Hey Baakkeerrr
I used to think the same thing.
BUT
The Venue was on the Esplanade- it used to be called the Earls Court Ballroom.
The actual ballroom upstairs still had an old sprung floor, so when the gig got a tad raucous, you’d be literally jumping.
Ad there was a nightclub downstairs at the back, with a smaller showroom at the front as you walked in.
Caught some great shows there in the 80’s
Midnight Oil
Icehouse
Jim Barnes and John Swan
The Cult
Los Lobos
The Monkees
And I’m sure I’m forgetting more that I care to admit.
I do remember though there was a weird “dancin dude” who was always in the rear niteclub, ( back past the kitchen). He’d just dance by himself all nite. Every nite. Hmmm.
Cheers- thanks for the clarification. I was never quite sure whether they were the same place or not.
I saw Icehouse at The Venue in late 1987 or early 1988 - can’t quite remember. Was that the same gig you saw?
I also saw The Cult there, which remains l the loudest concert I’ve ever been to (well, that and Cheap Trick at The Palace in early 1988). The whole venue was rattling… what you said about the sprung floor is absolutely spot-on. Between that and the rattling of the bass in your ribcage it felt like you were in an ultrasonicating machine.
I’ll leave it there, having been admonished by Bomberblitz for overposting…
I saw the Cult there too. I recall their tattoos where coming off with their sweating. Also saw the Dead Kennedys in St Kilda, but it was at the Seaview. Good times…
Saw Lee play at the Cranbourne races a few weeks back. He was doing an INXS tribute. Races got abandoned but the band still played and the punters were juiced up and ready to rock. There were certainly some wasabi requests!
Calypso - Spiderbait
! (The Song Formerly Known As) - Regurgitator
Greg! The Stop Sign!! - TISM
Cry In Shame - Johnny Diesel and the Injectors
October Grey - The Screaming Jets
Take a Long Line - The Angels
Prisoner of Society - The Living End
Tomorrow - Silverchair
Don’t Listen to the Radio - The Vines
Good Mornin’ - You Am I
Under the Bridge - Red Hot Chilli Peppers
Chemical Heart - Grinspoon
Just Keep Walking - INXS
Let There Be Rock - AC/DC
Power and the Passion - Midnight Oil
Throw Your Arms Around Me - Hunters and Collectors
Mean to Me - Crowded House
(I’m) Stranded - The Saints
Deluxe Bonus Track:
To Love Somebody - The Bee Gees
Ooh… many, many years since I went there (and not regularly without drink) but I seem to recall entering at the front corner of the pub, walking through the front bar, through a doorway to the left (which then put you at the backside of the front bar) walking through that area, and then through a door to the right.
It wasn’t a big band area, but many nights were spent seeing acts like Checkerboard Lounge and The Warner Brothers. I could be getting it mixed up with another pub, but I think we also saw Things Of Stone & Wood v.early days, well before they were a signed act.
I’ve seen a couple of acoustic ish acts in there maybe 10 ish years ago, but they were in the far right/back corner, stage right next to the dunny entrance (very glamorous), not really where you’d put anyone loud.
Can’t remember ever being in the left corner. Might be configured as a function room now.
I was never a huge fan of ToSaW to be honest. I mean, they were OK but that whole roll-call of Melbourne landmarks thing and the widdly-diddly violin got a bit old. It was more that a lass I was chasing was heavily into them…
Speaking of Moorabbin, I saw a few killer gigs at Transformers when that was kicking… Hoodoo Gurus a couple of times, Boom Crash Opera a few times, Hunters & Collectors. It was quite a good venue for gigs.
Yeah, the GB room was small. Saw Propagandhi there in ‘93 (?) and maybe a couple of other punk shows around that time, don’t remember it being a destination much after that.
I went to it regularly in the v.late 80’s and up to 1992-ish. It was a regular place to go after I’d done the sound for a mate’s gigs at The Punters Club (he lived in Richmond).
I went a handful of times in the mid-late 90’s but never saw a band, so live shows may well have wound up by then.
I’ve just Googled it and discovered it’s now a poncey bar/restaurant with a totally different name, with DJ’s for “entertainment” (I wonder if the report in @frosty 's article classifies those as gigs?)
Eighteen’s hard. I’m keeping it to band releases and mainly ‘rock’, as someone upthread was bemoaning bands/music post 2000, that too. Anyways, have at it ET:
Dallas Crane - Dirty Hearts
Magic Dirt - Pace It
Rocket Science - Being Followed
Eddy Current Suppression Ring - Which Way To Go
Amyl and the Sniffers - Cup of Destiny
The Mess Hall - Keep Walking
Little Birdy - Come On Come on
The Vasco Era - Oh Sam
Little Red - Coca Cola
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Cellophane
The Grates - 19-20-20
Black Cab - Summer Love
The Living End - Pictures In The Mirror
The Preatures - Is This How You Feel?
You Am I - Get Up
The Sleepy Jackson - Good Dancers
Even - Gold Sunday
Midnight Juggernauts - Into The Galaxy
Of the top of my head… of course if we were including Kiwi songs… there would be Split Enz, Crowded House, Dragon, Push Push and of course … Sir Dave Dobbyn
