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Crystal Ballroom (Melbourne)
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Crystal Ballroom (Melbourne)
37°51′33.8″S 144°58′38.5″E / 37.859389°S 144.977361°E
The Crystal Ballroom (also known as the Seaview Ballroom and the Wintergarden Room) was a music venue that opened in 1978 in St Kilda, an inner suburb of Melbourne, Australia. Located within the George Hotel at 125 Fitzroy Street, it quickly became the epicentre of Melbourne's post-punk scene, launching the careers of The Birthday Party, Dead Can Dance and other local groups, as well as hosting international acts, including The Cure, New Order and The Fall.
The Ballroom occupied a Victorian age ballroom adorned with chandeliers, which inspired the venue's name. Owned by Australian rules football identity Graeme Richmond, it was initially run by music promoter Dolores San Miguel (who also ran St Kilda's Esplanade Hotel), then by Laurie Richards, founder of the Tiger Lounge in Richmond and the Jump Club in Fitzroy. In 1980, they co-ran the Ballroom and San Miguel opened on the ground floor a second performance space, the Paradise Lounge, which became a hub for Melbourne's Little Band scene. Richards also founded Crystal Ballroom Records to release 7-inch singles as giveaways at certain shows. Nigel Rennard, owner of Missing Link Records, took over as booker in 1981. San Miguel returned in 1984 and ran the Ballroom until it was forced to close in 1987 due to its reputation for drug dealing and general decrepitness.
The Crystal Ballroom occupied several rooms within the George Hotel at 125 Fitzroy Street, St Kilda, which was established in 1857 as the Terminus Hotel and located at the end of the original St Kilda railway line. St Kilda at the time was an affluent area and became well known over the next century as Melbourne's seaside playground, home to amusement parks and other attractions. In 1885, the hotel was rebuilt to a design by architect Harry Browse Gibbs, featuring a large dining room that would go on to serve as a ballroom. In the 1960s, the ballroom became a venue for cabaret acts such as Helen Reddy and Barry Crocker. St Kilda's glamour had begun to fade during this period, and by the early 1970s, Fitzroy Street was the public face of Melbourne's red light district, known for prostitution, drug-related street crime, and fringe and underground cultures.
In 1978, Dolores San Miguel approached the hotel's proprietor, Richmond Football Club administrator Graeme Richmond, with a proposal to book acts from Melbourne's burgeoning punk rock and new wave scenes. Richmond agreed, and in August San Miguel converted a side room on an upper floor of the hotel into the Wintergarden Room. The first band to play there was JAB, who had recently relocated to Melbourne from Adelaide. San Miguel soon took control of the upstairs ballroom, which she also christened the Wintergarden Room. The first ballroom gig was held on 2 September and headlined by The Birthday Party, featuring Nick Cave, Mick Harvey and Rowland S. Howard. The band soon had a Saturday night residency at the venue; one of their January 1979 shows marked the debut live performance of Whirlywirld, a supporting act fronted by Ollie Olsen. Other Melbourne bands that took to the ballroom stage around this time include Crime and the City Solution, Primitive Calculators, Equal Local and Models, as well as Essendon Airport and Tsk Tsk Tsk, both principally associated with the Organ Factory, an artist-run space in Clifton Hill.
In February 1979 the venue was taken over by Laurie Richards, who renamed it the Crystal Ballroom. That year, he established Crystal Ballroom Records to release special-pressed seven-inch singles recorded by Ballroom bands, which were given away for free at the venue at the end of a number of gigs. While Richards continued to regularly book local groups, he also attracted many touring bands from other states and overseas.
San Miguel returned in April 1980 to run weeknight gigs in what she christened the Paradise Lounge on the ground floor. Melbourne's Little Band scene flourished here, giving rise to acts such as Dead Can Dance, which featured Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry and went on to regularly headline at the Ballroom; they played an Australian farewell show at the Ballroom on the cusp of relocating to London, England in May 1982. Another notable band to emerge during this period was Hunters & Collectors, featuring members of little band and Paradise Lounge regulars the Jetsonnes. Hunters & Collectors rehearsed for over a month at the Ballroom before staging their first ever live performance there in May 1981. The Birthday Party played their last ever show at the venue on 9 June 1983. After the band disbanded later that year, frontman Cave organised a New Year's Show at the Ballroom, playing with a backing band under the moniker Nick Cave: Man or Myth?, a group now recognised as the first live incarnation of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. The Birthday Party and the Bad Seeds, along with Ballroom stalwarts the Moodists, inspired a new generation of dark, noisy punk blues bands at the venue, including the Wreckery, Fungus Brains, Blue Ruin and Sacred Cowboys.
After Laurie left in January 1981, San Miguel co-ran the Crystal Ballroom, which she renamed the Seaview Ballroom, with Nigel Rennard until a falling out in September 1981, whereby San Miguel vacated her position. Rennard ran it until the end of 1983. San Miguel returned as the venue's owner the following year.
