Phoenician Club

Last updated

The Phoenician Club is a former entertainment venue in Sydney, Australia. It was located in Ultimo, New South Wales at the corner of Broadway and Mountain Street, opposite St Barnabas Church. The venue itself had gone through various uses and had different names before it became the Phoenician Club, a meeting place for Sydney's Maltese community, in 1980. Before then, the building and the club had existed separately. The Phoenician Club had existed as a social organisation since 1963. The building had at various times functioned as a cinema and television studio, among other roles. [1] The Phoenician Club became well known for hosting rock concerts, which provided its owners with a steady source of income for running community activities. It was a popular venue for both Australian and overseas groups and many concerts took place at the club during its history. Following the death of Anna Wood, a high school student who died from taking the drug ecstasy while attending a rave party at the venue, significant restrictions were imposed on the club, eventually leading to its closure in 1998.

Contents

History

Plaque erected on former site of the Phoenician Club, commemorating its history and its earlier functions. Phoenician Club Plaque.jpg
Plaque erected on former site of the Phoenician Club, commemorating its history and its earlier functions.

The premises opened as the Broadway Theatre in 1911, initially screening silent films. It was later rewired for sound when talking movies became widespread in the late 1920s. Until its redevelopment in 2001, the building had been one of the oldest surviving purpose-built cinemas in Sydney. The building operated as a cinema until 1960.

The premises were run as a discothèque called Jonathan's Disco from 1968 to 1972 and is notable in the history of the Australian pop band Sherbet, who played a formative eight-month residency there during 1970. It was here that they were first seen by their future manager Roger Davies.[ citation needed ] Sherbet shared residency at the venue with the group Fraternity and AC/DC also played at the venue during this period. [1] Following a fire at the premises in 1972, the building was derelict until it was re-opened as a ballroom in 1976. [2] In 1980, Sydney City Council granted consent for the Maltese community to take over the premises as the Phoenician Club. By becoming a licensed venue, the premises' role as a major music venue in Sydney significantly expanded. [1] This gave the club a reliable source of revenue for its community activities.

The Phoenician Club became a popular rock venue in the 1980s, hosting many concerts by both local and overseas groups. Simulations of Manchester techno dance parties were held at the club in 1991. [1] In January 1992, Nirvana played their first Australian show there. [3] It became the focus of a major public controversy in 1995 following the death of Sydney teenager Anna Wood, who died from a cerebral oedema after taking the drug ecstasy while attending a rave dance party at the venue. The club survived calls for it to be immediately closed down in the ensuing public fall-out over Wood's death. Fines and restrictions imposed on it by the courts and Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing significantly reduced its role as a major music venue. [4] The club eventually closed down in 1998 [5] with the building once again becoming derelict. It was redeveloped in 2001 and has since re-opened with new commercial occupants.

Related Research Articles

Rave Dance party

A rave describes a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 90s dance music scene when DJs played at illegal events in musical styles dominated by electronic dance music from a wide range of sub-genres, including techno, hardcore, house, and alternative dance. Occasionally live musicians have been known to perform at raves, in addition to other types of performance artists such as go-go dancers and fire dancers. The music is amplified with a large, powerful sound reinforcement system, typically with large subwoofers to produce a deep bass sound. The music is often accompanied by laser light shows, projected coloured images, visual effects and fog machines.

Culture of Sydney Overview of cultures in Sydney, Australia

The cultural life of Sydney, Australia is dynamic and multicultural. Many of the individual cultures that make up the Sydney mosaic are centred on the cultural, artistic, ethnic, linguistic and religious communities formed by waves of immigration. Sydney is a major global city with a vibrant scene of musical, theatrical, visual, literary and other artistic activity.

The Haçienda Former nightclub in Manchester, UK

The Haçienda was a nightclub and music venue in Manchester, North West England, which became famous during the Madchester years of the 1980s and early 1990s.

Newtown, New South Wales Suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Newtown, a suburb of Sydney's inner west, is located approximately four kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, straddling the local government areas of the City of Sydney and Inner West Council in the state of New South Wales, Australia.

Death of Leah Betts

Leah Sarah Betts was a young woman from Latchingdon, Essex, United Kingdom, who died shortly after her 18th birthday after taking an ecstasy (MDMA) tablet, and then drinking approximately 7 litres of water in a 90 minute period. Four hours later, she collapsed into a coma, from which she did not recover. Her death received extensive media coverage, and her family have since campaigned against drug abuse.

London Astoria Former music venue in London, England

The London Astoria was a music venue at 157 Charing Cross Road, in London, England.

Anna Wood (born 1980) Australian schoolgirl

Anna Victoria Wood was an Australian teenager who died after consuming an ecstasy tablet at a rave party in inner Sydney. Her cause of death was hypoxic encephalopathy, following acute water intoxication secondary to ingestion of MDMA.

Nasenbluten were an Australian electronic music group, formed in Newcastle in 1992. The group was made up of Aaron Lubinski, David Melo, and Mark Newlands, and released six studio albums before disbanding in 2001. They have been described as a significant influence on the breakcore genre.

