While many of us have unfortunately grown accustomed to seeing Australian live music venues shut down, particularly in Sydney, even the staff who work at Sydney’s Lewisham Hotel have been blindsided by the imminent closure of the venue.
As The Music reports, staff at the much-loved venue, located on Paramatta Rd in Lewisham, are just as surprised as punters after learning that the long-standing spot will be closing its doors for good later this week.
In a statement released yesterday, venue rep and band booker Jon Howell said the decision to shut down had come from the Lewisham’s management and that the business would “cease trading and will shut its doors this Wednesday 2nd December”.
“We regret that this situation has arisen and that we couldn’t give more notice… but this is out of the control of anyone who works at the venue on a day-to-day basis, and we’ve only just heard the decision ourselves,” he wrote.
The shock closure of the venue has resulted in the cancellation of several gigs, including an album launch performance from Marshall Okell, a Scorcherfest program later this month, and a Show Pony Burlesque event that was set for this Friday.
Several Lewisham devotees have taken to the venue’s official Facebook page to leave their condolences. “I had some great times at the Lewisham Hotel and saw lots of great bands there. Sorry to see the Lewo go,” wrote Melanie Simpson, while Dom Urbanowic simply commented, “RIP.”
In slightly better news for Sydney’s live music scene, music services agency Mammoth recently announced that they would be opening a new, lockout-free live music space inside of their new headquarters in Marrickville.
The 350-capacity live music space will be available for launches and showcases, integrated into the company’s new nest in Sydney’s inner west as a way to integrate the live music experience into the world of merchandise.
