This well-known live act venue is a home away from home for Fitzroy's starving artists, students and miscellaneous music lovers. Tone deaf locals also come here for beer and gourmet pub food.
With its well-loved pool table, oddball assortment of furniture and rustic garden, The Empress is almost a natural extension of the over-crowded lounge rooms of the surrounding Fitzroy flats. While the lap rug and slippers are best left at home, the dress code isn't very much fussier than that - think starving-artist chic.
The building's history as a local watering hole extends back a good 150 years, while the last 20 have seen it become well established as a live act venue, playing host to a variety of underground bands. The music ranges from indie pop to hip hop but avoids anything too heavy in order to preserve good relations with any of the pub's less musically inclined neighbours.
While local bands dominate the stage from Wednesdays to Saturdays, Tuesday nights offer open mic entertainment: its a free-for-all, where wannabe musos strut their stuff on the stage in the hope of being picked for the following Monday's singer/songwriter night.
In a twist on the usual Trivial Pursuit-style pub trivia, The Empress hosts a rock trivia quiz on Sunday nights, where the team with the greatest musical knowledge carts away a slab of Mountain Goat beer.
However, even the tone deaf and musically illiterate have good reason to head to The Empress, as its kitchen churns out delicate gourmet nibbles alongside the usual pint-soaking pub grub.
Shelley Tustin
