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| Punters Club | |
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Exterior (2005)
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  Location within Victoria | |
| General information | |
| Address | 376 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, VIC 3065 |
| Coordinates | 37°47′45″S 144°58′44″E / 37.7959°S 144.9788°E / -37.7959; 144.9788 |
| Opened | 1865: 1865 (as the Wheatsheaf Hotel) 1893 (as the Moonee Valley Hotel) 1987 (as the Punters Club; original) 2002 (as Bimbo Deluxe) 2021 (as Kewpie) 2024 (as the Punters Club; new) |
| Closed | 2002 (as the Punters Club; original) 2020 (as Bimbo Deluxe) 2024 (as Kewpie) |
The Punters Club is a pub and live music venue located on Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, in inner Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.[1]
During its original run as the Punters Club, it developed a reputation as one of the city's premier live music venues, drawing comparisons to the likes of New York's CBGB. It was also noted for its rough, alternative, yet casual atmosphere with audiences sometimes sitting on the floor while watching bands.
The building was constructed between 1863 and 1865, and was originally known as the Wheatsheaf Hotel. In 1893, the venue rebranded as the Moonee Valley Hotel.[2]
In 1987, Rob Guerini and Ric DiPietro became the new owners of the Moonee Valley Hotel, and the venue was renamed to the Punters Club Hotel. The new owners began to promote the hotel as a live music venue. It played a broad and eclectic range of music, such as indie rock, electronica, nu country, lo-fi, metal, Celtic and ska. The venue helped launch the careers of a number of successful Australian bands, including Frente!, Magic Dirt, Something for Kate, Spiderbait and You Am I.
Rob loved footy, and in the early years it was a Saturday afternoon ritual to have a few beers listening to the footy on the wireless, whilst being entertained by Stanley Paulzin's razor sharp banter.
Nino from local legends The Bo-Weevils lived above the pub, and was always generous with the Mexican cabbage, which was a laneway must.
Mat Everett took over the Club in 1993 and operated it for the remainder of its life.
From 1995, the Punters Club nurtured a close relationship with local purveyors of live electronic music, such as IF? Records (with their Zoetrope (sessions) and Clan Analogue, and regularly played host to live acts like Zen Paradox, Little Nobody, Artificial, Andrez Bergen, Voiteck, TR-Storm, Blimp, Son Of Zev, Isnod, Soulenoid, Guyver 3, Frontside, Half Yellow, and Honeysmack.
During the late 1990s Brunswick Street began to change, with a number of more mainstream establishments replacing what had been a much more alternative area. This resulted in a significant increase in property rents all along the strip, and when the Punters Club's lease came up for renewal in 2002, Everett saw continuing as unsustainable. The club closed its doors on 17 February 2002, with a twelve-hour music marathon that featured Gaslight Radio, Rocket Science, Pre-Shrunk, TISM and The Beat End Profilers.
The venue later became a pizza bar, Bimbo Deluxe. After a two-year hunt for another venue, Everett bought the Commercial Hotel in High Street, Northcote—an area that was developing a similar atmosphere to that of Brunswick Street in the 1980s. In late 2004 he reopened the venue as the Northcote Social Club, which maintains a very similar nature, bands and clientele to that of the Punters Club.
Melbourne band The Lucksmiths wrote a song entitled "Requiem for the Punters Club" as a tribute to the venue.
On 27 and 28 November 2010, Punters Club reunion gigs were held at the Corner Hotel in Melbourne, featuring bands such as Spiderbait, Hoss, Guttersnipes, The Glory Box, Frente!, The Fauves and The Hollowmen.
Bimbo Deluxe suffered a fire in the upstairs level in May 2018. It was reopened that August, and continued until closing down in 2020 due to COVID-19. In November 2021, Kewpie Nightclub opened in the premises and operated until abruptly closing in mid-2024.
On 2 July 2024, it was announced that the building had been purchased by new owners, aiming to restore the former Punters Club name to the complex and create a space paying tribute to Australia's 90s music scene, while restoring the exterior of the building to match the venue's appearance in the 1990s.[3] The new venue is set to open in August 2024. Two days later, the new owners were revealed to be a consortium composed of Jet bassist Mark Wilson and several prominent Melbourne pub owners. It was also stated that a new bandroom would be opened on the upstairs level of the venue.[4]
Some of the bands who played at the Punters Club included:
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