Coyote’s Roadhouse opened with cowgirls in hot pants on horseback and a troupe of line dancers as the new country bar took over the former Solbar space on Maroochydore’s Ocean Street.
Inside, brand-new Ariat boots hang from the ceiling above plush cowhide bar stools and slick timberwork, while the fit-out gives the room the feel of an old saloon where you can hide in a corner or watch an intimate show.
The new space has a look that will be familiar to anyone who lived through the Coyote Ugly era, when cowboy hats crossed from country stages into pop culture and dancing on a bar seemed like the height of a night out. Coyote’s commits to the theme without making the room feel like a set. Judging by the cowgirl turnout at the preview, a few cowboys on the dancefloor wouldn’t go astray either.
The preview, on Friday, September 25, supplied plenty of spectacle for a site Sunshine Coast music fans knew for 15 years as Solbar, and the familiar bones of the old venue are still easy to find.
What has changed inside the old Solbar?
The front stage is still where Solbar regulars will remember it. At the back, the second room remains, but its stage is smaller and sits to the left. The bar runs along the right-hand wall, with the mechanical bull between the bar and stage. The former green room has been opened up for pool tables and extra seating.
That leaves Coyote’s with two stages as well as space for line dancing and quieter corners away from the main room. Free line-dancing classes are planned twice a week, although the days are still to be confirmed. For the Coast’s music scene, the real test will be how often those stages carry live acts after opening week.
Ocean Street’s next era
Solbar closed in February, leaving a big hole in Ocean Street’s live-music identity. Coyote’s is part of a wider shift in the precinct. Hallmark Hospitality, the group behind the venue, has also opened Foxy Malone’s in Mooloolaba; further down Ocean Street, Pulse offers another polished night out, while a hotel and apartment development is under construction. Rather than disappearing, the street appears to be changing character.
The country styling also lands at a moment when the genre has a particularly visible place in Queensland. Strummingbird brings Tyler Childers and a country-and-roots lineup to the Sunshine Coast in October, while CMC Rocks QLD has just announced its next Willowbank bill. Neither festival is connected to Coyote’s, but both point to the audience a country-focused venue is hoping to tap into.
The front stage still marks the spot where plenty of Coast gigs happened. Around it, the timber, cowhide stools and mechanical bull signal a very different night out. The cowgirl spectacle makes an entrance, but what Coyote’s puts on those two stages over the next few months will show how it fits into the Coast’s live-music circuit.
Coyote’s Roadhouse opens to the public from 9pm on Friday, September 25, at 10/12–20 Ocean Street, Maroochydore. Check the venue’s what’s-on page for upcoming entertainment.
Read YELO’s earlier report on the venue’s plans, or find more shows in the Sunshine Coast Gig Guide.
