With summer just around the corner, a number of new live music venues have been popping up in Melbourne – quite literally – with news that a derelict ‘bomb site’ in the CBD has been converted into Where?House, the festival hub for Melbourne Music Week, while open-air cinema The Shadow Electric would be adding a live “music salon” to their 2013 program in The Good Hustle, a pop-venue with a full complement of live shows throughout the summer season.
Now a Fitzroy venue is contributing to the live music scene in Melbourne’s inner-north, with news that tomorrow night sees the launch of a new 150 capacity bandroom at The Rochester Castle called The Book Room.
The Rochy have already christened their new upstairs band space at the start of the month with a gig from The Hondas, the new outfit for ex-Little Red drummer Taka Honda, playing a free show on the 1st of November to great success, according to the venue’s Facebook page.
This week sees the official launch of the Book Club, with local bands Son Of Set and Sordid Ordeal kicking off the first in the new live band series, playing until 11.30pm when the room’s booking agent and sound technician Steve Spenceley then takes over under the alias of DJ Grandmaster Vicious, spinning tunes into the early hours.
It’s the first in the new series which sees a pair of acts playing each Thursday night with free entry and cheap drinks, and as The Rochy points out, it’s the perfect way to celebrate the end of exams, with bands, DJs, cheap food and drinks.
The new band room is the latest in a spate of Melbourne live music venues opening up in the city’s inner north – including Level 2 opening just up the road from The Northcote Social Club, and Sydney Road’s eccentrically named The Rare And Reclusive, Oft Neglected, Lesser Spotted Mallard recently hosting live music events.
Best of all, it the reopening of North Melbourne’s beloved Public Bar, with thanks to the owners of fellow live music venue The Old Bar, who now hold a 15-year lease on the pub, as well as following the model of its sister bar by hosting live music from Wednesday through Sunday every week.
