Got to work today and it turned out to be exactly what I had
planned for Friday. Needless to say, I
was able to play the final 48 tracks of The Fall Peel Sessions box. And so the remaining elements of the
Melbourne tour.
Prahran
Today’s journey starts at St. Kilda Junction as we proceed along
Dandenong Road turning right into the inner suburb of Prahran centred on its
Chapel Street shopping strip. At the intersection
of Dandenong Road and Chapel Street is the Astor Theatre, now an art
house/cult/revival cinema. It was here on
15 January 1982 that the Birthday Party performed their final show prior to
their departure for Britain and released on the live album It’s Still
Living. Chapel Street itself was apparently
the home to a number of discos and night clubs in the 1960s and 1970’s although
hardly any remain. A left turn just
after the former Prahran Town Hall takes you into Greville Street, home to the
legendary Greville’s Records, just about the last surviving independent
record/CD shop of any note. A few doors
down is a restaurant that was home to the greatly missed Continental Night
Club. This was a great intimate cabaret
type venue that managed to book a great range of acts over its life time
including Chris Whitley, R.L Burnside, spoken word Henry Rollins, Alex Chilton
and Jonathon Richman among many others.
Previously it had a shorter incarnation as ID’s, notable as the
venue for Lucinda Williams’ first Melbourne shows. A few doors further down
is the now closed Railway Hotel, a roots venue largely remembered for its incorporation
of a real train engine seemingly crashing through the front wall.
The Domain and The
Sporting Precinct
Continue along Greville Street to its end, make a few more
turns, ultimately turning right into St. Kilda Road and proceed along it. Once you’ve passed the Shrine Of Remembrance,
turn right across St Kilda Road into Domain Road and then turn left. Eventually you should be able to park your
car and climb a hill to view The Sidney Myer Music Bowl. This is arguably the most prestigious of
Melbourne’s regular outdoor music venues. (Note to any overseas writers: it’s the
Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Melbourne NOT the Sydney Myer Music Bowl.) A massive permanent
half tent type structure built on the base of a sloping hill 54 years ago, it
has been the backdrop to a number of memorable gigs including Bob Dylan, Neil
Young (two separate tours), R.E.M’s Monster tour, Nick Cave, Metallica, Tool
and many others. The Bowl, as it is affectionately known, has provided
generations of free musical experiences.
Just about everyone in Melbourne has spent at least one gig stretched
out on blankets outside for a free listen.
Until a recent redevelopment of the site, people also climbed the
surrounding trees for a free view. (I
myself did this to watch the Stop The Drop gig featuring Midnight Oil and INXS
on13 February 1983.) It was the site for Abba’s only Melbourne shows
(glimpsed in Abba. The Movie), AC/DC’s Back In Black tour and Pearl Jam’s debut tour; on the latter two occasions
ticketless crowds outside the venue tore down the outer chain fence
for free entry. TV filmed gigs by the
Beach Boys and ELO during the 1970’s captured performances of dubious quality;; management of the former apparently begged for it not to be broadcast.
Although its original capacity was 35,000 people, an estimated 150,000 – 250,000
people turned out for a free gig by The Seekers in 1967. The recent works has reduced the capacity to
around 25,000 people but this would make a tight fit.
Return to your car and continue along Domain Road to its
end, and turn right into Alexander Avenue.
Across the avenue is the Alexander Gardens and alongside it, the Yarra
River. During the 1970’s and early 1980’s
Top 40 station 3XY used to put on free end of school year gigs from a floating
stage on the river that were attended by huge crowds. Turn left and cross the Swan Street Bridge, enter
the Melbourne Sporting Precinct and proceed along Olympic Boulevard. On your
left is the National Tennis Centre, home of the Australian Open tennis
tournament. Centre Court is Rod Laver
Arena, Melbourne’s premier indoors concert venue. Home to many gigs each year, this 15,000
person venue would be a permanent member of the world’s top 10 concert venues
if it wasn’t for its unavailability for about 5-6 weeks each year due to the
tournament. Apart from a couple of after
show gigs, it has been the venue for every Melbourne Prince gig over 3
tours. The Eagles Farwell 1 DVD was
filmed here as is, apparently, a forthcoming Dolly Parton DVD recorded in
December 2011. Other big names that have
played here include R.E.M, Pearl Jam, Eminem, The Rolling Stones, Santana,
Roger Waters performing Dark Side Of The Moon and The Wall, Pink Floyd on the
Momentary Lapse Of Reason Tour, Neil Young, U2, and the Jimmy Page/Robert Plant
Unledded tour. Pink holds the record for the most number
of sold out shows at the venue. On the other
side of the Olympic Boulevard oval is Hinsense Arena, a velodrome, Australian
Open No. 2 Court and concert venue.
Directly opposite Rod Laver Arena is the Westpac Centre, now
the training home for the Collingwood Football Club but originally constructed
as the swimming venue for the 1956 Olympics.
