The Punters Club was a pub

Public house

A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...

 and live music venue located on Brunswick Street

Brunswick Street, Melbourne

Brunswick Street is a street in inner northern Melbourne, known for cafés, live music venues and alternative fashion shops.-Geography:Brunswick Street runs north-south through the inner northern Melbourne suburbs of Fitzroy and Fitzroy North, from Victoria Parade at its southernmost end, crossing...

, Fitzroy

Fitzroy, Victoria

Fitzroy is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Yarra. Its borders are Alexandra Parade , Victoria Parade , Smith Street and Nicholson Street. Fitzroy is Melbourne's...

, in inner Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

, Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

.

It developed a reputation as one of the city's premier live music venues, drawing comparisons to the likes of New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

's CBGB

CBGB

CBGB was a music club at 315 Bowery at Bleecker Street in the borough of Manhattan in New York City.Founded by Hilly Kristal in 1973, it was originally intended to feature its namesake musical styles, but became a forum for American punk and New Wave bands like Ramones, Misfits, Television, the...

. It was also noted for its rough, alternative, yet casual atmosphere with audiences sometimes sitting on the floor while watching bands.

History

The Punters Club started in 1987 with the taking over, renaming, and renovation of the Moonee Valley Hotel as a live-music venue. It played a broad and eclectic range of music, such as indie rock

Indie rock

Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...

, electronica

Electronica

Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...

, nu country, lo-fi, metal

Heavy metal music

Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...

, Celtic

Celtic music

Celtic music is a term utilised by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe...

 and ska

Ska

Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...

. The venue helped launch the careers of a number of successful Australian bands, including Frente!

Frente!

Frente! are an Australian alternative rock group, formed in 1991. The original lineup featured singer Angie Hart, founder and guitarist Simon Austin, bassist Tim O'Connor , and drummer Mark Picton...

, Magic Dirt

Magic Dirt

Magic Dirt are an Australian rock band, which formed in 1991 in Geelong, Victoria, with Daniel Herring on guitar, Adam Robertson on drums, Adalita Srsen on vocals and guitar, and Dean Turner on bass guitar. Initially known as Deer Bubbles and then The Jim Jims, they were renamed as Magic Dirt in...

, Something for Kate

Something for Kate

Something for Kate are a rock band from Melbourne, Australia. Members include songwriter, vocalist and guitarist Paul Dempsey, drummer Clint Hyndman and bassist Stephanie Ashworth...

, Spiderbait

Spiderbait

Spiderbait are an Australian alternative rock band formed in Finley in 1989 by bass guitarist Janet English, singer-drummer Mark Maher , and guitarist Damian Whitty. In 2004 the group's cover version of the 1930s Lead Belly song "Black Betty" reached number one on the ARIA Singles Chart...

 and You Am I

You Am I

You Am I are an Australian alternative rock band, fronted by vocalist/guitarist and main songwriter Tim Rogers. They were the first Australian band to have three albums successively debut at #1 on the ARIA Charts, and are renowned for their live performances.-History:Tim Rogers formed the first...

. 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

IF? Records

IF? Records, established in Melbourne, Australia in 1995 and based in Tokyo, Japan after relocating there in 2001, was a live gig and rave party organiser in Melbourne in the 1990s and one of Melbourne's first independent local electronic music labels....

 (with their Zoetrope sessions) and Clan Analogue

Clan Analogue

-History:Clan Analogue was started in Sydney, Australia, in 1992 as a collective by founder Brendan J Palmer, and a small group of people who were interested and active in electronic sound...

, and regularly played host to live acts like Zen Paradox

Zen Paradox

Zen Paradox is an electronic music artist, primarily involved in the production of techno as well as other more experimental electronic sounds, from Melbourne, Australia. It is the principle name under which Steve Law records and performs electronic music. He also uses the names Mr...

, Little Nobody

Little Nobody

Little Nobody is the electronic music production alias of Australian musician and writer Andrez Bergen.-Background:An expatriate Melburnian, who currently resides in Tokyo, Japan, Bergen is also an author and photographer, as well as a music, movie and anime journalist for the Daily Yomiuri...

, Artificial

Nicole Skeltys

Nicole Skeltys is an Australian composer, writer and presenter, currently based in Pittsburgh, USA. From 1993 to 2003 she was part of Btek, an Australian electronica and dance act. Skeltys also released electronic music under the name Artificial during this period and was a member of Clan Analogue...

