{"id":125377,"date":"2025-12-26T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-25T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/?p=125377"},"modified":"2025-12-19T09:50:32","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T22:50:32","slug":"survival-song-requests-and-the-spirit-of-geelong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/living\/survival-song-requests-and-the-spirit-of-geelong\/","title":{"rendered":"Survival, song requests and the spirit of Geelong"},"content":{"rendered":"

ON ANY given weekend in Geelong, a crowd begins to form outside a venue tucked into Little Malop Street.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not a nightclub or a fine-dining restaurant. It\u2019s Piano Bar \u2013 a place where music, laughter, and the odd round of afterpay-financed drinks converge under the stewardship of Andy Pobjoy.<\/p>\n

Andy, who launched Piano Bar over a decade ago, never imagined his cruise ship piano gigs would become the template for a hospitality mainstay in regional Victoria.<\/p>\n

“I used to work on cruise ships,” he says. “There, you\u2019d get everyone from eight to 88 in the room. What brought them together was the music.”<\/p>\n

From the outset, Andy understood that in a town like Geelong, you can\u2019t afford to be niche. “There\u2019s just not the market for a jazz bar or a heavy metal venue alone,” he explains. “You have to thread the needle and include everybody.”<\/p>\n

That sense of inclusion became Piano Bar\u2019s heartbeat. Night after night, requests are scribbled down and handed over, resulting in anything from Elton John singalongs to boisterous group ballads.<\/p>\n

“Even just for a few hours on a Saturday night, it\u2019s like people are on holiday. The escapism has been key.”<\/p>\n

When COVID hit, that holiday ended abruptly. But Andy pivoted fast, broadcasting live piano sessions from inside the empty venue to a city stuck at home.<\/p>\n

“We had cameras facing us, but behind them was $150,000 of alcohol from four venues. It was harrowing,” he recalls. “But reading the comments and seeing how much it meant to people… it got me through it too.”<\/p>\n

He played live for 100 consecutive nights. That effort wasn\u2019t just performance; it was community service.<\/p>\n

“Still, two or three times a week, someone comes up and says thank you. It wasn\u2019t selfless. I needed it too.”<\/p>\n

Post-pandemic, Piano Bar saw a surge. “People were bored and cashed up,” he laughs. “The loyalty and kindness we felt after that period was unreal.”<\/p>\n

It also marked a turning point in how the venue operated. For the first time, they introduced cover charges. New Spanish-style tapas dishes were added to the menu. A partnership with Lou\u2019s Pizza just across the road brought fresh flavours \u2013 and foot traffic.<\/p>\n

But the high didn\u2019t last. With cost-of-living pressures mounting, Andy says it\u2019s become harder to get people through the door midweek.<\/p>\n

“People are choosing between going out or keeping their kids in soccer. That discretionary spend, the fun money, it\u2019s dried up.”<\/p>\n

One telling sign?<\/p>\n

“We\u2019re seeing up to 2 per cent of our turnover paid through Afterpay. People are using it for rounds of drinks. I have mixed feelings about that.”<\/p>\n

Andy knows Piano Bar must now sell more than music. “You can get booze from Dan Murphy\u2019s, food from Uber Eats, entertainment from Netflix. We have to offer something better than what\u2019s already at home.”<\/p>\n

That comes down to experience and value. “We\u2019re not going back to $1 pots on a Thursday. But we\u2019ve got to be good value for money.”<\/p>\n

He\u2019s also vocal about broader challenges facing central Geelong: limited public transport, a perception of safety concerns, and the need to increase CBD residency.<\/p>\n

“Less than 1 per cent of Geelong lives in the CBD. That\u2019s scandalous,” he says. “We need people living in town who want to go out on a Tuesday night.”<\/p>\n

Despite the obstacles, Andy remains committed. Piano Bar now pops up for coastal gigs in Portarlington and at the Lorne Theatre. They take a slice of ticket sales, the venue takes the bar. Everyone wins.<\/p>\n

“It’s getting people to you that’s the hard part,” he says. “Once they\u2019re in, they always have a great time.”<\/p>\n

That resilience is what Andy counts as his proudest achievement. “The fact we survived, that we\u2019re still here after everything, that\u2019s the highlight.”<\/p>\n

He keeps his focus tight. No sprawling accounts, no overdue supplier tabs. “Everything is paid when the order goes in. I need to know exactly where I stand.”<\/p>\n

When asked about musical idols, he doesn\u2019t name Elton or Billy Joel. Instead, it\u2019s old friends he misses, people he wishes he could see more often. “I work every weekend. It\u2019s hard.”<\/p>\n

And while he jokes about playing the same 200 songs every weekend, the passion hasn\u2019t dulled.<\/p>\n

“The music stays the same. But the business keeps evolving. That\u2019s what keeps me coming back.”<\/p>\n

To hear more from Andy Pobjoy, listen to The Local Palate <\/em>podcast, available on all major platforms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ON ANY given weekend in Geelong, a crowd begins to form outside a venue tucked into Little Malop Street. It\u2019s not a nightclub or a fine-dining restaurant. It\u2019s Piano Bar \u2013 a place where music, laughter, and the odd round of afterpay-financed drinks converge under the stewardship of Andy Pobjoy. Andy, who launched Piano Bar […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":242,"featured_media":125380,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-125377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-living"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSurvival, song requests and the spirit of Geelong - Geelong Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Experience live music, community vibes, and Andy Pobjoy\u2019s Geelong Piano Bar magic.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/living\/survival-song-requests-and-the-spirit-of-geelong\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Survival, song requests and the spirit of Geelong - 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