In between these uses, it functioned as the Melbourne Sports And
Entertainment Centre, also known as The Glasshouse, owing to the glass outer
shell that was added. Despite appalling acoustics,
this venue had developed a reasonable musical pedigree. Talking Heads performed their Stop Making
Sense show here during 1982 supported by the Learning To Crawl era Pretenders. It was the location for U2’s first Melbourne
show, Van Morrison’s only performances and Cold Chisel’s final shows before
their first break up. Dire Straits performed
here 10 times during their Brothers In Arms tour, on one occasion joined by Bob
Dylan for what were probably the only spontaneous notes played on their entire
tour.
Alongside the Westpac Centre is another oval which, until
recently, was an arena known as Olympic.
Built as a soccer and training venue for the Games, it too hosted some
huge shows. It was the venue for Michael
Jackson’s Dangerous tour, the Australian Made caravan led by INXS, the first Skyhooks
reunion and the Alternative Nation Festival.
The last named was an unsuccessful attempt to hold a Big Day Out type
event later in the year which also utilised The Glasshouse as an indoor
stage. Alongside this is AAMI Stadium a
new arena for rugby and soccer which has hosted only a couple of gigs by The
Foo Fighters.
Richmond and Collingwood
Olympic Boulevard ends at an intersection with Punt Road
marking the start of Richmond. If you
continue in a straight line, it becomes Swan Street. Just after the railway bridge at Richmond rail
station is the Corner Hotel, currently Melbourne’s dominant pub venue. Normally
it specialises in alternative bands and occasional blues acts too numerous to
mention. Mick Jagger played a “secret”
gig on his mid 80’s solo tour of Australia coming on after a scheduled Charlie
Musslewhite performance. David Hasslehoff
plays a “rock show” here on Valentine’s Day.
About a kilometre away is The Central Club Hotel which does not appear
to schedule many bands these days. Its
biggest claim to fame was the annual run of Christmas shows of Melbourne’s own
Weddings, Parties, Anything. A short distance away off into Swan Street is the
former Channel 9 studios. No major music
shows of note were produced there but it was where Tom Waits wound up Don Lane
during an appearance on his variety show.
If you turn left from Olympic Boulevard into Punt Road and
proceed underneath another rail bridge, two landmarks reveal themselves. On your right is the Cricketers Arms Hotel, the
tiny pub where Men At Work were discovered prior to their short lived world
domination in the 80’s. As you go past
that, the massive structure that is the Melbourne Cricket Club emerges on your
left. The MCG (or “The G”) is Australia’s
largest sporting arena with a capacity for 100,000 people and is part of the
sporting precinct but I’ve placed it here.
As it is used during summer for the cricket season and winter for the Australian
Rules Football season, gigs only occur in small pockets of time in between. Only the very biggest acts at the height of
their fame get to play here. These have
included David Bowie, Linda Ronstadt and David Cassidy during the 1970s, The
Rolling Stones on their Bridges To Babylon Tour (their first shows since 1973),
U2 on the ZooTV Tour, Paul McCartney, The Three Tenors, the Elton John/Billy
Joel joint tour and The Police on their recent reunion tour. A couple of benefits have also taken place,
notably the Sound Relief Show for bushfire relief. Finally, proceed along Punt Road, turn right
into Bridge Road. A few blocks along on
your left is a group of shops that have been constructed from an old cinema
that specialised in showing Greek films. Inbetween these two developments, the cinema had been converted into a music venue called
The Old Greek Cinema. This was a
brilliant venue that existed in the late 80’s and early 90’s specialising in
alternative music. Lower level chairs
were removed but the sloping floor retained giving everyone a great view and
the plush seating was retained in the former dress circle. The Sonic Youth and
Faith No More (I think) both debuted in Melbourne here. Unfortunately, the venue went bust on the eve
of Ride’s first Melbourne gig.
Adjoining Richmond is the suburb of Collingwood notable only
for alternative music institution, The Tote (Hotel) in Johnstone Street. A small venue, its closure in 2010 owing to
changes in liquor laws sparked a massive protest at which 2000 people descended
on the venue. This directly led to the formation
of the Fair Go 4 Live Music movement and an estimated 10,000 attended another
rally in the City. Public pressure was
such that the liquor laws were changed allowing the venue to reopen. All this is documented in the documentary
Persecution Blues.
Fitzroy, Carlton,
Brunswick and North Melbourne
Proceed along Johnstone Street from The Tote towards the
City and eventually turn right into Brunswick Street Fitzroy. This is Melbourne’s
home of alternative lifestyles, eating and Polyester Records, Greville’s only
real competitor. It was also the location for a venue known as The Punters Club, a small venue in the mould of The Tote that has since been converted into a restrauant. At the top end of
Brunswick Street is the Royal Derby Hotel, notable as the birthplace of Abba
tribute band (and Kurt Cobain favourite) Bjorn Again. Continue from there into Brunswick. Brunswick sits at the start of Sydney Road
marking the end of the great migration for bands travelling by road from Sydney
to Melbourne. At the foot of Sydney Road
is an Irish Pub called Bridie O’Reilly’s.
