Noosa music community has rallied to the aid of Trev Simpson to lend him their music equipment so his Pomona Hotel’s Muso’s Jam on Wednesday would go ahead, after his equipment was lost in a fire in a building behind the hotel early Sunday morning.
About 3.30am on Sunday the smell of smoke and a popping, crackling noise awoke the Pomona Hotel manager who quickly sprang into action, raising the alarm, banging on the doors of rooms in a full house of guests, yelling “get up”.
“We were all asleep,” a staff member and resident said. “Everyone got out. It went so well.”
The fire was not in the hotel but in a building used as storage space to the rear of the hotel which burnt to the ground in minutes, she said.
Next door to the hotel, bakery owners who live atop their shop were also quick to respond. They quickly phoned the fire brigade then ushered hotel residents inside their premises, providing them with coffee.
Luckily no one was injured in the blaze but items stored in the building were destroyed.
Among the items was the musical equipment of Trev Simpson who runs the pub’s Wednesday afternoon Muso’s Jam open mic event.
Trev’s daughter and son-in-law who live near the pub were also woken by the smell of smoke and rushed to the hotel to see if they could help.
They rang Trev to tell him all his gear was gone. Concerned he’d be unable to deliver the popular music event Trev took to social media and within a day local musicians had offered him the equipment he needed to proceed.
While on his way to collect a borrowed drum kit on Monday Trev told Noosa Today the storage unit had contained an array of equipment including stands, base amp, leads that had made it easier for him to set up the music sessions, so in addition to losing to equipment he now has nowhere to store new equipment for future events.
Trev started running the Muso’s Jam in February after hosting similar sessions at the Apollonian Hotel at Boreen Point and in Cooran.
“I noticed there were many in my age group coming along. People who were coming to return to performing and people who were going out for the first time,” he said.
“We did 12md at the Apollonian and had a lot of regulars. We decided to do it again.
So with the blessing of publican they launched the Muso’s jam in the beer garden.
“So many people came out,” Trev said. “We have a band set up. We keep it non-judgemental. People can have a go.
“You don’t know who’s going to turn up.”
Trev has been overwhelmed by the generosity of the local music community who have responded to his call for help.
“It shows you how beautiful people are,” he said.
