“I think I threw up in that spot 10 years ago.”
This or a variation of this line is something we’ve heard a lot over the last year. I have a lot of fond memories of late nights and good gigs when the corner of Brunswick St and St Paul’s was The Step Inn, but wasn’t lucky enough to be in the Sunshine State when it existed as The Shamrock. It seems much of Brisbane has their own memories of this unusual corner. It was a close neighbour to some of Brisbane’s wildest past – The Moonlight State, Whiskey Au Go Go, 4zzz (Woo!)…this location has a colourful history and this weird, oddly put together building BLEEDS it in neon slime green.
When we received the keys to the building in mid 2016, it was in a bit of a state, but we signed the dotted line because we liked the strange pub it was – we didn’t want to change things up too much! So, we didn’t – we just made it our own. ‘Welcoming and on theme plus monsters’ was the broad motto.
We pulled in anyone who could hold a chisel to get us over the finish line and pull back what in some areas was EIGHT layers of pub revamps and cover ups. Family members and friends travelled interstate to help us fit the place out for long stretches of late nights, while we hunted for arcade games and rebuilt the entire kitchen in a mad panic to be ready for the new year while surviving on a strict diet of 7-11 slushies. The elder gods spared us of sacrifice (but not a little interior rain or flooding) and allowed us to open on January 7th, 2017 – one year ago today.
Netherworld is the sum of its many, many parts and the people that helped make it happen, so thank you to the friends that listened to years of rambling drunk dreams – To the mates that volunteered their time to make those dreams a reality – To the denizens from all walks of life that joined our team and most of all, to Brisbane and its guests for getting behind us in as supportive a way as a venue could possibly hope for.
Thank you for a damn good year and for being part of the next chapter in this building’s history which we hope is only just beginning.
– Ben, Jimmy, Bryn, Beck, Cara, Kez and the denizens of the Netherworld.
