Tilley's Divine Cafe Gallery

Tilley's Devine Cafe Gallery is so different to anything else on offer, the place is guaranteed to permeate a positive vibe that will linger in the minds of customers until their next visit.

With elegant, dark wood fittings, a moody, deep red colour scheme, and soft jazz wafting between the old-fashioned booths lining the walls, there are some things essentially nostalgic and cinematic about Tilley's romantic atmosphere, reminiscent of a Hollywood film noir.

Owner and manager Paulie Higgisson says when Tilley's opened its doors for the first time in January, 1984, it could only seat 60, and yet 420 people turned up. Since then, each year at Tilley's has been bigger than the previous one.

It has been extended five times, eventually taking over the entire block. It was the first licensed outdoor venue in Australia, as well as being the first bar to ban indoor smoking, which occurred eight years before there were any actual laws in the place.

Tilley's was not intended to be a live music venue in the very beginning. Higgisson's skill and background as a music producer and sound engineer meant that the musical aspect grew almost inevitably. No great surprise then, that for the last 16 years, Higgisson has never had to call a musician to ask them to play. They've all come to her.

But it's the music-loving audiences at Tilley's which are its greatest asset, inspiring awe among the endless line-up of musical luminaries and internationally acclaimed acts who have performed there over the years.

It appears that, even in the most well-known music clubs throughout the world, it's unusual to find people willing to shut up and listen in a place which is primarily a bar. But shut up and listen they do, which is what has so many artists beating down Tilley's door.