The new owners and operators of the beloved Australian Hi-Fi Bars have announced the venue will be operating under a new name soon, with all future music bookings and social media marketing to be undertaken by promoters The Venue Collective.
All three venues in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane will soon operate under the name Max Watt’s – the name of the Australian-based company that bought the venues after they were placed in administration last month.
“Max Watt’s is a new business and what we’re planning to do is create a new live music venue business where we’re going to improve the patron experience and also improve the facilities for the bands and also look after the promoters,” Max Watt’s CEO Greg Bourke told Music Feeds. “So we can get more people coming through for the gigs.”
Max Watt’s have also announced a collaboration with The Venue Collective – who also take care of bookings at The Corner Hotel, 170 Russell and the Newtown Social Club in Sydney. Greg Bourke said the decision is good from both a financial and operational perspective. “TVC are by far the largest booking agency in Australia and they have the best contacts with all the promoters.”
The Venue Collective director Ben Thompson told Music Feeds they were approached by the venues’ new owners to provide an alternative to the usual in-house booking and promotions team which can be an unaffordable model for music venues today.
“They knew that we worked with a handful of different venues and different owners and provided a service that would perhaps lower those traditional overheads,” he explained. “We got to know them and were pretty impressed that they were keen to provide a high-quality service to their patrons and to acts, and that’s the type of venue we’d like to work with.”
“I’m so thrilled that those three venues have been saved and will be around in the future because they’re such important venues.” Max Watt’s have indicated they will be also be undertaking a series of upgrades at the venues, to be put into action sometime after the events at the Melbourne Comedy Festival finish up.
Max Watt’s have pledged to honour all existing bookings and tickets at the three venues and according to Ben Thompson TVC are already in talks with promoters to take future bookings for Max Watt’s.
“We’re into action from today. We’re speaking to promoters and agents from around Australia today, they know that we’re now booking the venue and are taking their bookings for upcoming shows, so I imagine we’ll be announcing new shows under the Max Watt’s name within the next fortnight.”
The Venue Collective’s Ashlea O’Loughlin will be the booker for the Max Watt’s venues. The new Max Watt’s website is live today and physical re-branding in the venue will take place gradually, with new signage expected to be in place by the end of April.
