager Ted Walsh, will begin trading at a new location …. across the road at the Gollan Hotel.
The Bradburys have negotiated a contract with property owner Bob McKenzie and will be back in business from midday.
They even have their first band lined up for the evening, continuing the tradition of supporting live music which made The Tatts such a favourite in the first place.
‘It’s like we’re picking up The Tatts and dropping it over at the Gollan,’ Mr Bradbury told Echonetdaily.
‘We’re going in on Thursday and we’ve got Acid Bleed (a jazz band) booked in for 6.30pm.’
Flood of support
When news broke last week that The Tatts was closing its doors, the Bradburys were inundated with messages of support from their patrons, and others who had visited the hotel from around Australia.
‘It was humbling,’ Rod Bradbury said.
‘We had 31,000 people react to our message on our Facebook page. That’s huge.’
‘We’ve operated other businesses before but we have never had that type of support shown to us personally as we have since we announced the closure.’
Kim Bradbury echoed those sentiments.
‘We are feeling vey blessed to be able to continue to do what we love,’ she said.
‘Lismore needs and wants live, original music and we will give them what they want. Our focus on supporting the community will never change.
‘The closure of The Tatts not only affected Rod and I but it is being felt through the whole community. Our team, the people who resided upstairs and of course every musician who has ever played there.
‘We can only hope that Lismorians will choose to follow us to The Gollan’.
Manager Ted Walsh said the revival of the business was testament to ‘the passion Kim and Rod have for the industry and the people of Lismore’, and he urged former patrons to turn out tomorrow in support.
Jobs safe
Meanwhile, Mr Bradbury said all staff who had been working at The Tatts when it closed would be brought across to The Gollan, and staff at The Gollan would be incorporated into the new business.
He said the new location – which is famous for accommodating Queen Elizabeth in 1954 – would cater to the type of business they wanted to run, with touring bands and DJs upstairs in a function room with a balcony, and soloists and smaller bands downstairs in the main bar area.
‘We’ve got plans to put in for an outdoor dining area like we had across the road and we’ll have a new menu ready to go straight away, ‘ he said.
As for the insurance claim rejection that was a major factor in the closure last week, the Bradburys said negotiations with the insurance company ‘are continuing’.
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