Star Hotel riot
The Star Hotel riot, occasioned by the closing of a popular pub, was one of the largest riots in Australian history. An estimated 4,000 people fought with police on the streets of Newcastle, New South Wales on the night of 19 September 1979.
History
The Star Hotel for many years was a run downpub with one bar. In the mid-1960s Newcastle Police were asked to assist with the removal of Newcastle's few openly gay patrons from the Great Northern Hotel. The owners of The Great Northern Hotel felt that their hotel was not an appropriate venue for gays.
The police drove drag queens Stella and Glenda and a few others to the Star. An old woman with arthritic fingers was playing tunes such as "Roll Out the Barrel" when they arrived.
Stella asked if the barmaid could open up the front bar, which faced Hunter Street. The first Saturday night Stella and Glenda climbed up onto the bar and began to mime to Shirley Bassey numbers. The Palais Dance Hall was directly across from the Hotel in Hunter Street. The crowd from the Palais that were gathered on the Street had not seen anything like this before. Within minutes 50 or so noses pressed against the pub windows and then the crowd started to trickle in.
The next Friday and Saturday night were standing room only. They opened the bar facing Scott Street that had been abandoned years before where bands such as Rick Poynton's Benny and the Jets regularly played to packed houses.
The Star Hotel, in the West End district of Newcastle, Australia, was a pub and live music venue that catered to young people, gays and merchant seamen. It featured drag shows and live music in all genres. The Star was run down, and had attracted negative attention from the authorities.
The owners, Tooth and Co. closed the bar with one week's notice, inspiring a protest campaign. The Star's final night was Wednesday, 19 September 1979.
Riot
The Star's final night featured live music and free beer. Attendees remember that at 10pm the police interrupted the band in the middle of a song and demanded that everyone leave immediately, creating a hostile reaction. As the patrons began leaving, confrontations began with a small contingent of police, which escalated into throwing of missiles, arrests, injuries and the burning of cars over the following two hours. The event was covered by local TV stations and made international news.
Popular culture
The Star Hotel closure was the subject of a song by Australian band Cold Chisel.
The band playing on riot night was the Heroes, who prophetically played the song Star and the Slaughter.[1][2]
References
- ↑ "The night the Star exploded".
- ↑ CHAD WATSON (9 January 2015). "The real story behind the Star Hotel riot". Newcastle Herald.
External links
- Star Hotel Riots: 1979—links to audio and video
- The night the Star exploded
- Baker, Kevin (2006). Mutiny, terrorism, riots and murder: a history of sedition in Australia and New Zealand. Rosenberg. pp. 186–87. ISBN 978-1-877058-49-3.