Rock Lily the Pub is closing but not the music!
The closing of Rock Lily as a regular weekly music venue will be a huge loss to many of those who have come to enjoy Mike Kimmings’ weekly, more often than not, twice weekly offerings. No longer will the young and old travel the R330 from St Francis Bay, and further afield, to this quaint little venue in Cape St Francis to hear some of South Africa’s finest up and coming musicians as well as the occasional ‘star’ that in the past included PJ Powers, Khan Morbee of Parlotones fame, Dan Patlansky and others.
Cape St Francis Resort recently bought the business from Mike Kimmings and thus are required to take ownership of the liquor license t allow them to continue to trade. To this end, a small group of local resident gathered yesterday afternoon at Cape St Francis Resort to support or object to the transfer the liquor licence from present licence holder Mike Kimmings to Dane Shaw of the resort.
Mike will retain the name Rock Lily for his future ventures and Cape St Francis will no doubt announce the new name of the venue which is being kept under wraps for now but will be remembered by many when it is finally announced if our insider information is correct.
Sadly we humans are great at talking but not always very good at listening. The meeting turned into an unnecessary shouting match with Councillor Ben Rheeder who was overseeing the meeting, having to bring the meeting to order on several occasions lest it escalate into a free for all. The objectors it would seem were more interested in accusing Kimmings of having broken the terms of his liquor license and thus the law than dealing with the matter on the table – the transfer of the licence. Considering the purpose of the meeting and the antagonism towards Kimmings one would have thought the objecting group would have welcomed the purpose of the meeting and approved the tabled motion if for no other reason but to see the back of Rock Lily once and for all.
At the outset of the meeting Councillor Rheeder asked Mr Shaw to state the intentions of the Resort for the venue. Addressing the meeting Shaw explained quite clearly that the venue would become very much a family-friendly restaurant and as “we are not music people” it would no longer be a music venue. Oh if only some of those gathered had listened we could have retired to Joe Fish for a quiet Cap Park John draft beer a lot earlier and escaped the unpleasant and unnecessary attack on Mike Kimmings
Finally, Councillor Rheeder again asked Shaw to confirm what he had earlier stated and to confirm the resort’s commitment to abiding by the law and terms of the liquor licence which Shaw did, rather throwing damp towel onto proceedings and bringing a close to the meeting. All rather unnecessary.
So back to Mike and the Rock Lily brand. From media releases, it is good to know we haven’t yet seen the back of Mike just yet. Whilst he has decided to sell the pub, mainly for health reasons, he hasn’t given up his love of organising music events and will continue in the short term with shows at St Francis Links, where PJ Powers is due to perform in May, and at The St Francis Brewing Company in the Village.
St Francis Today wishes Mike well in his new venture and know his commitment to bringing great music will please the many, many locals and visitors who have flocked to Rock Lily over the past two years.
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