Venues Update: February 3

Image: The Zoo, Fortitude Valley

FEEDING TIME RETURNS TO BRISBANE’S ZOO

The Zoo in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley reopens tomorrow (Saturday) after closing for major renovations at the end of 2016. New owner Pixie Weyand says her approach was to keep the best of the popular music venue while reinventing the space.

Just before the establishment closed, Weyand offered tickets to musicians to one favourite show in 2017 in return for donating their music equipments.

Playing tomorrow night are Bleeding Knees Club, Good Boy, Bugs and Blacksun.

THORNBURY THEATRE HIRES MIHELAKOS

Thornbury Theatre in Melbourne yesterday announced prominent Melbourne music identity Mary Mihelakos as co-booker along with Neil Wedd.

Apart from in the past work booking The Prince Of Wales and The Spanish Club, she was also Music Editor for Beat, wrote the Sticky Carpet column in The Age, and mortgaged her house to stage the first Aussie BBQ at South By Southwest.

NEW LIVE MUSIC SPACE FOR MELBOURNE …

Melbourne’s latest live music venue is the Inky (aka The Inkerman Hotel) in St. Kilda. It launches on Saturday February 11 with sets from Loose Tooth, A Strange Day, Tilly Perry and DJ Adam Madric.

…AND FOR PERTH

Perth’s Piccadilly Theatre on Hay Street is on its way to become a live music venue from next year. Music promoter Mellen Events will operate the 1938-built heritage cinema venue, which has been empty for the past three years.

A City of Perth committee is set to vote on green-lighting a 10-year sponsorship deal worth $1.7 million. Its Asia-based owner will conduct a $3.5 million revamp of the building. The deal includes the council getting the building for four days a year for free.

The City is eager to get behind the venue as it would glam up Hay Street and boost the area’s night time economy – especially as Brad Mellen claims that he will stage concerts, musicals, theatre shows and even cinemas to a wide demographic. According to council documents, his projections are that the venue will draw 892,500 in the 2018/19 financial year.

TASMANIAN VENUES SLOW MOVING ON BANS

Since the Tasmanian Government introduced new laws last September permitting police and venues to ban drunks and violent thugs for six months, only two people have been banned, reported the Hobart Mercury.

Tasmanian Hospitality Association Deputy GM Greg Astell told the paper that this was because venues preferred to diffuse any situations that arose by asking the perpetrators to leave without resorting to bans. The two bans were initiated by police.

GOLD COAST NIGHTTIME ACTIVITY FOR SPIT

Gold Coast’s night time activity could move north to the Spit. Chinese-backed consortium ASF has a $3 billion development proposal before the Queensland Government that will include a casino, a 1200-seat amphitheatre, a 7200 square meter piazza, hotels, restaurants and retail shops.

The 140 hectares of coastal parkland will be based on similar concepts in Las Vegas, Singapore and Macau, and is set to bring in millions of tourism dollars. The Gold Coast’s New Year’s Eve festivities are planned to be held at the location.

Gold Coast Tourism CEO Martin Winter said the precinct would extend activities when the nearby Sea World closes at dusk.

SYDNEY’S BOTANY VIEW HOTEL CHANGES HANDS …

The live music showcasing Botany View Hotel in Sydney’s Newtown has changed hands. The Murphy family, who had it for 26 years, sold it to Paddy Coughlan of Bourke St for $6.4 million. Coughlan confirmed live music will continue.

…SO DOES TWEED’S IVORY TAVERN

The riverside Ivory Tavern in Tweed Heads is now owned by Sydney-based Lawless Hotel Group. They plan to give it an intensive renovation and turn it into an all-demographics venue.

THE EUREKA DROPS RAVERS, RETURNS TO BANDS

One of Victoria’s longest running music venues, the Eureka Hotel in Geelong, is going back to its roots. Owner Mario Gregorio said it would move from being a nightclub to booking bands. Peking Duk are locked-in to perform in May. Gregorio said the city’s nightclub scene had changed, with Saturday night numbers down from 5,000 to 2,500.

METROPOLIS BOUNCER FINED, ESCAPES JAIL

25-year-old Adam Ryan Kennedy was given a suspended eight month jail term for an incident at Metropolis Fremantle in December 2015. Kennedy was working as a security guard at the venue.

When Aaron Tuana began arguing with security when his friend got evicted at 1:30am, Kennedy was found to have put him in what police called “a very dangerous” choke-hold, slammed his head against a wall which rendered him unconscious and dropped him on the floor.

He was hospitalised with slight bleeding in the brain. Kennedy was fined $5,000 which is to be forwarded to Tuana who has is now facing a slate of ongoing medical issues.