12 April 2007

Big things happening down south.

| venme_venue
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Hey all, I want to be upfront and let everyone know that I am one of the owners of The Venue, the new nightclub/live music venue/pool hall/ cocktail lounge etc etc. I have also been reading the riotact for years now so wanted to post about the new business and the things we are doing to try and develop the scene in our area.

Also to let you know about some of the big things we have coming up. We are just starting up and while things are going well we still have a battle ahead of us to fight off the misconceptions and negative conotations attached with our location. So any support the good readers of The RiotACT will be muchly appreciated.

For those who don’t know The Venue is built in the ashes (not literally) of an establishment called The Jackpot Bar, a massive pool hall which had 34 operational tables in its hay day. We ended up tearing the guts out of it and after 5 months of renovations we were left with

-A modest pool hall containing 16 slate tables
-A cocktail lounge bar staffed by an award winning flair barman
-A huge licenced balcony for those who enjoy a smoke while drinking
-A multipurpose nightclub/live music venue with a 500+ capacity

The team here have a few basic goals. To give southsiders a cool place to go to relax and or party without it costing them up to $80 on a cab from the city. To try something different, something many still say can’t be done in the area, and to support and promote live music, both touring bands and local up and coming acts. But the key idea for us is that we don’t want to just be a watering hole, we genuinely want to entertain our customers, not just liquor them up.

So to that end we are experimenting with different activities during the week. So if you are in the area, and or you are interested I encorage you to come down and join in.

Monday – Pool comp (Winner takes all – Second place wins vouchers)
Tuesday – Open Mic Session and Kelly Pool (if anyone remembers what that is, it is good fun)
Thursday – Independant Band night (A mix of the cream of canberra’s original band talent and promising up and coming bands)
Friday – DJ Showcase (If no special event is on)
Saturday – Good Old Pub Rock followed by DJs and clubbing fun
Sunday – Venue Balcony Blues (Traveling and local blues acts playing the afternoon away. Band, Beer, BBQ, Balcony. What more could you want for a lazy sunday afternoon?)

Then we have our special events. First big one was the kiwi rockers Shihad which was just phenominal, ask anyone who was here.

Coming up is

20th April – The Screaming Jets
21st April – Bexta supported by Gypsy Girl and an all girl DJ line up

27th April – Bondi Cigars
19th May – The Angels
Later in the year
Bodyjar
The Choir Boys
etc, etc

I will keep you all updated as we get more confirmed.

You can also keep an eye on our website www.the-venue.com.au and sign up to our mailing list for news and special offers.

Anyway thankyou for your time :-} and I hope to see you at The Venue sometime soon.

Tim

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captainwhorebags4:31 pm 13 Apr 07

Great to see people who are interested in bringing some life into the southside.

Best of luck Dingers.

Mess just because it is Erindale doesn’t mean it isn’t worth $5. A Picasso is worth the same no matter where you look at it :-}

The $5 cover is only on friday and saturday night or special occasions. As I mentioned before the main reason for it is to cover the cost of the extra security we have on. We have extra security on because we want everyone to feel safe and have a hassle free night. We don’t want to become a fight club like some other suburban clubs.

Also the five dollars actually helps to keep some of the trouble makers out.

There are other issues of maintaining value proposition and other marketing mumbo jumbo but those are the main two reasons.

Do you think it is worth $5 to feel safe and have a hassle free night? I sure do :-}

once again…. cover charge? not really worth paying in Erindale… undersatnd if band is paying, but if no band…why????

Well, You had Night Train at your opening night, so put them up again and I will travel down to the dark south side for it. Hey I travel to QBN to see them as well 😀

Sorry to hear of the demise of the jackpot — i spent a whole bunch of time there a few years back (and still am a dreadful pool player) and last I heard they were doing well enough to open another place.

But the Venue sounds good and worth checking out sometime I have an empty evening back home.

Yeah, I thought the Shihad gig would have sounded better due to the crowd. It’d be great for every show to be like that one but the reality is (as I’m sure you’re aware) that the room won’t be that full. It’d be great to see an up and coming local band in a smaller show and still have a nice sound. Good to hear you’re aware of the issue though. Take the Holy Grail in civic for example… as long as you do exactly the opposite of what they did it’ll be great. That place sucks so hard it’s not funny. the sound is like a big shard of glass being repeatedly stabbed into your temple.

