With Karnivool’s recent Groovin The Moo sideshow now a memory and RÜFÜS beginning their three night run this week, the final event to be hosted at Melbourne’s Palace Theatre has been locked in.
Before the embattled 2,000 capacity Bourke Street theatre is set to shut its doors permanently at the end of the month, as developers plan to raze the iconic live music venue in favour of a luxury hotel complex, the Palace’s regular club night, Anyway, will be hosting one last bash and bringing a special guest of honour to proceedings: Molly Meldrum.
The Countdown (pun intended) is set for this Saturday 17th May, which will be the last night for Anyway after having hosted weekly events at The Palace over the last year featuring Aussie dance acts like Digitalism, Alison Wonderland, Peking Duk, Yolanda Be Cool, and Van She.
For the event and the venue’s final send-off the promoters “felt it would be fitting to enlist the help of the music guru and legend who opened the venue back in November 1987 when it was The Metro.”
Indeed, Meldrum had the historic honours of cutting the ribbon for The Palace’s former operations as The Metro nightclub in 1987 (as this hilariously dated footage shows). The Metro hosted many music events locally and internationally over 20 years until 2007, when it went to the operators of St Kilda’s Palace Entertainment Complex only for the original site (next to the Palais) to burn down in a fire. “We felt it would be fitting to enlist the help of the music guru and legend who opened the venue back in November 1987.”
Meldrum will be on hosting duties, while the final Anyway club night (which is moving to Melbourne’s The Bottom End, starting May 24th) will feature sets from local DJ Zac Waters, Dividem, Nick Litsis, Dom Dolla, and more (hopefully the Akubra-wearing music veteran will spin a few tunes and have a few words of his own, too).
Following the final bash, the Palace will officially cease operations on 31st May following the venue’s operators previously confirming that “numerous requests to the landlord to extend our lease have been rejected” even as the building’s current owners, property investors Jinshan Investments, await their long-plotted plans to demolish the Palace for a $180 million W Hotel complex to be approved by City of Melbourne council.
The State Government already made it clear that they were not willing to front the costs to buy-up the Palace from Jinshan (assuming they’d relinquish control of their capital investment to begin with), while a representative said the plans to knock the venue down was just another stage in the site’s many incarnations over the last 100 years.
“The W Hotel proposal is simply the natural evolution of this key CBD site,” said Sinclair Brook development manager Tim Price, adding: “The end of this lease should not come as a surprise to the Palace Theatre’s operators and Jinshan is extremely disappointed at how they have attempted to influence the lease terms.”“The W Hotel proposal is simply the natural evolution of this key CBD site…”
Among the many supporters who have been lobbying for the survival of the historic live music venue are the Save The Palace and Melbourne Heritage Action groups, pushing for an update to the Palace’s heritage listing as an 11th hour rescue, as well as Melbourne musician and activist Ezekiel Ox, who has been hosting a series of weekly vigils for the venue for his ‘It’s Not Over Yet’ campaign.
Others that have lamented the loss of the Palace from Melbourne’s live music scene include Karnivool. Following the Perth prog rockers playing the venue for the last time on Friday 1st May, the band called the show a “sad/happy night” in a Facebook post. “We hope this closure just means a new beginning for someone/somewhere in Melbourne and that live music can continue to thrive for a long, long time here,” echoing sentiments from frustrated guitarist Drew Goddard ahead of the final show.
The Palace is “the only venue of its kind between 1,400 and 2,500 [capacity] in Melbourne,” as Soundwave Touring’s Chris O’Brien pointed out to Tone Deaf in April, adding that its removal from Melbourne “will have a massive effect on the touring scene in Australia … come the end of May the shit will truly hit the fan.”
