It’s always a sad and sorry state of affairs when a live music venue is forced to close its doors.
Whether its over noise complaints and pressure from local council (such as the now rescued Annadale), bitter debt battles with banks (like the now-defunct Sando Hotel), encroaching property developers (which are threatening Melbourne’s Palace Theatre), or logistics with red tape, it can be any number of reasons that drive the final nail into the coffin.
It’s hardly an Australian phenomenon of course, with some of the world’s grander venues left to rot as empty husks after they fail to find new owners, their interiors becoming decaying symbols of glory days gone by in a disarming but strangely beautiful way.
Something brought to our collective attention by the amazing gallery of images put together by EDM online resource, White Raver Rafting, who have compiled a startling international-spanning collection of photographs of abandoned venues from across the world.
From the burnt-out innards of an Austrian DJ hall to the remains of a Chinese nightclub and a secret hotspot hidden in a New York water tower, the library of images is pretty remarkable.
Other stand-out dilapidated music spaces and their accompanying tales include the Tuxedo Royale, a transport cruiseliner transformed into a floating nightclub in the 80s, holding anchor in the UK for around 20 years.
The shine of the Starlite Music Theatre is well and truly gone as well, though once drawing vintage stars like Johnny Cash, Diana Ross, and Sammy Davis Jr to its circus-like interior, renovations in the 60s and the boom of Las Vegas shows in the 70s saw ‘The Tent’, as it was colloquially known, fall into a permanent downward spiral.
The list of derelict venues also includes Australia’s own Perth Entertainment Centre, the 8,000 capacity arena that stood frozen in disrepair before the West Australian Government’s demolition plans started in preparation for the Perth City Link project.
The venue has since been replaced by the hugely successful Perth Arena, which has been chiefly responsible for the WA capital becoming the Australian city that busy concert tickets the fastest.
Take a look at a sample of the abandoned venues below, and head to WhiteRaverRafting for the full set.
Perth Entertainment Centre, Australia
Tuxedo Nightclub Royale Cruise, UK
The Starlite Music Theatre, New York
Millenium Complex, Plymouth UK
Majestyk Nightclub, Leeds UK
KTV and Nightclub Longgang, Shenzhen, China
Borscht Belt Resort Nightclub, New York
Communist Party Headquarters, Mount Buzludzha, Bulgaria
Watertower Nightclub, New York
Diskothek “Schatzi”, Hagenbrunn, Austria