, Andrez Bergen

Little Nobody

Little Nobody is the electronic music production alias of Australian musician and writer Andrez Bergen.-Background:An expatriate Melburnian, who currently resides in Tokyo, Japan, Bergen is also an author and photographer, as well as a music, movie and anime journalist for the Daily Yomiuri...

, 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 found that continuing would be unsustainable. The club closed its doors on 17 February 2002, with a twelve-hour music marathon that featured Gaslight Radio

Gaslight Radio

Gaslight Radio is an Australian guitar band, originally from the Gold Coast and now based in Melbourne. The band was founded by two brothers, Martin and Rory Cooke, in their home town of Burleigh Heads on Queensland's Gold Coast.-Albums:...

, Rocket Science

Rocket Science (band)

Rocket Science is an Australian alternative rock band that first came to public attention on national youth radio network Triple J around 2000....

, Pre-Shrunk, and The Beat End Profilers.

The venue was later converted into a pizza bar, Bimbo Deluxe. After a two-year hunt for another venue, Everett bought the Commercial Hotel in High Street, Northcote

Northcote, Victoria

Northcote is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 7 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Darebin...

—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

The Lucksmiths

The Lucksmiths were an indie pop band from Melbourne, Australia known for witty, intelligent lyrics, a strong melodic sense and a jangly pop sound harkening back to early-80's bands such as The Smiths and The Go-Betweens.-History:...

 wrote a song entitled "Requiem For The Punters Club" as a tribute to the venue.

Bands

Some of the bands who played at the Punters Club included:

• The 5.6.7.8's
  The 5.6.7.8's
  The 5.6.7.8's are an all-female Japanese rock trio, whose music is reminiscent of American surf music, rockabilly and garage rock. They frequently cover songs from American rock and roll. Each member is from Tokyo, Japan....
  
  
• Anaphase
• Arab Strap
  Arab Strap (band)
  Arab Strap were an indie rock band from Scotland that consisted of core members Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton. The band were signed to independent record label Chemikal Underground, and split in 2006...
  
  
• Architecture In Helsinki
  Architecture in Helsinki
  Architecture in Helsinki is an Australian indie pop band which consists of Cameron Bird, Gus Franklin, Jamie Mildren, Sam Perry, and Kellie Sutherland...
  
  
• Augie March
  Augie March
  Augie March are an Australian indie/pop rock band. Formed in 1996 in Shepparton, Victoria, the band currently consists of vocalist and rhythm guitarist Glenn Richards, lead guitarist Adam Donovan, bassist Edmondo Ammendola, drummer David Williams, and keyboardist Kiernan Box...
  
  
• The Avalanches
  The Avalanches
  The Avalanches are an Australian electronic music group formed in 1997 with mainstays Robbie Chater on keyboards, Tony Diblasi on keyboards, bass and backing vocals, and Darren Seltmann on vocals and keyboards. They are known for their live DJ sets and their debut album Since I Left You , which was...
  
  
• Blueline Medic
  Blueline Medic
  -History:The group formed in mid 1999 after the downfall of bands Caustic Soda and Mid Youth Crisis from which guitarists Donnie Dureau and Adrian Lombardi were members...
  
  
• By Ferry Or Steamer
• The Cannanes
  The Cannanes
  The Cannanes are a longstanding Australian indie pop band formed in Sydney in late 1984.-History:The original line-up of the band was Stephen O'Neil , Annabel Bleach , Michelle Cannane , Frances Gibson , and David Nichols...
  
  
• Cat Power
  Cat Power
  Charlyn Marie Marshall , also known as Chan Marshall or by her stage name Cat Power, is an American singer/songwriter and occasional actress and model. Cat Power was originally the name of Marshall's first band, but has come to refer to her musical projects with various backing bands...
  
  
• The Chalk Circle
• Clowns of Decadence
• The Colonial V-Knees
• Dallas Crane
  Dallas Crane
  Dallas Crane is an Australian alternative rock band from Melbourne, Australia.Dallas Crane was named after the father of a mate of the band.In January 2004, the band signed a recording and publishing deal with Albert Productions, the home of AC/DC. The band recorded an album with Wayne Connolly,...
  
