The Troubadour, Melbourne

Former music venue in Melbourne, Australia

The Troubadour

Address|

* Bowen Crescent, St Kilda
* 386-388 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy 3056
Australia

Opened| August 1978 (1978-08)
Closed| March 1990 (1990-03)

The Troubadour was a music venue in Melbourne, Australia, which operated from 1978 to 1990.[1] It featured performances by folk, blues and country musicians.

## History

[edit]

The Troubadour was opened by Andrew Pattison in August 1978 as a sixty-two seat coffee house on Bowen Crescent, St Kilda.[1][2] The name was borrowed from similar music venues such as The Troubadour in London and the Troubadour in Los Angeles.[3] Four years later it relocated to a larger location on Brunswick Street, Fitzroy which could seat over 100 people.[2][4] The new venue was BYOB (bring your own bottle), and billed itself as a restaurant-music venue, with Patrick Hayes of The Herald writing their menu was limited, but better than most theatre-restaurants.[5] Pattison sold the business to radio presenter Ray Mow, who took over in February 1988.[1][6]

After closing for three months of refurbishments, on 22 March 1989 a large fire in the kitchen caused extensive damage to the venue and it was forced to close. Mow estimated the fire's damage meant the venue would be closed a further three months and costing $70–80,0000 on top of lost revenue.[6] The venue officially closed in March 1990 after financial difficulties due to the fire,[1][7] with several musicians who had performed at the venue returning for The Troubadour's final week.[8] These included Joe Dolce, Rank Strangers, Rod Quantock, Mike Rudd, Bob Sedergreen, and Venetta Fields.[7]

In 1998 The Troubadour's 20th anniversary was celebrated by previous performers and fans, hosted by Pattison in The Troubadour's former home at 388 Brunswick Street.[9] Pattison later reused the Troubadour name for a Troubadour Wine Bar beginning at 1992's Port Fairy Folk Festival,[10] and later as the Troubadour Weekend folk festival.[1] The Troubadour archive is held by Australian Performing Arts Collection as part of the Raymond Mow collection.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e "Folks, shut-up and listen". The Age. 2003-08-20. Retrieved 2022-08-29.
2. ^ a b "Troubadour - Who We Are". Troubadour. Archived from the original on 13 December 2002. Retrieved 2022-08-29.
3. ^ Maskell, Vin (12 April 1985). "Strumdrum". The Age. pp. 10–11.
4. ^ Hayes, Patrick (19 August 1988). "A Troubadour night out goes for a song". The Age.
5. ^ Hayes, Patrick (31 July 1987). "Rackateers keep the dinner mob happy". The Herald.
6. ^ a b Jackson, Andra (23 May 1989). "Club fire puts shows on hold".
7. ^ a b Pattison, Andrew (18 April 1990). "The end of an era for wine, women and song". The Age. p. 14.
8. ^ "In Brief". The Age. 22 April 1990. p. 12.
9. ^ Daly, Mike (23 August 1998). "The soft rock cafe". The Sunday Age. p. 68.
10. ^ "Music Events at Burke & Wills Winery". www.wineandmusic.net. Retrieved 2022-08-29.

Authority control databases: Geographic |

* MusicBrainz place

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