Sydney’s Vanguard, Adelaide’s Promethean, for sale

In a turbulent time for Australia’s music venues, two more mid-sized playing spaces are up for sale. Both continue to stage shows in the meantime.

The Vanguard in Sydney’s Newtown, is on the market as its owners are working on other projects.

The 1920s themed King Street venue hosts six nights a week of live music, theatre and burlesque. In fact the success of one of its burlesque shows, The Empire Strips Back, has led to the producers’ decision. After its current Australian run finishes next month, the show heads overseas to America and Europe for an indefinite period.

Owner Russall Beattie said, "We have had such an amazing experience running this place, there is really nowhere else like it in Sydney, but the time has come for us to move on. We hope to find someone who has the passion to keep this place true to its name."

The 160-capacity made itself popular with bands by giving each act that played there a two-track CD recording of their set.

The operators of The Promethean are looking for a new owner, or a partner, to keep it going as a six-night-a-week venue. The 100-year old Gothic building on Adelaide’s Groote Street has had an interesting history, serving as a Seventh Day Adventist Church, a Liquor Trades Union meeting hall and a cabaret-style theatre.

Its renovations won it many awards. It opened as an 180-capacity entertainment venue in 2007, using its Edwardian velvet and original fittings as its ambience.

As reported last month in TMN, the Wallacia Hotel, which uses its 3 am licence to showcase live acts, is also up for sale.It’s expected to draw substantial interest, being the only hotel within a 15km radius of the Badgerys Creek Airport site.

It seems that Adelaide’s Sugar nightclub, which owner Driller Jet Armstrong put on the market last month after 13 years due to health reasons, has been bought. But no more details are available.