  
• Dan and Al (Dan Warner and Al McInnes)
• Dave Graney
  Dave Graney
  David John "Dave" Graney is an Australian rock musician and singer-songwriter from Mount Gambier, South Australia. Since 1979, Graney is generally accompanied by drummer, Clare Moore...
  
   and The Coral Snakes
• Dirty Three
  Dirty Three
  Dirty Three are an instrumental trio consisting of Warren Ellis , Mick Turner and Jim White , originating from Melbourne, Australia. Since the Dirty Three formed in 1992, they have spent a lot of time overseas...
  
  
• DJ Spooky
  DJ Spooky
  Paul D. Miller , known by his stage name DJ Spooky, That Subliminal Kid, is a Washington DC-born electronic and experimental hip hop musician whose work is often called by critics or his fans as "illbient" or "trip hop". He is a turntablist, a producer, a philosopher, and an author...
  
  
• Ephedrine
• Even
  Even (band)
  Even are an Australian indie rock three-piece fronted by singer/songwriter/guitarist Ashley Naylor, with Matthew Cotter on drums and Wally Kempton on bass and backing vocals...
  
  
• The Fauves
  The Fauves
  The Fauves are an Australian rock band. Their album Future Spa was nominated for Best Alternative Album in the 1997 ARIA awards but lost to Spiderbait's Ivy and the Big Apples....
  
  
• Fireballs
  Fireballs (band)
  Fireballs are an Australian psychobilly band, based in Melbourne, Victoria. They re-formed in December 2005 after an 8-year absence to support Mötley Crüe and Motörhead at the Blackjack festival in Perth...
  
  
• Frente!
  Frente!
  Frente! are an Australian alternative rock group, formed in 1991. The original lineup featured singer Angie Hart, founder and guitarist Simon Austin, bassist Tim O'Connor , and drummer Mark Picton...
  
  
• Gaslight Radio
  Gaslight Radio
  Gaslight Radio is an Australian guitar band, originally from the Gold Coast and now based in Melbourne. The band was founded by two brothers, Martin and Rory Cooke, in their home town of Burleigh Heads on Queensland's Gold Coast.-Albums:...
  
  
• The Glory Box
  The Glory Box (Australian band)
  The Glory Box were an Indie pop / Indie rock band from Melbourne, Australia. They existed from ~1988 until their breakup ~1994. They released several 7" vinyl singles and a 12" vinly EP, as well as a full length CD album and a compilation CD on Shock Records, Australia's largest independent record...
  
  
• Hugo Race & The True Spirit
• Jimmy Eat World
  Jimmy Eat World
  Jimmy Eat World is an American alternative rock band from Mesa, Arizona, that formed in 1993. The band is composed of lead vocalist and guitarist Jim Adkins, guitarist and backing vocalist Tom Linton, bassist Rick Burch and drummer Zach Lind....
  
  
• Kim Salmon
  Kim Salmon
  Kim Leith Salmon is an Australian indie rock musician and songwriter, who attained fame in June 2004, when he was inducted into the West Australian Music Industry Association Hall of Fame....
  
  , Kim Salmon & The Surrealists
• The Lucksmiths
  The Lucksmiths
  The Lucksmiths were an indie pop band from Melbourne, Australia known for witty, intelligent lyrics, a strong melodic sense and a jangly pop sound harkening back to early-80's bands such as The Smiths and The Go-Betweens.-History:...
  
  
• Maelstrom
  Maelstrom
  A maelstrom is a very powerful whirlpool; a large, swirling body of water. A free vortex, it has considerable downdraft. The power of tidal whirlpools tends to be exaggerated by laymen. There are virtually no stories of large ships ever being sucked into a maelstrom, although smaller craft are in...
  
  
• Minimum Chips
  Minimum Chips
  Minimum Chips are an Australian band formed in Brisbane in the mid-1990s. During their Brisbane years they supported many international acts including Stereolab, Bikini Kill and Pavement...
  
  
• Negativland
  Negativland
  Negativland is an experimental music and sound collage band which originated in the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1970s. They took their name from a Neu! song, while their record label is named after another Neu! song...
  
  
• Ninetynine
  Ninetynine
  Ninetynine is an indie band based in Melbourne, Australia. The band was founded by Laura Macfarlane, who played drums in Sleater-Kinney, in 1996 as a solo project. The first album, 99, was recorded with her playing all the instruments. Not long after she assembled a band with Cameron Potts and...
  
