Phoenician Club

The Phoenician Club was the name of a well-known entertainment venue in Sydney, Australia. It was located in Ultimo, New South Wales at the corner of Broadway and Mountain St, opposite St Barnabas Church. The venue itself had gone through various uses and had had different names before it became the Phoenician Club, a meeting place for Sydney's Maltese community, in 1980. Before then, the building and the club had existed separately (the Phoenician Club had been in existence as a social organisation since 1963). Some of the building's previous uses included being a cinema and television studio.

Plaque erected on former site of the Phoenician Club, commemorating its history and its earlier functions

The building was originally constructed as dance hall during the late 19th century. The major features of the building remained substantially unchanged for over 100 years and it was one of the last surviving halls in Sydney dating from that period. Unfortunately, all the surviving Victorian interior features, including the balconies and booths, were destroyed when the building was gutted during a major residential redevelopment of the area in the early 2000s. The premises opened as a cinema in 1911, screening firstly silent films and later on talking movies when it was rewired for sound. Until its redevelopment in 2001, the building had been one of the oldest surviving purpose-built cinemas in Sydney. The building operated as a cinema until 1960.

The premises were run as a discothèque called Jonathan's Disco in the early 1970s and is notable in the history of the Australian pop band Sherbet, who played a formative eight-month residency there during 1970; it was here that they were first seen by their future manager Roger Davies. Sherbet shared residency at the venue with the group Fraternity. AC/DC also played at the venue during this period. Following a fire at the premises, the building was re-opened as a ballroom for a short period in 1976. In 1980, Sydney City Council granted consent for the Maltese community to take over the premises as the Phoenician Club. By becoming a licensed venue, the premises' role as a major music venue in Sydney significantly expanded. This gave the club a reliable source of revenue for its community activities.

The Phoenician Club became a popular rock venue in the late 1970s and 1980s, hosting many concerts by both local and overseas groups. Simulations of Manchester techno dance parties were held at the club in 1991. In January 1992, Nirvana played their first Australian show there. It became the focus of a major public controversy in 1995 following the death of Sydney teenager Anna Wood, who died from a cerebral oedema after taking the drug ecstasy while attending a rave dance party at the venue. The club survived calls for it to be closed down in the ensuing public fall–out over Wood's death. Fines and restrictions imposed on it by the courts significantly reduced its role as a major music venue, however. The club eventually closed down in 1998, and it has since been redeveloped into residential and commercial premises.

External links

• The day the music died
• Entry at rateyourmusic.com, includes a photo of the Phoenician Club when it was still open