Roadtest: Adelaide Oval’s bars
It’s around 40 years since I worked as a barman at Adelaide Oval – in the days when we wore white shirts, black bow ties and served ice cold beer in a glass with a perfect head.
The beer was 19 cents a butcher and we put the change in saucers and the notes underneath them.
Its this historic qualification that saw me selected from a long list of volunteers for the tough task of completing InDaily’s ratings of the new bars in Adelaide Oval’s brave new world.
The stadium’s management had left no stone unturned for opening day.
Not only were there more bars and toilets than at any time in the ground’s history, but there were a few “extras” – caravans rolled in to fill any spare space and dispense beer.
These bars are a good spot to be if you’re not into big crowds and being spotted in the “right places”.
Next stop was the Phil Ridings Bar – this is up on the second level of the western stand and is famous for being opened three years ago as the new member’s bar and having no toilet. Then InDaily editor Des Ryan’s stinging piece on the logic of having to go outside for relief, and then wait in line again to get back in, still rates regular hits on YouTube.
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So, when I saw the length of the line to get in this very popular, but very blokey bar, I opted to continue on – with so many bars, you just don’t need to line up.
I looped back to a bar I’d first encountered in the Test Match dinner pre-drinks – the Lindsay Head Terrace at the rear of the southern stand.
This is THE place for a drink.
There are screens with the cricket action and the view back onto the CBD is magnificent. Entire days could be lost here.
Next up, we head downstairs, to the inside bar that looks over the ground from the third level of the southern stand.
There are two bars inside the William Magarey Room; the Peter Carey Bar and the Neil Kerley Bar.
This place is loud, full almost exclusively with blokes and the demand for beer was above the capacity of the bar facilities.
Time to get back outside and enjoy the “vibe” – time to “promenade” out the back of the member’s stand.
This is where social airs and graces will peak early on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, gradually diminishing as each day wears on.
There’s the Pimms Tent, the Sails Bar and a vast array of food outlets.
On Thursday there were at least 4000 people having a yack and a drink, almost oblivious to the game happening on the other side of the stand.
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This is Adelaide in every sense of the word.
Some of the drinkers here may not even be aware that the Adelaide Oval had been redeveloped, having dropped in from the northern entrance and never likely to ever use a footbridge.
The throng on the green were a fine sight from the safety of the upstairs David Hookes Bar which has been revamped in the break since last summer.
And that leaves the one bar that been there for more than 100 years – the scoreboard bar.
I bumped into ABC TV’s Nick Harmsen making a beeline for the bar on his day off; Nick reckons this is where the fun and colour can be found.
He’s right.
It’s the foundation for the Barmy Army, home to those love cricket, beer, banter and creating master sculptures from plastic cups.
It’s where I worked in 1973 – and it’s where I ended my working day Thursday.
In the end, it’s a simple mix – beer, cricket and a chat.
I’d rather be here than any other bar in the place.
Cheers.
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