Enmore Theatre

The Enmore Theatre is a theatre and entertainment venue in Sydney, Australia. It was built in 1908. It is located at 118–132 Enmore Road in Newtown, in the inner west of Sydney's suburbs. It was first opened in 1912 as a photo-play theatre. It was run by a well-known theatre family at the time, the Szarka Brothers. Today's Enmore Theatre is the longest running live theatre in Sydney, hosting concerts, comedians, plays and all forms of performance. The theatre is considered a medium-sized venue that holds 1,700 people when fully seated and 2,500 when seats are removed, and all attendees are standing. It has hosted many international bands including a performance by Bob Dylan. The venue's art deco style is protected by its listing as a historic building within Sydney. The Enmore theatre has had many renovations and shifts of ownership. Today it is owned by Century and has hosted a range of arts from photographic, performing arts, music and motion picture. The theatre's listing in the Office of Environment and Heritage states that the building "illustrates the development of suburban theatres in the late 1930s and early 1940s and is of social significance for the local community.″ It is the only theatre in Sydney from the Art Deco movement in its original condition. From cinema use to concerts, today is used for various reasons.

Phoenix Concert Theatre

The Phoenix Concert Theatre is a nightclub and concert venue located at 410 Sherbourne Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Australian pub

An Australian pub or hotel is a public house or pub for short, in Australia, and is an establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. They may also provide other services, such as entertainment, meals and basic accommodation.

Australian heavy metal music has its roots in both the Australian hard rock and pub rock tradition of the 1970s and the American and British heavy metal scenes. Since the mid-1980s, Australian heavy metal has been particularly influenced by foreign bands, particularly Swedish death metal, American thrash metal and black metal from Norway. Within Australia heavy metal has always remained part of the underground but since the mid-1990s many Australian metal acts have found widespread acceptance in overseas markets, particularly in Europe.

The Rave/Eagles Club Multi-purpose venue and landmark in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

The Rave/Eagles Club is a concert venue and landmark in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

State Theatre (Sydney) Heritage-listed theater in Sydney, Australia

The State Theatre is a heritage-listed theatre, located at 47-51 Market Street, in the Sydney central business district in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. The theatre was designed by Henry Eli White with assistance from John Eberson and built between 1926 to 1929. It hosts film screenings, live theatre and musical performances, and since 1974 it has been the home of the annual Sydney Film Festival. It is also known as State Building and Wurlitzer Organ. The property is privately owned. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.

Bombay Rock

The Bombay Rock is a rock music venue located on Sydney Road, Brunswick, Victoria, Australia, which originally ran from 1977 until it was destroyed by a fire in 1991. The venue had previously been located in Bourke Street in the city under the name of the Bombay Bicycle Club. Operated by Joe Gualtieri, it was described in the 1980s as "…an old style rock barn … with all the style and grace of a converted factory" and was to the working class, what Billboard was to the Middle Class.

The Four Aces Club

The Four Aces Club was a pioneering music and recreational space on Dalston Lane in Hackney, London. Based in a building that had formerly been the North London Colosseum and Amphitheatre and then a cinema, in the 1960s and 1970s the club became one of the first venues to play black music in the United Kingdom. It was credited with playing a significant "role in the evolution of reggae into dance music, from ska, to rocksteady, to dub, to lovers, to dancehall and the evolution of jungle." Many notable Afro-Caribbean musicians appeared at the Four Aces, which was often referred to as "the jewel in Dalston's crown". As well as reggae and dub artists, its clientele over the years including stars such as Bob Marley, Stevie Wonder and Jimmy Cliff.

Bronwyn Donaghy was an Australian author whose non-fiction work concerned adolescence, particularly drug use among teenagers, teen sexuality and teen suicide. Her 1996 book, Anna's Story, about the death of 15-year-old Sydney teenager Anna Wood, became a national bestseller. The book sold over 100,000 copies and was reprinted in 2005. Her other works included Leaving Early, about youth suicide, and Unzipped, about sexuality among teenagers.

Australian Hall Heritage-listed community building in Sydney, Australia

The Australian Hall is a heritage-listed community building located at 150-152 Elizabeth Street, in the Sydney central business district, in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was the site of the Day of Mourning protests by Aboriginal Australians on 26 January 1938. It was also known as the Cyprus Hellene Club. The property is owned by the Indigenous Land Corporation, a statutory corporation of the Australian Government. It was added to the Australian National Heritage List on 20 May 2008 and was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.

The Sydney Club Heritage-listed building in Sydney, Australia

The Sydney Club is a heritage-listed club premises at 122 Pitt Street, in the Sydney central business district, in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Mansfield Brothers and built from 1886 to 1887 by A & A Scott. It is also known as Million House. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.

Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre Australian multi-disciplinary arts centre

Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre (CPAC), commonly referred to as Casula Powerhouse, is a multi-disciplinary arts centre in Casula, a south-western outer suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Before being renovated and converted into an arts centre, the building was known as Liverpool Powerhouse. Since 2016 CPAC has hosted the Blake Prizes, comprising two art prizes and a residency, as well as the Blake Poetry Prize.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Homan, Shane (1998). "After the Law: The Phoenician Club, the Premier, and the Death of Anna Wood" (PDF). pp. 4–5. Retrieved 28 October 2008.
  2. "State Heritage Inventory". 22 October 2019.
  3. "Live Nirvana – Live Nirvana Tour History – A Complete Guide To Nirvana's Live Performances". livenirvana.com. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  4. Homan, After the Law: The Phoenician Club, the Premier, and the Death of Anna Wood, pp. 24–25
  5. Mark Caruana (2008). "Maltese". Dictionary of Sydney. Retrieved 5 November 2010.