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It was early on a Thursday night in the first week of June last year that I got the call at home from Cherry Bar Manager Anna telling me our building was on fire. Believe me those words can get you off the couch pretty quick. When I arrived at AC/DC Lane it was about 7.45pm and there were eleven fire trucks on the scene of what was described by one senior fireman as “the biggest CBD fire in over 25 years.” And those firemen were excited as a result. They broke every window in the building and had literally dozens of high pressure hoses pouring Lake Eyre into the top of our old two storey building. Being in the basement Cherry actually didn’t suffer any fire damage per se, but water filled our bar like a tsunami drenching everything including our famous vinyl collection.

Turns out the fire was intentionally lit by a senior manager of Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen restaurant, a guy called Kevin Stralow, the world’s stupidest criminal. After allegedly stealing some $23 000 from the restaurant he punched his individual security code into the alarm system in their offices around the corner from the restaurant and directly above Cherry. He then set a fire to cover his tracks. Every camera in Flinders Lane caught him leaving hurriedly moments before the roof went up in flames. The Fifteen restaurant didn’t miss one night of trading. Jamie Oliver and his staff failed to send a single word of condolensce to the businesses that his manager destroyed. Not so much as a salsa recipe from the prick!

When Lord Mayor John So officially opened AC/DC Lane he declared “AC/DC is famous for a Highway To Hell, but this will be a Laneway to Heaven!” Seeing Cherry Shot Down In Flames it soon became obvious that just getting the bar to re-open was going to be a highway to Hell for us. Assessing the water damage we estimated that within two weeks we could replace the floors, carpets, stereo system, fridges, etc. and be ready to return dirty rock n roll to the music lovers of Melbourne, until Council pointed out that we couldn’t open until we had a roof above us. “We do have a roof” we naively protested, “No, you have a ceiling. It’s the roof two storeys above you that needs replacing.” Insurance companies and builders conspired to move like a glacier on replacing the roof. Cherry Bar was to be closed for seven agonising months. Staff went without work. Owners moved out of home and sold properties. And Melbourne went without its spiritual home of rock n roll.

Cherry Partner Lazy Pete Lewis cancelled his family holiday and in a minor miracle spearheaded the re-opening of the bar. Council provided official written approval to re-open at 7.18pm on New Year’s Eve. Cherry opened its doors at 7.30pm that night with AC/DC’s ‘Let There Be Rock’ christening the new stereo system.

There was talk of cancelling our annual April rock n roll street festival, CherryRock009. There wasn’t enough time. There wasn’t enough money. Times were too tough. Too hard basket. But that’s what people like Jamie Oliver expected. They never thought we’d re-open. They never thought we’d be back. But they’d underestimated the evil powers of rock n roll. CherryRock009 will go ahead with 14 acts, 2 stages, 500 tickets and a 25% reduction in ticket price. We’re flying The Datsuns across from New Zealand for their only Australian date. Peter Pan Speed Rock from the Netherlands joins the bill. Six Ft Hick from Brisbane. Neon and the Hell City Glamours from Sydney, plus Melbourne’s finest and grimiest, Mammoth Mammoth, Dynamo, Digger and The Pussycats and many more. For Those About To Rock… Cherry Bar salutes you!

James Young 6 April 2009






Quincy joins The Sons Of Lee Marvin on stage at Cherry Bar to pay Tribute to Lux Interior and The Cramps....

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