Last December, one of Melbourne’s most famed live music venues and late night rock hive, Pony, was put to pasture after 12 years of servicing 5am debauchery, with a final dash to the finish by saddling up for a closing 24-hour live music marathon suitably called ‘The Last Ride’.
But it seems that you can’t truly put a good stallion down and following Camillo and Dan Ippoliti, father-son owners of Revolver in Prahran and the CBD’s Cookie and Toff In Town, promising that “live music would continue” at the site after taking up Pony’s lease; the Lt Collins St venue is set to ride again.
As The Age‘s Sticky Carpet column first pointed out, after having undergone renovations, and a clever name change, Melbourne can bid a fond farewell to Pony, and say hello to its replacement, ‘Boney’, set to reopen on Thursday, April 25th as part of the Hoodoo Gurus invitational music festival, Dig It Up!, to be held on the ANZAC Weekend.
Alongside the Palace Theatre’s main room and The Attic, and Spleen Bar, Boney will serve as one of the three venues (and the fourth stage) hosting Dig It Up! 2013 which features the likes of Blue Oyster Cult, Flamin’ Groovies, the Buzzcocks and, of course, headliners Hoodoo Gurus performing their 1985 album Mars Needs Guitars live and in full.
Boney will presumably be hosting the more local-sized acts on the festival bill, and while playing times for the three venues of Dig It Up! Melbourne are still forthcoming, it’s possible that the likes of The Straight Arrows, Chris Russell’s Chicken Walk, Bored Nothing, and (appropriately) Super Wild Horses could be among the first bands to christen Boney. After having undergone renovations, and a clever name change, Melbourne can bid a fond farewell to Pony, and say hello to its replacement, ‘Boney’
The Ippolitis, who took up the lease to Boney last December, also took the neighbouring Bridie O’Reilly’s, noting their intentions to renovate the former and continue to operate the two venues as “separate, but complimentary entities.”
Under former lease holders Jon Perring, Andrew Portokallis and Sam Crupi – who also run The Tote, Bar Open, and Yah Yahs – Boney (nee Pony) was one third of Melbourne’s infamous ‘Bermuda Triangle’, the pronged set-up of late night/early morning hotspots along with Cherry Bar in AC/DC Lane and Chinatown’s Ding Dong Lounge.
Speaking last year to FasterLouder following its closure, band booker Andy Moore put it best when he remarked: “Shit always got loose at Pony and I don’t think we’ll really see that happening again in Melbourne.”
The new renovations may mean that Boney visitors won’t see the same familiar, grungy establishment it once was, hopefully the same ‘all hours’ liquor license and nocturnal feel are retained. Either way, another addition to Melbourne’s list of live music venues is always welcome, and its good to have the old mare back.