  
• Nitocris
  Nitocris (Band)
  Nitocris was a band from Sydney, Australia playing a combination of speedy punk and heavy metal. The band was notable as being perhaps the country's first significant all-female touring band.-Band history:...
  
  
• The Paradise Motel
  The Paradise Motel
  The Paradise Motel are a critically and commercially successful independent Australian band from Hobart, Tasmania, first active from 1995–2000, who reformed in 2008.-Formation and early releases 1994–1998:...
  
  
• Penthouse Paupers
  Penthouse Paupers
  Penthouse Paupers were a Melbourne Indy Rock band from the mid to late 80's, with a classic Aussie pub, rhythmic rock sound characteristic of the era....
  
  
• Portraits Of Hugo Perez
• Powderfinger
  Powderfinger
  Powderfinger was an Australian rock band that formed in Brisbane in 1989. From 1992 until their breakup the band lineup consisted of vocalist Bernard Fanning, guitarists Darren Middleton and Ian Haug, bassist John Collins, and drummer Jon Coghill....
  
  

• Pray TV
  Pray TV (band)
  Pray TV were an Indie pop/Indie rock band from Melbourne, Australia. They existed from 1987 until their breakup in 1997. They released 4 CD albums, several 7" vinyl singles and a 12" vinyl EP. A compilation CD was released in 2010.-History:...
  
  
• Regurgitator
  Regurgitator
  Regurgitator are an Australian rock band from Brisbane, currently consisting of Quan Yeomans , Ben Ely and Peter Kostic . The band formed in 1994, its original line-up consisting of Yeomans, Ely and drummer Martin Lee...
  
  
• Rocket Science
  Rocket Science (band)
  Rocket Science is an Australian alternative rock band that first came to public attention on national youth radio network Triple J around 2000....
  
  
• The Rococo Pops
• Sam Prekop
  Sam Prekop
  Sam Prekop is a rock/pop musician in the band The Sea and Cake. He also has released three solo albums. Prekop first gained recognition in the band Shrimp Boat from 1988 to 1993. Many artists have performed in the Sam Prekop band, such as Chad Taylor, Josh Abrams, Jim O'Rourke, and Archer Prewitt...
  
  
• Sandpit
  Sandpit
  A sandpit or sandbox is a low, wide container or shallow depression filled with sand in which children can play. Many homeowners with children build sandpits in their backyards because, unlike much playground equipment, they can be easily and cheaply constructed...
  
  
• Scanner
  Scanner (band)
  Scanner is a power metal band that was formed in 1986. They released their first album, Hypertrace, in 1988 through Noise Records. The band has split up and rejoined at least twice since its creation and its only remaining original band member is the guitarist Axel A.J. Julius.-Members:*Efthimios...
  
  
• Sea Scouts
  Sea Scouts (band)
  Sea Scouts were a noise rock band, based in Hobart, Tasmania.-First formation:Following the split of his former band Mouth in 1994, Tim Evans began jamming with U.F.O. frontman Zach von Bamburger...
  
  
• Seven
  Seven (band)
  Seven was an AOR band formed in Bournemouth who recorded two singles, both having minor success within the UK.-History:The band formed in 1989, consisting of Mick Devine , Keith Macfarlane , Pat Davey , Simon Lefevre and Austin Lane .The band formed from the remnants of the South African band...
  
  
• Something for Kate
  Something for Kate
  Something for Kate are a rock band from Melbourne, Australia. Members include songwriter, vocalist and guitarist Paul Dempsey, drummer Clint Hyndman and bassist Stephanie Ashworth...
  
  
• Sick Puppies
  Sick Puppies
  Sick Puppies is an Australian rock band, formed in 1997. The band consists of vocalist and guitarist Shimon Moore, bassist Emma Anzai and drummer Mark Goodwin....
  
  
• Silverchair
  Silverchair
  Silverchair were an Australian rock band, which formed in 1992 as Innocent Criminals in Merewether, Newcastle with the line-up of Ben Gillies on drums, Chris Joannou on bass guitar and Daniel Johns on vocals and guitars. The group got their big break in mid-1994 when they won a national demo...
  