Oh yeah, just wondering are you going to have a cover charge on the nights where you dont have a band playing??

Bodyjar!! Thats awesome, ive seen those guys 11 times now and they get better and better, and the best thing is Erindale is only 5 mins drive from my house. Bring on the Jar!!

Way ahead of you booka, well not way ahead but a bit a head. We did have issues with exactly what you described, but were stuck with it for the first few weeks for one reason or another.

We have started the process of improving the acoustics and it should be sounding sweet. Though i should mention that the sound problems happen when we have a small band. When we had 450 people in there for Shihad it sounded perfect. People absorb a lot of sound.

I haven’t been to the venue yet, but i have heard that the sound is quite bad. IE: very reflective and echoey. Have you considered improving the acoustics by removing some of the hard surfaces in the joint? I am aware of other venues putting up strategically placed curtains to combat the bad bouncing sounds.

ns :-} don’t worry I wasn’t trying to imply you were cheap…

Well i really do hope you take me up on that drink, I’ll make it a good one too, one of our Original cocktails made up by Huw our flair cocktail barman. id you see him the night you were in? he does all the bottle spinning fancy type stuff. You can pick from one of the Seven Deadly Sins or the Seven Holy Virtues.

Wonder if you are a saint or a sinner? ;-}

OK OK thanks for the address people… I think my problem must be related to this image viewing thing you’re talking about, because I still can’t see it.

But now I know, and am eternally grateful (or I will be if I ever find myself in Wanniassa and in need of a drink)

Absent Diane12:59 pm 12 Apr 07

electric shadows would make for a great venue…

Similar to gypsy bar… once side is a chill out the other could be for bands.

Always wanted to start a Jazz bar at the empty space that was called the Asylum.
Pity though – the reason it was closed was due to noise complaints from the Cafe (Is it Cafe Macchiatto ?) next door – apparently their punters did not like 80’s thrash bands while trying to have an intimate dinner – so I doubt my Jazz bar will eventuate there.

Need a basement in the city somewhere. Maybe Electric Shadows ?

Thanks Tim 🙂 I’m not too cheap to pay the cover charge these days, but I may take you up on the offer of a drink 🙂 I will give the Venue another go at some point when I can convince someone else to try it out.

justbands, I don’t know what your definition of a band is, but last time I was at O’Malleys (granted it was a while back), they had a group of people that were playing covers. I’m calling them a band 🙂

Absent Diane, yes O’Malleys may be a bogan pub, but some of us non-bogans like going there occasionally 🙂 I think it’s good for a cheap drink, you can generally actually find enough seats for everyone, it’s not over-crawling with as many teeny-boppers as all the clubs, and it’s convenient for bus-catching friends.

Oh yes, and the Venue has good couches but I don’t know how long they will survive…

I’ll put the thumb in for Thumper as he’s currently enroute to Morrocco.

His band, Revolver, would probably love to do a gig there, and he’s also doing research into ghosts in Canberra, so he’d be all over this like a rash.

He’ll be back in town post Anzac day, I’ll flick him an email to send you one at the above addy to discuss.

Absent Diane12:13 pm 12 Apr 07

o’malleys is a bogan pub.

Hmmm hadn’t heard the murder story before, but that would explain the ghost that hung around all during the renovations. We called him Who-me.

Jazz would love to, and will do shortly. Sadly I haven’t chucked in my day job yet so my boss is looking over my shoulder at the moment :-}

ns I am really sorry to hear that you had a bad experience.

I am not sure which night you were there but we generally haven’t had too many problems with the bands, though i think i know which one you are talking about.

In regard to the $5 cover charge, we do that on a friday and saturday night to cover the cost of the security. Wanniassa was traditionally a pretty rough area, and while that has changed quite a bit there are still some trouble makers around. So we employ very good security to ensure that everyone in the venue feels safe and can have a good time without being hassled.

Not sure which bottled drink you bought, we have cruisers for $6 like everywhere else (granted Vikings is cheaper but only because they suppliment drinks prices with pokie takings) We do stock some more expensive premixed drinks, Smirnoff Black Ice, so maybe you were ordering them by mistake.

