Max Watt's House of Music (Melbourne)

(Redirected from HiFi Bar)

Max Watt's House of Music is a live music venue on Swanston Street in Melbourne, Australia. The 850-capacity venue is in the basement of the Century Building designed by architect Marcus Barlow.

Venue history

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The venue originally opened in 1940 as the Century Theatre cinema.[1] Over the subsequent decades it underwent various changes in name and focus, from newsreels to European films, before closing as a cinema in 1985.[2]

The Hi-fi Bar & Ballroom opened in the former cinema in 1998, and become a major live music venue in Melbourne.[3] In 2015, after being placed in administration,[4] the venue became Max Watt's House of Music under new ownership.[5]

The venue also hosts comedy as the Festival Club during the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, where the ABC's Comedy Up Late is filmed.[6]

References

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  1. ^ "NEW CENTURY THEATRE". The Age. No. 26, 559. Victoria, Australia. 31 May 1940. p. 14. Retrieved 15 October 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. ^ "Capitol 2 Theatre in Melbourne, AU - Cinema Treasures". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
  3. ^ "A decade in the underground: Hi-fi Bar and Ballroom turns 10". FasterLouder. 1 June 2007. Archived from the original on 15 October 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
  4. ^ Argoon, Ashley (13 February 2015). "Melbourne music institution goes bust". Herald Sun. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  5. ^ "The Hi-Fi Venues Have A New Australian-Based Owner - Music Feeds". Music Feeds. 17 March 2015. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
  6. ^ "ABC To Broadcast Melbourne Comedy Festival Club Performances". theMusic. Retrieved 15 October 2017.