In what’s been a long, troubled year for the Annandale Hotel, some positive news has now befallen the iconic Sydney live music venue.
Oscars Hotel group, the Sydney pub’s new owners, will officially begin their operation of the venue as of next week after it was temporarily closed earlier this month.
Beginning Monday, their tenure begins with them naming the Annandale’s former owners, brothers Matt and Dan Rule, as the new bookers for the venue.
Dan Rule confirmed that his company, Music, Booze & Stuff, who have been handling similar music elements for The Vic in Marrickville and Marly Bar in Newtown, will be handling bookings for the Annandale Hotel under Oscars management, as The Music reports.
“Hopefully we can work with a few venues and develop some strategies,” says Rule of the growth of Music, Booze & Stuff.
The Rule brothers were originally the owners of the Annandale Hotel before it controversially went into receivership in February, marking a sad end point to the siblings’ ongoing financial saga that had dogged the Sydney pub, including a nasty eight year long legal battle with Leichhardt Municipal Council over late-night trading and noise complaints, and spiralling legal costs “in excess of 200K” according to Matt Rule in a fiery tirade, that eventually saw them handing the keys over to receivers amongst enormous debts earlier this year.
The loss triggered a groundswell of support from the live music community, finding an unlikely but key supporter in Leichhardt Mayor Darcy Byrne, who spearheaded a campaign to pressure receivers Ferrier Hodgson to ensure the venue fell into the hands of those looking to continue its legacy as a central part of Sydney’s live music scene. “I am proud that we have fought to keep the doors of the Annandale hotel open and we have prevailed,” Byrne noted of the “mighty victory” in May as it went to Oscars.
After purchasing the iconic live music venue, Oscars emphasised their intentions of continuing to host live music at the Annadale, sating the wishes of the Rule Brothers after they met with them in a very positive meeting in June, possibly sowing the seeds for the new announcement of Music, Booze & Stuff now handling music bookings.
Oscars Hotel Group General Manager Damien Cameron has told The Music that they intend to continue hosting live music, at least until the end of the year
Leichhardt May Darcy Byrne recently noted that if Oscars continue music until the end of the year it would be “just in time for the Parramatta Road live music zone to come into effect and give them a financial incentive to keep going.” Referencing his and fellow Sydney councils‘ unanimously passing on motions to form and develop a live music precinct that runs along Parramatta Road, from Petersham to Sydney University, with Annandale forming the crux of the cultural hub.