Anyway excuses and explanations aside it sucks that you didn’t have a good time. If i can convince you to come down and give us another try I’ll waive the cover charge for you and your friend and even buy you a drink. my email is tim@the-venue.com.au send me an email and let me know so I can make sure a really good band is good will be playing :-}

> I’ll stick to O’Malleys next time where I atleast know that whatever band they have on can actually play music and the drinks are cheaper.

O’Malleys doesn’t have bands!?

Having read about you guys in the Chronicle my friend and I decided to brave Southside and check you guys out a few weeks ago.

The place seemed okay in terms of decor and set-up. Drinks were over-priced in my opinion – my friend paid over $7 for one of those bottled drinks that I wouldn’t have paid over $6 for in Civic (and even less at the Vikings around the corner).

What I had real issues with was paying a $5 cover charge just for going in to have a drink or two. There was some young band or other playing off in the corner, but we were finally forced to leave because I couldn’t put up with the number of songs that they kept butchering.

If you’re going to charge me $5, the least you should be providing is a decent band. I’ll stick to O’Malleys next time where I atleast know that whatever band they have on can actually play music and the drinks are cheaper.

I got told that the reason Jackpot was normally closed on Sunday was because of a murder? Is this just a terrible urban myth?:D

Tim,

care to share with us any of the challenges in getting a place like this up and running. Would make a great story for all of us wishing we could chuck in our day jobs and open a bar.

> 20 years ago.

They’ll both still pull in the punters. Nothing wrong with a venue booking bands that people will actually pay to see.

Ok last shameless plug,I promise. I forgot to mention we have The Missing Lincolns playing tonight for Independant Band night. They are doing a long set, should be a top show. I love those guys.

For those who haven’t heard them http://www.missinglincolns.com

fnaah Tix for The Screaming Jets at this stage are available at the venue or at the door on the night.

Bexta is no presale, just $10 on the door :-} So get in early.

We are currently evaluating which ticketing agency to go with for our major events.

True the address is an image so people with pictures won’t see it. The website has at this stage been hacked together by me but we have a neato one in the works. We are planning to try alot of new things with our web presence so keep an eye out.

P.S. I added a link to a google map now too just to help the northsiders :-}

The Angels, Choirboys – good work landing these guys!

20 years ago.

The Angels, Choirboys – good work landing these guys!

Best of luck, Timbo – I know how much work you guys have put into this place – I promise I’ll make the trek down to see it soon 🙂

Sheer,

The Venue is on Gartside Street in Wanniassa.

The 21st of April sounds cool. Gypsy Girl is an awesome DJ and alot of the female DJs don’t get enough credit. Just sucks I can’t make it.

Jackpot bar used to be rundown and gross. Can’t wait to see the new renovated space!

Beat me to it.
If that was a reactive fix, then top marks for speediness 🙂

Sheer – don’t know if Tim fixed the website in the 13 minutes since you’ve posted, but the address is right there on the website under “OPEN EVERY DAY @ 5PM”.

Level 1, 38 Gartside St Wanniassa
aka the shop strip across the road from the Erindale centre.

Granted, the address is in an image and therefore invisible to anyone with images disabled, but it is there.

Hmmm good point sheer, I am still new at all this so please bare with me.

The venue is located at Level 1 38 Gartside St Wanniassa Across from the Erindale Shopping Center.

JustBands, I was certainly planning on posting on your site, just ran out of time before i had to go to work.I have a big boy job as well as the club :-/ I wasn’t able to add an event to the gig guide, not sure if I am missing something. Glad you liked the Venue and hope you had a good time on industry night.

bonfire we have a strictly non pokies policy, I am the resident style nazi down there and aside from any anti-social issues they would make the place look tacky :-}

Will have to check it out. Used to stumble home from the ‘pot on many a night a few years ago.

It’s an interesting mix, but one that I hope will work. I play 8-ball, listen to dance music/DJs as well as rock/blues, so I guess I’ll be turning up fairly regularly. 🙂

Where can you get tix? Keep up the ads on inthemix .com.au too. 🙂

i hope there are no pokies.

As a hint for future promos, you might want to include the address of the venue you’re plugging – it’s not even on your website, that I can find.

As I’m sure you know, Canberra is full of immigrants from interstate, and I for one have no idea what or where the Jackpot was.

Hi Tim, good work mate. I went along to your opening indistry night, nice venue. Post your info on Just Bands too, http://littlesmoke.com/justbands . Has a more live music focus than RiotACT (although RiotACT is awesome).

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