Tilleys in Canberra, Canberra, Australia | Gallery

Welcome to Tilleys, Canberra, Australia. Tilleys Devine Cafe Gallery should be a compulsory first port of call for people who are visiting Canberra for the first time. Central, yet out of the way, competely Canberra and yet so different to aything else on offer, the place seems guaranteed to imbue our fair city with a positive vibe that will hopefully linger with newcomers for the rest of their visit.

With elegant, dark wood fittings, a moody, deep red colour scheme, and soft jazz wafting between the old-fashioned booths lining the walls, there is some things essentially nostalgic and cinematic about Tilleys romantic atmosphere, reminiscent of a Hollywood film noir. Its timeless in a way that's hard to emulate in a youngish, fickle town like Canberra, where high turnover of night spots seem inevitably dictated by the relative hip-factor of the decor, the DJ and the cocktail menu.

It's ironic, really, that such a sense of timelessness should be associated with a place that has been a pioneer in so many different ways. And there are plenty of numbers and statistics associated with Tilleys, as I discovered when I spoke to owner and manager Paulie Higgisson. When Tilleys opened its doors for the first time in January, 1984 (which brings it to the ripe old age of 19 this month), it could only seat 60, and yet 420 people turned up.

Since then, each year at Tilleys has been bigger than the previous one. It has been extended five times, eventually taking over the entire block. It was the first licensed outdoor venue in Australia, as well as being the first bar to ban indoor smoking, which occurred eight years before there were any actual laws in the place.  "I just didn't want a roomful of blokes," she explains simply, and having woman around would inevitably "modify their behaviour". And of course, she adds, "Unintentionally it brought Tilleys the kind of advertising I couldn't buy."

And, as most people will know, for the first two years of Tilleys existence, groups of men were, famously, banned from drinking inside Tilleys unless they had at least one woman among their number. Predictably, this rule provoked the ire of many people (mostly men), but was keeping with Higgisson's objective, which was to create a generous environment that was both harmonious and safe for women.

But it's the music-loving audiences at Tilleys Gallery which are its greatest asset, inspiring awe among the endless line-up of musical luminaries and internationally acclaimed acts who have performed there over the years. It appears that, even in the most well-known music clubs throughout the world, it's unusual to find people willing to shut up and listen in a place which is primarily a bar. But shut up and listen they do, which is what has so many artists beating down Tilleys door.