Future of landmark Adelaide nightclub Sugar under a cloud, with its doors closed during busy festival season

Mystery surrounds the future of a landmark Adelaide nightclub, with its owners closing the East End venue during one of the busiest periods of the year.

Mystery surrounds the future of landmark Adelaide nightclub Sugar, with its owners closing the Rundle Street venue this month during one of the busiest periods of the year.

It’s understood the iconic city hotspot last opened its doors on February 9, and local DJs booked for events in the weeks since have been told to move their shows elsewhere.

Sugar is located in the East End, and February and March are traditionally among the busiest months for businesses in the area thanks to the Adelaide Fringe.

Founding owner Driller Jet Armstrong, who left the venue late last year, said it would be a “real shame to see it lost forever”.

“Adelaide’s night-life is reflective of club culture globally. Sugar was a vital cog in the local scene and a pipeline for underground international guest artists,” he said.

Established upstairs on Rundle Street in 2002, Sugar operated for 20 years and hosted more than 870 international acts before closing its doors at the end of 2022.

DJ Driller Jet Armstrongat Sugar nightclub, Rundle St. Picture: Bianca De Marchi

It reopened in December 2023 with Adelaide hospitality company, Gonzo Group – which also owns venues including Cry Baby, Shotgun Willie’s and Memphis Slim’s House of Blues – taking over its operations.

Armstrong stayed on in an artistic capacity, looking after the booking of acts.

Leading Adelaide DJ, Souli Tsiolis, said Sugar’s possible closure would be “devastating” for the local nightclub industry.

“We already have a lack of venues in this city. Alcohol tax and 3am lockouts have hurt our scene,” he said.

During its heyday, Sugar played host to hundreds of international and interstate guest DJs and musicians, and thousands more celebrities.

Kamahl, centre, with TV presenters Jade Skelly and Yumi Stynes at Big Day Out after-party at Sugar nightclub in 2006.

Matt Lambert from Hilltop Hoods with Carlie Pisters at Big Day Out after-party at Sugar Nightclub in 2006.

It was the scene of countless launches, parties, shows and events, featuring some of Adelaide’s biggest names.

Skyrocketing insurance premiums forced its initial closure three years ago. Armstrong said Sugar’s public liability premium had risen almost sevenfold – from $32,000 a year to $220,000 – since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

Sugar rose from the ashes of the former long-running Q Bar, which had just been rebuilt and reopened after a fire in 2001, in the same upstairs venue on Rundle St.

Gonzo Group has been contacted for comment.