HOBO Kiosk the Liverpool pub injecting communal bohemianism into the Baltic Triangle

HOBO Kiosk in Liverpool’s Baltic Triangle

Step inside Liverpool’s latest new hangout the HOBO Kiosk Pub, Getintothis’ Peter Guy on the micro wonderland that the city has been crying out for.

Late last year when discussing the new breed of talent sweeping through Merseyside music, we ruffled a few feathers by suggesting the communal heart of Liverpool’s cultural landscape was being slowly ripped out.

Push forward eight months and we awake today to the news that yet another independent venue is to shut – this time, the turn of the cult DIY hub Maguire’s Pizza Bar.

It’s been a ‘tough year‘ read an emotive statement from the owners of the city centre bar – something which many in the arts world know only too well.

In a year which has seen numerous venue closures and a variety of key Merseyside cornerstone festivals including Liverpool Music Week, Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia, Threshold Festival all take a year off, it’s perhaps fitting to see a particularly Scouse enterprise take root offering much needed cheer.

Parked on the fringe of the Baltic Triangle, The Hobo Kiosk Pub is the personal project of couple Delia and Tristan Brady-Jacobs – imbued with their own charismatic energy, dynamic wit, zesty charm and imaginative wonder it could very well be the ideal sanctuary amidst the instability and chaos of Liverpool culture 2018.

It is exactly what the doctor ordered.

“If you want to sit quietly and think, or read a book, then we love that,” Tristan tells us. “Calm spaces away from the hurly burly are needed in our stressful times.”

He’s correct. But the spirit of the Hobo Kiosk Pub will be injected with what came before it.

Born out from their much-loved cabinet of curiosities that was the Hobo Kiosk shop, the Pub once again occupies the underground bunker-come-cellar on Bridgewater Street – and with it all manner of exotic art, feature furniture, bohemian eccentricities and hosts who are all the ready to flavour your day with urban myths, colourful stories or simply news from within the fabric of Liverpool culture.

“Its a place where questions and curiosity are expected and encouraged,” Tristan says. “Where you will always get an honest answer and where you and your ideas and opinions are a vital part of the machinery of this ‘clockwork of cool’.”

We stopped off on out way home from Brazilica in @hobokiosk pub for good conversation, stimulating #art and fine hydration…
…and I enjoyed the positioning of my #stopandgo #artwork. #liverpool #baltictriangle #merseyside #uk pic.twitter.com/oAiubYGWGP

— Ali Harwood (@HarwoodAliArt) July 14, 2018

We visited the Hobo Kiosk Pub just as the first ale taps were being fitted and couldn’t help but be drawn in by the various customers who each had a story to tell as it conjored up the spirit of the much-missed MelloMello.

On one side of the room were Eric’s veterans gathering ahead of a reunion at District, the other corner saw writers and photographers discussing a new project yet to be hatched while Jack from Psycho Comedy and friends shared laughs just around the corner.

Delia insists she wanted to create a place where everyone is welcome to come and spin a yarn, stand amused and amazed by the decor, share stories and music or start a conversation with strangers and discuss the world while the world turns outside. And they’ve certainly created just that.

In the intervening weeks that have passed, beers have been added on tap including the 4.2% Bru Stout, the 4% Hobo Lager and the more potent Exotic Garden among a range of spirits and other tipples.

Explaining the idea behind the pub, Tristan says: “We know that new spaces can be intimidating and while some may find our style a little over the top at first this is a just a small part of the life and times we have had in this city, Our house is a modern cabinet of curiosities – a fabulous rattlebag collection of all the wonders of a wondrous city. The archaeology of a a global merchantile metropolis. So we decided to share it and bring back the Liverpool Bohemia for a new generation.”

Indeed, we were drawn to the range of artwork which adorns the walls, and in particular the set of vinyl record sleeves which are all marvellously designed and titled – yet are by fictional bands. It sums up the Hobo Kiosk Pub experience – a fantastical talking point; a conversation waiting to happen.

“If Narnia was down a flight of stairs in the Baltic Triangle it would be HOBO Kiosk Pub,” Tristan declares. Who are we to argue.

The Hobo Kiosk Pub is open Wednesday til Friday 2-10pm, Saturday 12noon-10pm and Sunday, 2-8pm. This Saturday includes Coffee and Turntables – Liverpool’s only b-sides vinyl party – bring your own selections to spin.