St. Kilda’s Prince Bandroom, an iconic Melbourne music venue, is likely to close after being bought by a pub chain.
According to The Age, the Melbourne Pub Group have purchased “the Prince group of businesses, including the public bar and bandroom, the Circa restaurant, Mink bar.” Currently, the group owns the Albert Park, Middle Park and Newmarket Hotels.
Julian Gerner from the Melbourne Pub Group told The Age he couldn’t guarantee the survival of the famed Prince Bandroom. Apparently plans are underway to turn the bar and venue into a gastro-pub restaurant.
‘The bandroom will operate as it is for the moment,” said Mr Gerner. But, he added: ”We’re not entertainment operators … our focus is on food. We believe if we do good food, we’ll do good business.”
Music Victoria chief executive officer Patrick Donovan said the Prince Bandroom was an ”integral piece of Australia’s music landscape” and hoped it would remain so under the new ownership.
The venue has hosted some of the biggest acts in the Australian and international music scene, including Smashing Pumpkins, You Am I, Coldplay, Ben Harper and Goldfrapp.
