The Beaufort Street Festival launch at Defectors Bar in Mt Lawley last night came to a premature end when the ceiling partially collapsed by a number of centimetres, causing the floor to shake and bottles to fall from the shelving behind the bar.
Not unusually, X-Press was near the bar at the time whilst the speeches were occurring and cracks were visible in the exposed brickwork. A stunned silence greeted the surreal scenario, not unlike an earth tremor, before calm was (calmly) requested and patrons made their way downstairs via the exit and fire escape. Hundreds gathered outside on the street in front of The Flying Scotsman, which was also evacuated, as well as The Velvet Lounge (also resulting in a gig cancellation in that room).
As of 1pm today (Thursday), The Velvet Lounge was re-opened to the public. It’s not yet clear as to how the structural fault in the main of the building will affect trade. The Scotto is keeping friends updated on their Facebook page
Not to forget, the Beaufort Street Festival is just around the corner on Saturday, November 16, and it looks to be another cracking (sorry) year. All the details are here