  
• Spiderbait
  Spiderbait
  Spiderbait are an Australian alternative rock band formed in Finley in 1989 by bass guitarist Janet English, singer-drummer Mark Maher , and guitarist Damian Whitty. In 2004 the group's cover version of the 1930s Lead Belly song "Black Betty" reached number one on the ARIA Singles Chart...
  
  
• Snuff Puppets
  Snuff Puppets
  Snuff Puppets is an Australian puppet theatre company that was founded in 1992.Originating in Canberra as part of Splinters Theatre of Spectacle, Snuff Puppets moved to a dusty warehouse in the industrial working class suburb of Footscray in Melbourne, and are now based in the historic Footscray...
  
  
• Tiddas
  Tiddas
  Tiddas are a three piece all-girl folk band from Victoria, Australia.-Biography:Originally the three women, Amy Saunders , Lou Bennett and Sally Dastey combined their vocal talents as backing singers for Aboriginal band Djaambi, led by Saunder's brother Richard Frankland in 1990...
  
  
• TISM
  TISM
  TISM was a seven piece anonymous alternative rock band from Melbourne, Australia. The group was formed in 1982 and enjoyed a large underground/independent following. Their third album Machiavelli and the Four Seasons reached the Australian national top 10 in 1995...
  
  
• Underground Lovers
  Underground Lovers
  Underground Lovers are an Australian alternative rock band and one of the most lauded music acts in the country's alternative scene throughout the 1990s. While the band has experienced many lineup changes during its existence, the nucleus of the band since its inception has been Vincent M...
  
  
• Weddings Parties Anything
  Weddings Parties Anything
  Weddings Parties Anything were an Australian folk rock band formed in 1984 in Melbourne and continuing until 1998. Their name came from The Clash song and musicologist Billy Pinnell described their first album as the best Australian rock debut since Skyhooks' Living in the '70s.-Formation and...
  
  
• Chris Wilson
• Various Clan Analogue
  Clan Analogue
  -History:Clan Analogue was started in Sydney, Australia, in 1992 as a collective by founder Brendan J Palmer, and a small group of people who were interested and active in electronic sound...
  
   members
• Little Nobody
  Little Nobody
  Little Nobody is the electronic music production alias of Australian musician and writer Andrez Bergen.-Background:An expatriate Melburnian, who currently resides in Tokyo, Japan, Bergen is also an author and photographer, as well as a music, movie and anime journalist for the Daily Yomiuri...
  
  
• Ollie Olsen
  Ollie Olsen
  Ollie Olsen 1958, Melbourne, Australia) is an Australian composer, synthesist and sound designer who has been producing and performing rock, electronic and experimental music for the past thirty years...
  
  
• Zen Paradox
  Zen Paradox
  Zen Paradox is an electronic music artist, primarily involved in the production of techno as well as other more experimental electronic sounds, from Melbourne, Australia. It is the principle name under which Steve Law records and performs electronic music. He also uses the names Mr...
  
  
• Isnod
• Voiteck
• Frontside
  Frontside
  Frontside and backside are surfing, skateboarding, snowboarding and aggressive inline skating terms that are used to describe how a person approaches an obstacle or performs a certain trick...
  
  
• The LN Elektronisch Ensemble
  Little Nobody
  Little Nobody is the electronic music production alias of Australian musician and writer Andrez Bergen.-Background:An expatriate Melburnian, who currently resides in Tokyo, Japan, Bergen is also an author and photographer, as well as a music, movie and anime journalist for the Daily Yomiuri...
  
  
• Schlock Tactile
  Little Nobody
  Little Nobody is the electronic music production alias of Australian musician and writer Andrez Bergen.-Background:An expatriate Melburnian, who currently resides in Tokyo, Japan, Bergen is also an author and photographer, as well as a music, movie and anime journalist for the Daily Yomiuri...
  
  
• Son Of Zev
• Tee-Art
• The Make-Up
• Honeysmack
• Guyver 3
• Soulenoid
• Andrez Bergen
  Little Nobody
  Little Nobody is the electronic music production alias of Australian musician and writer Andrez Bergen.-Background:An expatriate Melburnian, who currently resides in Tokyo, Japan, Bergen is also an author and photographer, as well as a music, movie and anime journalist for the Daily Yomiuri...
  
  
• Josh Abrahams

External links

• Punters Club website (at archive.org)