It was previously known as The Sarah Sands Hotel, another music
venue. Swiss band The Young Gods
recorded their Live Sky Tour album there on 30 May 1992.
Sydney Road becomes Royal Parade marking the start
of Carlton. On the right hand side, past the Carlton Football Ground is the
portion of Princess Park that was a temporary Big Day Out venue for two years. Carlton’s greatest claim to fame, however,
lies past that. It is the University Of
Melbourne where a number of bands have been formed, notably Hunters And Collectors. Close to the University is the Old Melbourne
Motor Inn, now a student hostel, but during the 70’s the base for many overseas
bands.
Adjoining Carlton is North Melbourne whose sole claim to
music immortality is Festival Hall.
Located in Dudley Street, this was originally a boxing stadium. The
present structure was built following a fire in time for the Olympics. From that time until the opening of The
Glasshouse as a concert venue, it was Melbourne’s major concert venue. Just about every major touring act in the 1960s that
visited Melbourne played this venue, the most famous of which were The
Beatles. Their shows marked the first
time all four Beatles played in Australia, Ringo having missed the first few
dates of the tour. One of these shows was filmed and featured prominently at
the end of one of the episodes of The Beatles Anthology TV shows. But before that came the Hall’s greatest
claim to fame. It was supposedly here that
Little Richard saw the Russian satellite Sputnik in the sky causing him a day
or two later to throw his jewellery into Sydney Harbour and renounce rock ‘n’
roll. Festival Hall’s acoustics are
dreadful but this hasn’t stopped a mass of acts performing there. It was where Neil Young, Talking Heads and Roxy Music all made their Melbourne debuts and both The Clash and Bob Marley And The Wailers played their only Melbourne shows here. At least one live album – Play by Magazine –
has even been recorded at this venue.
Finally, two suburbs from North Melbourne is Flemington home
to the famous racecourse and the Royal Melbourne Showgrounds. The racecourse carpark is the current home to
the Melbourne Big Day Out as well as other festivals. The Showgrounds was the original home of the
Big Day Out and today also hosts the Soundwave Festival. It is also famous as the venue for Bruce
Springsteen’s first Melbourne shows. His
two gigs in 1985 as part of the Born In The USA tour were among the very first
mega gigs he had performed anywhere. The
showgrounds was also the venue for the last show of The Police’s Synchronicity
World Tour which effectively marked the end of the band except for the reunion
shows.
Central Melbourne
Start at the Arts Centre complex at the end of St Kilda
Road. Very few gigs have occurred in the
theatres there although Randy Newman performed at the State Theatre a few years
ago. Next to that is Hamer Hall a plush
2500 seat venue. This has seen its share
of memorable shows including the Melbourne debuts for Newman, Stevie Ray Vaughn, solo
Brian Wilson and Miles Davis. It is also the home of the Melbourne Symphony
Orchestra which has recorded live albums with Elton John and Kiss as well as
accompanying a number of other acts.
Cross the Yarra River and St Kilda Road becomes Swanston
Street. This street was immortalised by
AC/DC which filmed a video travelling down it whilst playing It’s a Long Way To
The Top. The Melbourne City Council has
since responded by immortalising AC/DC, naming a lane after them. (AC/DC Lane is located off Flinders Lane
between Russell and Exhibition Streets.
The street sign is placed uncommonly high to prevent theft.) A few
blocks up Swanston Street is the Melbourne Town Hall where Abba was given the
keys to the City in 1977. Across the
street is the HiFi Bar, a venue established in what was a basement cinema but
lacks the character which made the Old Greek Theatre so great.
Turn right from Swanston Street into Bourke Street and at
the intersection with Exhibition Street is a large modern office tower. This was the former site for the Southern
Cross Hotel which was Melbourne’s finest hotel when it opened in August
1962. As such it was where The Beatles
stayed during their tour which resulted in a massive crowd outside. Towards the end of Bourke Street is the Palace
Theatre now run by the former owners of The Palace in St Kilda. Previously known as The Metro and prior to
that a Christian revival centre, it has also seen some great gigs over the
years including the Melbourne debuts for George Clinton, Blur, The Stone Roses
and Jane’s Addiction.
Flinders Street is home to The National Theatre, more
commonly known as The Forum. This is
arguably the best venue to watch a band in Melbourne. It is also a former cinema; large sofa type
seats are at the rear and the sloped floor exists for the punters up
front. The space still has its original decorative
motif which is of an outdoor Roman theatre.
The ceiling represents the night sky with tiny lights representing
stars. Nick Cave, Steve Earle, The Black Keys, Primal Scream, Pavement, The Beastie
Boys and many other acts have played here.
Finally in the new part of Melbourne known as Docklands is Etihad
Stadium, a 54,000 seater with a retractable roof, easily Australia’s largest
indoor concert venue. Like the MCG only
the world’s biggest acts play here and only during the summer months. The inaugural act to play the venue was
Barbara Streisand and others have included U2, AC/DC, Bruce Springsteen,
Coldplay, Bon Jovi, Eminem, George Michael and Robbie Williams. Kiss recorded Kiss Alive 4 here with the
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
