The rooftop extension final stage of the super-chilled Lulie Tavern officially opens to the public tonight, ushering in Full Moon Fever.
Found in the heart of inner Melbourne’s Abbotsford, Full Moon Fever is the “missing piece” to the Lulie Tavern puzzle, and ready just in time for summer to welcome all comers. A lift to the rooftop finds a space decked with a retractable roof and a cosy outdoor wood burner essential for year-round enjoyment in the city of Melbourne.
The rooftop is intended to be an animated extension of and complement to the rest of the venue. The name Full Moon Fever is a nod to the great Tom Petty*, who can be found on the walls and through the speakers of the tavern downstairs.
Lulie Tavern sports a “saloon-y”, rock n’ roll feel, panelled with warm wood lit by the glow from scattered neon lights, adorned with collections of memorabilia and gifts from patrons, and offering a place to dance, play free pool anytime and listen to great local bands and DJs.
Inspiration for the venue came from trips by founders Jon-Lee Farrell and Brendan Kennedy to the California Desert – off the beaten track to iconic saloons of the likes of Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace.
Farrell describes it as an “Australian outback nod to the ‘Old West’ style of the desert bars in California”.
Both friends and business partners, Farrell and Kennedy have a history working together that led them to venture into business. They first opened the original Lulie St Tavern in 2015.
Drawn to the Taranto Shoes building in Abbotsford to open a bar, they were directed to a vacant warehouse out back, which became the small, DIY neighbourhood bar Lulie St Tavern, later known as Old Lulie.
As a lease on the site came to an end, their passion relocated to creating the nearby Lulie Tavern, which has been grown and evolved since 2018. Old Lulie is now closed for good and large elements of the original site’s building were incorporated in the move, including huge beams of Oregon timber and Northcote factory bricks.
Beyond the former Old Lulie, Farrell and Kennedy steer the ship at Kelso’s Sandwich Shoppe, and the bespoke LuliePalooza Festival, but the full-blown Lulie has become the dream saloon they always wanted.
“When you walk upstairs, we want the rooftop to take you away the same way downstairs does,” says Farrell.
“We want our patrons to feel as though they can continue to party by the open fire on the rooftop, dancing under the stars, or head downstairs to hit the dance floor with our live music.”
Now set amongst the smorgasbord of hospitality offerings on a prime lot on Johnston Street, team Lulie says it is striving to attract “rock n’ roll music-loving, band-loving, good time-loving, family-friendly, margarita-sipping burger-chugging people!”
*Full Moon Fever was the debut solo studio album by Tom Petty, released 1989.
