Yours & Owls to Lead Live Music Programming at New Smith St Hotel

Yours & Owls will oversee live programming at Melbourne's new Smith St Hotel - located at the former Gasometer Hotel - opening later this month. 

Located at 484 Smith Street in Collingwood, the venue is being revived by acclaimed restaurateur Scott Pickett, who said the project was driven by a desire to preserve a landmark live music space rather than watch it disappear to redevelopment.

Known for restaurants including Smith St Bistrot, Estelle, Longrain and Chancery Lane, Pickett described it as a neighbourhood pub first and foremost - one built around live music, community and good hospitality.

“The question we've probably been asked most is whether Smith St Hotel will become a gastro pub,” he said. “Are we a gastro pub? Fuck no. We're a live music venue, with great food and drinks.” 

The venue was a fixture of Melbourne's music community as the Gasometer Hotel, hosting countless local and touring acts before its closure last year. In February 2025, director James Martelletti announced he was "moving onto other projects" and was looking for someone to take over operations. But a month later, "despite our best efforts and some solid offers put forward", building owners rejected the offers and chose to close the venue. 

Rather than reinventing the space, the team behind Smith St Hotel said the goal is to continue the Gasometer Hotel's legacy while ensuring the venue remains part of Collingwood's cultural fabric for years to come. 

Programming will be overseen by live music company Yours & Owls, which has spent nearly two decades booking venues, festivals and cultural events across Australia. 

"We are really excited to be working with Smith Street Hotel because of its rich history and its deep ties to the Melbourne live music community from its time as the Gasometer Hotel, as well as the significant potential it holds for the future," said Yours & Owls' Ben Tillman.

"It's a strong team with a clear vision, and we are looking forward to helping rebuild the community around the venue and contributing to what we believe will become one of Melbourne's premier live music spaces for a room of this size."

Programming will feature both Australian and international touring acts while placing a strong emphasis on emerging local artists, with the venue aiming to become a regular home for the city's independent music community. 

The reopening has also been welcomed by key figures across Australia's music sector, including Music Victoria CEO Fiona Duncan and PBS General Manager Kristen Paterson.

“When a live music venue is kept alive, the whole ecosystem benefits,” Duncan said. “The former Gasometer Hotel reopening as Smith St Hotel builds on the site's legacy and keeps live music embedded in the Collingwood community, supporting artists, audiences and the neighbourhood that surrounds it."

Paterson added: “Spaces like Smith St Hotel are essential to how audiences discover artists and how scenes stay connected. As a Collingwood based broadcaster, it is especially exciting to see a live music room reopening in our own neighbourhood, with community at its core.”

Smith St Hotel will officially open on July 24th. 

From Rolling Stone AU/NZ