Melbourne is set to get a new live music venue with the capacity and scale to fill the gap in the major touring market left behind by the high profile closure of The Palace Theatre in May.
The owners of Melbourne Pavilion, an events and function centre located in North Melbourne, have submitted an application to have their current licensed capacity of 1,300 increased to 2,250 patrons as it looks set to enter the live music market.
The venue, situated on Racecourse Road in Kensington, will undergo an extensive refit in order to host major local and international touring artists under the banner of Pavilion Live.
The centre currently hosts dining events, weddings, and even boxing matches, but is set to re-launch at the tail-end of September and begin booking live music from the end of October.
Assuming council approve the capacity increase within the next two weeks, Pavilion Live could be welcoming major live music concerts to its doors early next year, providing Melbourne music lovers and Australian promoters with a much-needed mid-sized venue option, as Melbourne Pavilion spokesman Andrew Watt explains.
“Melbourne is well served by a brilliant collection of well-operated small venues and venues of the 900-1500 capacity but there is a definite need for a venue that is the next step up from there,” says Mr. Watt, “a venue that is large enough to accommodate national level touring bands but still offers a more intimate experience than a stadium-type venue.”
(Source: Melbourne Pavilion)
More specifically, Pavilion Live looks to fill the current void in the touring market that was once suitably filled by The Palace.
“When the Palace confirmed they were closing their doors it was a dagger to the heart of the Victorian live music scene,” says Soundwave Touring General Manger Chris O’Brien, who told Tone Deaf in April that the removal of the Bourke Street Theatre would “have a massive effect on the touring scene in Australia.”
Soundwave had hosted “hundreds of shows” at The Palace in recent years and were “simply devastated” at its closure, says O’Brien. “Being the only standing GA venue in Melbourne between 1050 and 4500 it was a critical component in every Promoter’s tour routing.” The promoter says it is “absolutely essential that a new venue takes it place so Melbourne can keep receiving the live shows it so richly deserves.”
Watt agrees that the introduction of the 2,250 capacity site will help Melbourne’s music culture flourish. “Part of that has been because local and touring acts have been able to build their careers and their fanbase by graduating through a series of venues of different sizes as their popularity has increased,” he says.
(Source: Melbourne Pavilion)
Watt continues: “Presenting live music can be challenging – there are clearly many other options available to the owners of suitable buildings, as the Palace closure shows, but the MELBOURNE PAVILION team is committed to creating a venue that will serve Melbourne’s live music culture long into the future.”
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Music Victoria CEO Patrick Donovan has also welcomed the introduction of Pavilion live. “While Melbourne has a rich tradition of live music venues we cannot afford to take that for granted. It’s great news when a venue decides to open its doors to live music, especially one the size of Melbourne Pavilion,” says Donovan. “I’m sure the industry and Melbourne’s legions of music lovers will embrace the venue with open arms.”
The news of Melbourne Pavilion’s upgrade to enter the national touring market arrives as Melbourne City Council vote in favour of implementing the Melbourne Music Strategy, a three-year plan to boost the city’s local industry and culture with a range of initiatives recommended by Music Victoria, including recent red tape reforms that allowed the introduction of the first Victorian all ages gigs in nearly 20 years.
“Music is a vital part of the city’s cultural scene but the industry is also an enormous economic contributor,” said Lord Mayor Robert Doyle of the plan to support the city’s live music sector. “Each weekend, around 97,000 people attend music performances in the city which generates $5.4 million in ticket sales, entry, hospitality and merchandising.”
