Save Sydney’s High Streets

Farewell Different Drummer

A photo of Different Drummer taken from the street. There is a large sign advertising an auction for the building.

Update: Different Drummer is set to reopen under new management on 28 January 2023! We hope the new DD will continue serving the community for many years to come. This campaign is about more than one bar, though, and there are plenty of empty shopfronts just down the road. Please join us on 4 February, 2.45pm at Glebe Town Hall, to discuss how we can bring life back to Glebe Point Road.

Different Drummer means a lot to the many people who have supported the team over the past two decades. We are not just losing any old bar, we’re losing a place that is full of familiar faces, even those we’ve never met, and one of the few venues that made an effort to support local live music.

The team excel at what they do and have been so welcoming, whether you’re a one time visitor or a long-term regular. They’re what make DD special and will be a loss to us all.

We hope this is just “See you later” rather than “Goodbye”, but either way we want to preserve what this place meant to people who had the chance to enjoy it. We’re collecting messages from everyone who is sad to see DD gone. Read what others have said below and add your own.

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I’d be very grateful if you could remove “Phillippa Claire Wearne” from the nice
comment I made about the Different Drummer closing – Just leave “P” please, see below: I did not mean to fully identify myself.

“Thank you for being you – for so long!!”

 —Phillippa

Hey Dave and crew,
We moved in Glebe in 2011 and DD was the place where we celebrated all our big milestones with our friends as a couple that settled in Australia – birthdays, permanent residency, citizenship,etc
This is with an immense sadness that we say goodbye to the amazing music, cocktails and atmosphere you brought to Glebe Point Road. I hope it reopens one day and continues to live somehow.
We will miss you dearly – Solven

 —Solven

Devo. Bring back the DD. Best nights ever in this bar. And girls nights start like this (see pic!) 😝🍸🍹

 —Suzi

So sad to hear, this was our favourite bar in Sydney. Sydney is truly dying, soon we ourselves won’t be able to afford to live here. So many creatives I know are moving to Melbourne. Sydney is now just a land bank for the rich.

 —J

Thank you DD – our favourite bar ever.
The DD has been our go to place since we moved to Glebe in 2006. No better place to go to and always come back to. Countless fun times
The fab crew, the music, the food. The perfect small bar.
Hoping someone out there can keep the DD alive
We miss you

 —Sarah

I’m so sad to hear about the impending closure of DD, have gone there a few times over the last two decades.

I hope we can find a way to keep it open! I’d love to attend the February meeting.

 —Marjorie Tenchavez

Hey Dave
MD here! I have such happy memories of The Drummer particularly the early years when the trivia crew from The Excelsior would rock up with Kev after trivia for a few rounds at the Drummer. You always poured my absinthe into a brandy snifter!
The great nights with Anth including a couple of verymemorable nights which went on for a couple of days afterwards!
Glebe will be a little greyer now that the Drummer has closed its doors but the memories will always remain and those, I will cherish!
My Best to you, Dave.. you’re a true gentleman!

MD

 —MD

I had my first date with my now husband at the Drummer, also my Hen’s night started there.
We booked the back room for a fundraising event where I had my head shaved down to 0.
Any time a friend wanted to meet for a drink, it would be the window at the Drummer. I loved people watching, talking & sipping a cocktail.
I came into Glebe with my children today to do a fruit shop & was saddened to see it closed, end of a golden era for sure.
Best wishes for whatever is next for the DD team. Thanks for being part of some key moments in my life!

 —Katie

Thank you for being you – for so long!!

 —Phillippa Claire Wearne

Thank you for creating an always welcoming space with a friendly team who care about our city’s culture and arts. You will be missed.

 —Bec

I don’t remember Glebe without the DD.
Best Gin and Pear in Sydney and best late evening vibes anywhere!

 —Ed

We used to live next door and some of best ever Sydney nights were spent closing down the Drummer. The drinks were great, the staff were lovely, and the DJ would rarely play Fleetwood Mac despite how many times we requested it, but when they did it was magic x

 —Ingrid

This place was a go to amongst my room mates who are now my best friends. We used to live 2 doors down and would come here at all times if the night.
We always had fun and always had a great chat with the people on the bar. It is the end of an era

 —Stacey Petersen

Farewell to one of the ‘old school’ bars left in Sydney. Your salty popcorn provided a solid excuse for me to enjoy many a prosecco and fab night. Gone but never forgotten. Cheers and thanks for the memories xxx

 —Caro

Save the DD – some great late nights had here

 —sinead

Business like TDD are what make Glebe special. They should be supported however possible. Drum on!

 —SM

Don’t be a dog, keep the bar and prevent yet another empty store front for greedy land bankers.

 —J

Ever since I first moved to Glebe, Different Drummer has been the hang out spot. The staff are always friendly and the cocktails and food always delicious. It’s nice to walk into a place where you know people, and you know you’re going to have a nice night. I wouldn’t say it was a key factor in me buying an apartment just down the road, but I did think how good it would be to have the best cocktail bar in Sydney only a few minutes away. Sydney needs more places like Different Drummer, I will miss it dearly!

 —Tristan

Different Drummer has been one of my favourite places since I moved to Glebe in 2016. I don’t have a lot of money so can’t afford to go often, but it’s where I treat myself whenever I have a bit of extra cash or visitors come to town. I am so grateful for the wonderful staff, especially those who have been there for years and are always up for a chat. I can’t help but feel it’s a great place to work given how rare it is for people to stay in hospitality jobs, and it’s so nice to see familiar faces every time I walk in. And it’s not just the staff who are familiar. There is nowhere else I go that I recognise the other customers as regulars. Different Drummer is special and it’s upsetting to lose it for any reason.

 —K

Last message from DD

To all our friends and loyal customers, after a fun-packed 19 years, I have made the decision to call last drinks and shut the Different Drummer's doors at the end of the current lease. The last day of trade will be at the end of November. It's been an incredible journey, full of laughs and so many amazing memories that will always remain in my heart. Glebe is such a warm, welcoming and incredibly diverse community, and to be a part of that for such a long time has been the greatest privilege. A massive thank you to all of the regulars, partygoers and great people that we've met and entertained over the years. A special thank you to all the amazing staff, past and present, who made the DD experience an excellent one, and our incredible maintenance guy for keeping the place in order. To the Dj's and musicians who made countless contributions to the atmosphere, we thank you. Big shout out to our major suppliers, including Galluzzo's Fruit and Veg (next door), ILG, Gateway, Bacchus Wines, PFD, Andrews Meats, among many, many others. Until the end of November it's business as usual, and we'd love to see you come and say g'day for a final salute. Love David and the DD team.