Normanby Hotel calls last drinks Sunday before it is refurbished

A Brisbane music legend who was the pied piper for thousands of Normanby Hotel patrons for more than 300 gigs says its closure for a months-long series of renovations marks the end of an era.

LOCAL music marvel Tuffy, who made Sunday sessions legendary at the Normanby Hotel, said it’s the end of an era for the pub and unfortunately won’t be there to farewell it this weekend.

The moustachioed musician played more than 300 Sunday’s during the peak of the Normanby Hotel’s reign as the premier Sunday destination from 2005 to 2012.

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The most requested song was Horses and said he even had a male crudely offer him sexual favours if he played the Daryl Braithwaite tune which he declined.

“It was an era when there were no dating service apps like Tinder and the pub was the place to meet. People don’t meet in pubs anymore and when you play a gig now, half the people are on their phones,” Tuffy said.

“It was an institution and I never played to a more consistently successful residency. It was amazing.

“Horses was the most requested song and one guy did offer to do something to me if I played it.”

Tuffy (middle) was the star attraction of the legendary Sunday sessions at the Normanby Hotel. Pic Tuffy

The Normanby will close on Sunday for several months in preparation for an extensive makeover.

The Pelathon Management Group, which also owns Grand Central Hotel, entered a two-year lease with the option to buy the freehold after three years.

Not once during his reign at the Normanby did Tuffy ever say goodbye or announce his final song or set.

Instead he just walked off stage at 10pm on Sundays, turned up the music and left his gear behind to give the impression he was returning that night to play. He never did.

“A fair part of my history in this town is the Normanby Hotel which goes back to the eighties,” Tuffy told The Courier-Mail.

“Part of the success was the formula and the crowd knew what they would get every time they went.

“I’d never announce my last song. I just left my gear on stage, which I would collect the next day, and people would just keep dancing and having a good time without thinking I wasn’t coming back.”

If not for the Normanby Hotel, Tuffy would most likely still be selling real estate.

He had quit playing to crowds on a full-time basis before the Sunday sessions boomed at the Normanby and he only accepted the invitation to perform at the behest of close friend and the pub’s manager Mark “Trunk” Lassman who, Tuffy said, was the ultimate ideas man.

“Most of my private functions now are from people who have met at the Normanby. I don’t how many I’ve done, but it’s a lot,” he said.

The packed dance floor at a Normanby Hotel Sunday session where Tuffy played more than 300 gigs. Pic: Tuffy

He said at the peak of their reign, the pub took more than $100,000 regularly across the bar on a Sunday, but like everything, all good things have to come to an end.

“We didn’t drop off straight away, it was a gradual decline,” he said.

“Also everything came together. We only had one wet Sunday for a few years and it was at a stage where the Victory had burnt down, the Regatta was on its last legs knees and the Stock Exchange was being renovated.”

One of the more moments, and there were many, was the night Screaming Jet’s lead singer Dave Gleeson dropped in and joined him on stage.

“He got up in the early days … and we sang a few tunes including Mamma Mia and Rio. Hard to imagine Dave Gleeson singing Abba, but he did.”

When the last drinks are being served at the Normanby, as we know it, on Sunday, Tuffy will be in Dayboro where will play at an after-party for the rodeo.

However, he can be seen, more often than not, at Tugun Surf Life Saving Club where he has a semi-residency on Sundays.