While a lot has changed in The Valley over the last 25 years, one thing has remained consistent - the fact that you always have the time of your life when you go to The Beat. The Megaclub has just celebrated its 25th Birthday with the most spectacular party this town has seen in a long time, which is an ideal time for us to commemorate this amazing venue.

Scene Magazine | Interviews | CELEBRATING 25 YEARS.

It's easy to love The Beat because it's so much more than just a nightclub - for many, it's a home away from home, a place where generations have partied, discovered electronic music, maybe discovered themselves, found the love of their lives, or maybe just love for one night. Most of all, people have had a great time because they've felt totally comfortable to be themselves at The Beat.

The 25th Birthday Party on Sunday November 30 was a spectacular 12-hour celebration full to the brim of everyone who has loved this venue throughout the years. In addition to the dozens of DJs, drag performances, hundreds of giveaways, a massive buffet, birthday cake and five scooter giveaways, there was also a very special man present on the night. He doesn't come by The Beat as much as he used to, but he's been behind the scenes all these years, doing everything he can to make sure everyone always has a great time.

He is the man who bought this venue to life - John Hannay. “Five years after it was started as The Beat, the company bought it, and when we first went in… it was like one narrow shop,” John recalls. “It was absolutely run down to the max, we had do an enormous amount of work!”
John recalls his very first night managing the club.

“It was my first experience of running something in the Valley nightlife. I was sitting at the end of the bar ... and all of a sudden there's police coming in the front door and the back door, on the first Saturday night I'd been in the place, and they reckoned that they saw some kids in the toilet smoking dope. So I said, 'Well go in there and have a look yourself!' And there wasn't. They came out and said, 'Oh, we don't know where we got that information from!' That was my introduction to the place, and it was all great fun.”

John says in the early days he learned a lot of valuable lessons about the nightclub business from a man called Ken Brodziak, who brought The Beatles to Australia. “Ken always used to say to me, when I was 16 and 17 years old, 'If they don't pay, they don't stay!' and he had another saying, 'Consistency wins every race, and slow and steady comes second and third’.”John Hannay has followed Ken’s advice religiously and this is why you'll find The Beat open 365 days a year, and always till 5am.

“We’d maintain the music and the DJs until legal closing time every night. Even if there was no-one in there for two hours, we’d still keep it going. It's such a part of Brisbane, and even the taxi drivers, particularly in the early part of the week when nothing is open in Brisbane … that's where they take them. Because they know, without having to ring up and check, they know that the place is open.”

John Hannay was also the first man to bring dance music into The Valley. Back then, even though Spandau Ballet were topping the charts, dance music culture was completely nonexistent in Brisbane.

“The Beat, was sort of the only place in Brisbane that played continuous dance music. We had some very good DJs and we were the first to bring southern DJs up to play in a nightclub, not in a rave party.”

However, running a great nightclub isn't all about the DJs or the renovations, says John. It's really important to make sure that everybody feels safe, and comfortable enough to be themselves.

“We've always maintained a really good security structure for the people. We are pretty rigidly strict at the front door. It's not the sort of place where the people in there … they don't want to see groups of thuggy-looking people. They can relax and have a good time and they don't have to worry about mugs annoying them.”

John says the staff at The Beat do whatever they can to make sure people feel safe.“They keep an excellent eye on the drinking side of it, and we do a lot of secret drug investigation, in our own right, with undercover security,” says John. “We do that to make sure that it isn't out of control. No-one has any control over what goes on in the streets, but inside we really do try to make sure that there's no major dealing going on and I think that's important.”

While The Beat has clearly been the love of John Hannay's life, he's now getting a different kind of kick out of the venue - the fact that the children of some of his very first customers are now coming in and discovering the venue.

“There's been some really happy things. Now people's kids, you know, Mum and Dad met there and now their kids have turned 18 and they're now coming back to The Beat. They're pretty proud moments. The kids have been very loyal, there's been an enormous amount of joy and fun given to a lot of people.”

Here’s to the next 25 years. Happy Birthday!

Hayley Ward