The immortal Town & Country Hotel in Sydney’s inner west made famous by Slim Dusty has suddenly closed, a casualty of NIMBYs, rising costs and a landlord dispute.
According to its website, the historic Town & Country of St Peters was originally established in 1821.
More than a century later it reached wider fame courtesy of a song released at the end of 1980 by the famous Australian singer-songwriter.
“We drink at the Town and Country … where the atmosphere is great … I love to have a beer with Duncan, ’cause Duncan’s me mate,” declared Dusty, also filming the song’s music video in ‘his local’ with his friend and publican, Duncan Urquart.
Duncan rapidly went to number one on the Australian charts, and stayed on the charts for around 23 weeks, becoming Dusty’s second-biggest hit after the Pub with No Beer.
Another few decades passed before then licensee and tenant Brandon Lynch fell on hard times, posting notice in early 2016 the old girl would be “closing tonight forever”. With customary pizzazz the T&C proclaimed it would not be going quietly, announcing the ‘Schools Out Show’, bringing Alice Cooper to say goodbye.
The closure was short lived, when six years’ ago Helen Filips took on a new operation that sustained the tradition of supporting live music, hosting regular bands and weekly events.
This period saw the suburban rocker overcome plenty of challenges, notably the Westconnex disruption, the cellar flooding, licensing issues and the global pandemic, but despite concerted recent efforts to negotiate building repairs and terms with the landlord – amid a regular barrage of complaints from neighbours – this week Filips reluctantly declared “unsuccessful mediation”.
A statement posted on social media spoke of great sadness and loyal customers “who have become friends”, detailing that they have been forced to cease trading after the doors were abruptly locked.
“We worked our way through it all and we would’ve loved to continue to bring life to the Inner West, however we are now unable to do so.”
The notice expresses that Filips is devastated by the outcome but also that they have had “the time of our lives” at the rock institution.
According to the Minister for the Night-time Economy & Music, John Graham, NSW has seen the loss of half of its live music venues over the past decade.
PubTIC was unable to reach Helen Filips prior to publication.