Surfers Paradise: Motorsport icon recalls wild memories at Melbas
The Glitter Strip won’t be the same after revelations iconic venue Melbas would not “reopen ever again” – but we’ll always have the hazy memories.
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THE Glitter Strip won’t be the same after revelations iconic venue Melbas would not “reopen ever again” – but we’ll always have the hazy memories.
During its colourful 39 years of trading, it should be no surprise the Cavill Avenue-based entertainment hotspot has had its fair-share of wild parties.
Over the years, motorsport identity Brett “Crusher” Murray has hosted some of the biggest car racing dos there, always using the venue for Indy and GC600 after-parties.
“Drivers would come out a week early and I would take care of them and make sure they were well looked after,” Crusher says.
“We would party on a Sunday night. We had cracking nights. Those nights were always very, very large.
“There were many times on a Monday morning we could leave with the sun coming up with the drivers rushing to get back to their hotels to catch the bus back to the airport.
“(But also) there were plenty of nights drivers left early with a Miss Indy contestant.”
The club was opened in 1981 by Gold Coast Glitter Strip identity Paul Allen. He was forced to relinquish control 27-years later in 2008 as debts mounted after a $10 million expansion of the two-level establishment. He then passed away in 2011.
“Paul was always great to us. He knew how to promote,” Crusher says.
“I wouldn’t say (I’m) devastated (about Melbas closure) but it’s certainly very sad. It’s an end of an era.
“People coming to the Gold Coast over the years, or who grew up here - everyone had their own Melbas story,” Crusher says.
“That was the place you spent many nights starting there and ending there.”
A source says a team of Gold Coast hospitality “heavyweights” are planning to launch a new “super venue” at the site in future.
But as previously revealed in the Bulletin it won’t reopen under the longtime Melbas banner.
It’s understood 50 casual staff and five full-timers were laid off on Tuesday. It followed a New Year’s Eve closure of Melbas club NXT LVL.
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