Photo: Jared Leibowitz

After months of renovation, the Botany View Hotel on the south end of King St in Newtown officially relaunched this weekend with two amazing nights of music: a secret show from local lads DMA’s on Friday night, before an even-more-secret show from Vancouver two-piece Japandroids, who used the venue to warm up for their Australian tour, including a stop at The Factory in Marrickville this Friday.

The pub is barely recognisable from the sad old boozer that used to sit in its place, with a completely new menu (courtesy of head chef Ernie Priestly), a new rooftop bar, and more murals than you could point a paint-roller at.

Just ‘cos they’ve classed the place up a bit doesn’t mean it’s suddenly become unaffordable, with what the owners call “elevated pub classics” being available at lunchtime on weekdays for $10.

The venue will now host live music each Friday and Saturday night, with booking handled by Music Booze & Co’s Matt Rule, who used to own the Annandale.

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