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Crystal Ballroom (Melbourne)
37°51′33.8″S 144°58′38.5″E / 37.859389°S 144.977361°E
The Crystal Ballroom (also known as the Seaview Ballroom and the Wintergarden Room) was a music venue that opened in 1978 in St Kilda, an inner suburb of Melbourne, Australia. Located within the George Hotel at 125 Fitzroy Street, it quickly became the epicentre of Melbourne's post-punk scene, launching the careers of The Birthday Party, Dead Can Dance and other local groups, as well as hosting international acts, including The Cure, New Order and The Fall.
The Ballroom occupied a Victorian age ballroom adorned with chandeliers, which inspired the venue's name. Owned by Australian rules football identity Graeme Richmond, it was initially run by music promoter Dolores San Miguel (who also ran St Kilda's Esplanade Hotel), then by Laurie Richards, founder of the Tiger Lounge in Richmond and the Jump Club in Fitzroy. In 1980, they co-ran the Ballroom and San Miguel opened on the ground floor a second performance space, the Paradise Lounge, which became a hub for Melbourne's Little Band scene. Richards also founded Crystal Ballroom Records to release 7-inch singles as giveaways at certain shows. Nigel Rennard, owner of Missing Link Records, took over as booker in 1981. San Miguel returned in 1984 and ran the Ballroom until it was forced to close in 1987 due to its reputation for drug dealing and general decrepitness.
The Crystal Ballroom occupied several rooms within the George Hotel at 125 Fitzroy Street, St Kilda, which was established in 1857 as the Terminus Hotel and located at the end of the original St Kilda railway line. St Kilda at the time was an affluent area and became well known over the next century as Melbourne's seaside playground, home to amusement parks and other attractions. In 1885, the hotel was rebuilt to a design by architect Harry Browse Gibbs, featuring a large dining room that would go on to serve as a ballroom. In the 1960s, the ballroom became a venue for cabaret acts such as Helen Reddy and Barry Crocker. St Kilda's glamour had begun to fade during this period, and by the early 1970s, Fitzroy Street was the public face of Melbourne's red light district, known for prostitution, drug-related street crime, and fringe and underground cultures.
In 1978, Dolores San Miguel approached the hotel's proprietor, Richmond Football Club administrator Graeme Richmond, with a proposal to book acts from Melbourne's burgeoning punk rock and new wave scenes. Richmond agreed, and in August San Miguel converted a side room on an upper floor of the hotel into the Wintergarden Room. The first band to play there was JAB, who had recently relocated to Melbourne from Adelaide. San Miguel soon took control of the upstairs ballroom, which she also christened the Wintergarden Room. The first ballroom gig was held on 2 September and headlined by The Birthday Party, featuring Nick Cave, Mick Harvey and Rowland S. Howard. The band soon had a Saturday night residency at the venue; one of their January 1979 shows marked the debut live performance of Whirlywirld, a supporting act fronted by Ollie Olsen. Other Melbourne bands that took to the ballroom stage around this time include Crime and the City Solution, Primitive Calculators, Equal Local and Models, as well as Essendon Airport and Tsk Tsk Tsk, both principally associated with the Organ Factory, an artist-run space in Clifton Hill.
In February 1979 the venue was taken over by Laurie Richards, who renamed it the Crystal Ballroom. That year, he established Crystal Ballroom Records to release special-pressed seven-inch singles recorded by Ballroom bands, which were given away for free at the venue at the end of a number of gigs. While Richards continued to regularly book local groups, he also attracted many touring bands from other states and overseas.
San Miguel returned in April 1980 to run weeknight gigs in what she christened the Paradise Lounge on the ground floor. Melbourne's Little Band scene flourished here, giving rise to acts such as Dead Can Dance, which featured Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry and went on to regularly headline at the Ballroom; they played an Australian farewell show at the Ballroom on the cusp of relocating to London, England in May 1982. Another notable band to emerge during this period was Hunters & Collectors, featuring members of little band and Paradise Lounge regulars the Jetsonnes. Hunters & Collectors rehearsed for over a month at the Ballroom before staging their first ever live performance there in May 1981. The Birthday Party played their last ever show at the venue on 9 June 1983. After the band disbanded later that year, frontman Cave organised a New Year's Show at the Ballroom, playing with a backing band under the moniker Nick Cave: Man or Myth?, a group now recognised as the first live incarnation of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. The Birthday Party and the Bad Seeds, along with Ballroom stalwarts the Moodists, inspired a new generation of dark, noisy punk blues bands at the venue, including the Wreckery, Fungus Brains, Blue Ruin and Sacred Cowboys.
After Laurie left in January 1981, San Miguel co-ran the Crystal Ballroom, which she renamed the Seaview Ballroom, with Nigel Rennard until a falling out in September 1981, whereby San Miguel vacated her position. Rennard ran it until the end of 1983. San Miguel returned as the venue's owner the following year.
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