Queensland first: Nightclub TEMPO to stay open after sunrise to 9am

A Gold Coast nightclub operator is staying open after sunrise - and hopes its radical 9am closing will be a catalyst for longer liquor licensing in Queensland. See where and when

A Gold Coast nightclub is keeping the doors open after sunrise till 9am - and calling on state government to extend trading hours in a bid to keep Queensland’s night-life competitive.

TEMPO, dubbed the “home of Latin” house and techno music, has taken a samba step towards its South American roots to lock in all-night party hours from 10pm Saturdays to 9am Sundays.

Operator Artesian Hospitality’s partner Matt Keegan revealed TEMPO, which replaced famed nightclub Sin City down a Surfers laneway, will have the radically extended opening hours from this weekend.

SinCity Nightclub in Surfers Paradise has been replaced by TEMPO - and it plans to stay open until 9am on Sundays. Picture: JERAD WILLIAMS

TEMPO, an underground style club, will stop serving alcohol from 3am as required by Queensland law but keep the party pumping inside until 9am.

“We’re the only place in Queensland to do it and we thought it’s crazy no-one is giving a home to people who want to party into the early hours of the morning,” Mr Keegan said.

“Extended trading hours need to become a permanent reality for Queensland, and especially for the entertainment precincts like Fortitude Valley and Surfers Paradise,” Mr Keegan said.

Mr Keegan said he wanted to see extending licensing for operators in Queensland where last drinks are at 3am.

“NSW and Victoria have already gone back to 5am and 24-hour trading times because they know that reduced hours don’t work and it makes the city uncompetitive,” he said.

In 2016, the Queensland Government introduced new laws in response to community concerns around alcohol-fuelled violence across the sunshine state.

TEMPO Surfers Paradise plans to stay open until 9am in an unprecedented move. Abbey Case ,DJ Kevin Paviani and Lisa Hegedus are ready to keep the party going. Picture: Glenn Hampson

Queensland’s “last drinks” laws brought final drinks forward from 5am for some venues, to 2am for clubs and pubs across the state. Entertainment precincts can serve drinks until 3am under the state laws. The crackdown also banned shots after midnight and made ID-scanning mandatory from 10pm.

The south-east Queensland 2032 Olympic Games would draw in an international crowd, and Mr Keegan said he hoped the state government would re-evaluate the tighter liquor licensing and operating laws placed on entertainment precincts across the state seven years ago.

“There’s no question it has to be done – and hopefully it’s done sooner than later we can get everything in place and operating smoothly prior to the arrival of the games,” he said

“The international crowd TEMPO attracts loves to party; and they don’t want it to end at 3am.

“We may look to extend it even further once we see how the crowd reacts.”

TEMPO nightclub staff Abbey Case and Lisa Hegedus. Picture: Glenn Hampson

Mr Keegan added TEMPO headliners Fenrick, Belocca and Luca Agnelli - who had played sets at the world’s biggest festivals including Burning Man and Tomorrowland - found it a “shock” to come to a party capital with 3am last drinks.

Tempo DJ Kevin Paviani said there was demand for post-3am nightclubbing on the Gold Coast: “Every time we finish the party at 3am we end up all in my house or my business partner’s house with 100-150 people, sometime 200.”

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner has come out with a vision for Brisbane including a “Barcelona-style” party city for the Games, calling for lockout laws to be dropped.

Mr Schrinner said in March Brisbane had the opportunity to be a global city as a result of the Games and “should aim to be the Barcelona of the Southern Hemisphere”.

The MP for Surfers Paradise says he “doesn’t have any problem” with a precinct nightclub staying open until after sunrise.

New venue TEMPO, which replaced Sin City down a Surfers laneway, is starting an all-nighter rave party every Saturday fromthis weekend with a 9am close. It will stop serving booze at 3am as required by law but keep the party pumping six hours.

Surfers Paradise MP John-Paul Langbroek said as long as it passed the licencing restrictions he “doesn’t have any problemwith it”.

“If people want to run a business and run it their way and attract a different type of clientele, as long as they’re abidingby the rules and the laws.

“It’s what the Gold Coast is known for, lots of variety, and lots of things that make people want to come here and have agood time,” he said,

Experience Gold Coast CEO John Warn declined to comment.