Valve Bar & Venue, Tempe

900 Princes Highway, Tempe
Those present: Joe Blogs, The Red Baron
Review time: Friday night gig

The Red Baron visits Valve Bar & venue

"Desert oasis?"

I had heard of The Valve Bar & Venue and passed it a number of times in the car driving along Princes Highway but I hadn't had a reason to check it out .... 'til now. And I'm glad I did.




Along the desert stretch of Princes Highway, Tempe, Valve Bar & Venue (previously The Harp and sometime before that, Riverview Hotel) stands quietly, dimly lit at night, with those passing by none the wiser of what lies within. I was quite surprised when I entered the doors to find a spacious front bar with a gritty and cruisy attitude.

The Red Baron enjoying a pint of Coopers Pale Ale, Valve bar

Rooms, rooms, rooms. I wandered briefly through the spaces, grabbed a beer and headed for the band room out the back, which was why I was here tonight (a shout out to Adelaide band The Scabs. "Hi!"). I'll come back to the band room shortly. The first beer tonight was of course the now almost mandatory review Carlton Draught, which hit my wallet for $5. Not a terrible price at all although given the location and style of pub, I was expecting less. But that said, no complaints and $5 is a nice round number. I don't know if we've mentioned it before but what is it with $4.80, $5.30, $5.70, etc?! How about 50cent increments to make it easier for all. Less changey bullshit.

While waiting for my accomplice, The Red Baron, I decided to take in a bit more of the venue. The front bar is kind of divided in two sections, with the main section of the bar kissing the front doors and windows of the building and overlooking an open area with a few bar stools, wine barrel table, booth areas and around a partition wall, a surprise pool table and arcade game room. Cool. The smaller part of the bar faces back towards the band room.

Sneaky pool table

I explored on. Heading through a door off the main bar area I discovered a large decky dining space. Having already eaten earlier I passed on sampling anything from the kitchen, so I can't really comment on the food. This spot overlooks an even bigger beer garden area, which I was totally not expecting. It's a bit 'concretey' but was doing the job tonight by providing an escape for the musos and punters. Out here there's also a grass area with tables under palm trees but this part of back was not lit up and therefore not in action.

Heading back to the band room, now with The Red Baron I was waiting for earlier, we grabbed another beer. This time upgrading to a pint. The Adelaide visitor opted for our home town favourite Coppers Pale Ale, and being an SA expat myself, I was more than willing to agree with the choice. Note here for Sydney people: stop calling it "Green" (and Sparkling Ale is called Sparking Ale not "Red", and so on), it's ridiculous. Stop it. Anyway, pint of Coopers Pale Ale was $8.00. We also dabbled in some Kilkenny pints a bit later at $8.50.

Now back to the gig area out back. Apparently the team that runs the Tempe venue hail from New Zealand and were behind the well-known Wellington venue "Valve", which hosted many gigs over a ten year period, providing a venue for bands such as Shihad and The Black Seeds. The Tempe venue hosts multiple shows a week and is well placed, in that respect, to become a well known Sydney gigging ground. Unfortunately, in my opinion, the location probably cripples that a little. Let me know if you think otherwise.

Adelaide band The Scabs visit Valve

Walking through a doorway off the bar, under a bicycle and a few other ceiling-mounted items, is where you'll find the stage and room for gig-goers. The band room is a good size for a smaller show with enough room for standing as well as some couches and high tables along the walls. The lighting rig looked pretty home-jobby but the equipment on it was decent enough.

Quite enjoyed my first Valve experience tonight (and catching some Adelaide Scabs drama) and hope to have some more reasons in the future to come again. All in all, a positive visit and not a bad pub. It has enough of that grunginess to keep it real while not being a complete rat hole. If you haven't got along yet, find an upcoming gig and go check it out.

2.5

http://www.valvebar.com.au/