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Sunshine Coast bar and nightclub owners revealed

The Sunshine Coast’s most popular bars and clubs continue to pull crowds and show resilience despite Covid-19 restrictions and recent floods. See the faces behind the venues:

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Despite recent floods and Covid-19 restrictions some of the Sunshine Coast’s new and most recognised late night venues have shown they can adapt their business and continue to attract revellers.

Many long standing bars and nightclubs have seen others come and go while a handful of new ones are making a name for themselves with a fresh offering and patron experience.

According to some of the region’s industry heavyweights the late night economy has come a long way over the past decade.

Sol Bar and Old soul co-owner Alex Johns said there was a lack of original live music opportunities on the Sunshine Coast 11 years ago which had noticeably improved overtime.

“Noise issues and new developments had closed a bunch of venues and there was only a handful offering opportunities for budding original artists,” Mr Johns said.

Nowadays, the region is home to a growing variety of evening haunts boasting live entertainment such as rock and indie bands to DJ’s spinning electronic dance and house music into the early hours of the morning.

Below is a list of prominent Sunshine Coast venues and the owners behind them:

Dimi Limnatitis and Alex Johns, Sol Bar and Old Soul

Solbar and Old Soul co-owner Dimi Limnatitis.
Solbar and Old Soul co-owner Dimi Limnatitis.

Since establishing Sol Bar in 2011 and Old Soul in 2014 on Ocean Street in Maroochydore, co-owners Dimi Limnatitis and Alex Johns have established themselves among the most prominent late-night venue operators on the Sunshine Coast.

Their two live music venues have made a name for drawing well-known local performers as well as big national artists and regularly packed-out crowds.

Mr Limnatitis ran a publishing company which worked on a number of event promotion campaigns prior to opening Sol Bar with Mr Johns who has past experience in event production and in his family’s business Cotton Tree Backpackers.

Mr Johns said while Covid-19 has forced the duo to take a more conservative approach to business they were continuing to look for new opportunities in the industry.

“To last 11 years in any hospitality business you need to be constantly developing, growing and trying different things and this is particularly true in the entertainment category,” he said.

“Remaining current means ensuring you are promoting the most popular current acts with the most popular current food and beverage options.

“Both Sol Bar and Old Soul have seen consistent demand since their inception but as the precinct has grown up around us the additional foot traffic has led to incremental growth which we are still experiencing.”

Ian Van der Woude and Michelle Christoe, Night Quarter

NightQuarter owners Ian Van der Woude and Michelle Christoe
NightQuarter owners Ian Van der Woude and Michelle Christoe

NightQuarter co-founders Ian Van der Woude and Michelle Christoe originally established their late-night multipurpose venue on the Gold Coast before relocating to the Sunshine Coast in late 2019 due to rent hikes at their former site.

Adjacent to Stockland Birtinya Shopping Centre, NightQuarter has fast become one of the region’s most acclaimed entertainment venues with four stages, eight themed bars and 20 restaurants and retail shops.

The outdoor precinct has hosted a number of high profile acts including Ziggy Alberts, Ocean Alley, Lime Cordiale and more.

NightQuarter contributed up to $5m to the local economy, attracted 30 per cent of its patrons from outside the region and employed more than 400 people.

Ms Christoe said the pandemic had thrown up steep challenges for the business in its first two years.

Ms Christoe and Mr Van der Woude were confident in the venue’s long term success having won best regional venue at the Queensland Music Awards three times.

“Omicron caused a downturn in consumer confidence in January, but we are back to booking ticket events and booked our first Gala for 380 people as people are starting to venture out again at night,” Ms Christoe said.

“We have a great line-up of major tours, local gigs, cultural festivals and events for the rest of 2022.”

Aaron Crump, Eleven Dive Bar

Eleven Dive Bar owner Aaron Crump
Eleven Dive Bar owner Aaron Crump

Having noticed a lack of opportunities for live music beyond the indie scene on the Sunshine Coast, Eleven Dive Bar owner Aaron Crump set out to establish his own live music venue that was dedicated to old school punk, rock metal and grunge genres.

Mr Crump opened the doors to his Duporth Ave bar in June, 2021 alongside his partner a year after its soft launch which initially drew criticism from some residents in the area who raised concerns about its demographic.

But Eleven has continued to draw in many who are seeking out live bands and music styles they would otherwise have missed out on seeing in the region.

Mr Crump said the business was at the stage of being able to lure larger interstate bands to their venue from having established a growing reputation among audiences and key industry figures.

“We’ve brought more large touring bands to the coast in eight months than it’s seen in years, so the market is thriving,” he said.

“We want to continue to bring the bigger acts back to Sunshine Coast consistently so we don’t have to travel back to Brisbane to see shows and the money stays here in the region. We are also eager to keep supporting the local performers in order for them to grow.”

The inspiration for Eleven was mainly derived by Mr Crump and his partner’s passion for music festivals and gigs and locations he performed at such as Frankie’s in Sydney.

Mr Crump took up playing drums when he was nine years old before teaching himself guitar and bass about five years later and played in various bands professionally.

Australian Venue Co, Kings Beach Tavern

Australian Venue Co chief executive Craig Ellison
Australian Venue Co chief executive Craig Ellison

Kings Beach Tavern has refreshed and modernised not only its daytime food and beverage offering, but its night-time entertainment as well after completing extensive renovations in mid-2021.

Owned by one of the country’s largest hospitality groups, Australian Venue Co, the tavern has run about 90 touring shows with a diverse range of popular artists including Thirsty Merc, Seth Sentry, Dragon, The Butterfingers, Troy Cassar-Daley, and more.

On Friday evenings, the venue runs DJ nights which showcases some of the biggest EDM artists in Australia from Mashd’ N Kutcher to Sneaky Sound System and Masked Wolf among others.

Its Thursday and Sunday nights are also becoming increasingly popular among revellers.

Australian Venue Co chief executive Craig Ellison said the Kings Beach Tavern’s 500 capacity ranks it among the biggest night time venues on the Coast.

“One of our major goals was to establish the pub as one of the largest live music destinations on the Sunshine Coast, so we’ve put a lot of energy into our live music line up, which includes local bands as well as major touring acts,” Mr Ellison said.

“It has quickly become the go-to venue for touring artists to perform in the Sunshine Coast with a competitive capacity and a convenient location. This allows a pathway for local Sunshine Coast artists to support and perform in front of new audiences.”

Michael and Bradley Valencour, Double Barrel Bar

Father and son team Michael and Brad Valencour co-founded Double Barrel Bar on Ocean Street, Maroochydore.
Father and son team Michael and Brad Valencour co-founded Double Barrel Bar on Ocean Street, Maroochydore.

Double Barrel Bar on Maroochydore’s Ocean St is the product of former truck driver Michael and his son Bradley Valencour, who was previously a head chef, which opened in August, 2018.

The theme behind the venue is a western-inspired whisky, cocktail and tapas bar designed to be a relaxing space for punters to knock back a drink or two be it a Wednesday or Saturday night.

The father and son duo’s offering accommodates a variety of different age groups with entertainment such as whiskey nights, pool nights, cocktail classes and karaoke sessions.

Michael Valencour said they anticipated evenings to gradually get busider throughout the year and have continued to make improvements to their social media presence to market their venue.

“Covid was a tough time for us like so many others, luckily we pulled through and are finally getting back to those consistent busy nights,” Michael said.

“With everything opening back up and restrictions lifted we are excited for the night life to come back and better than ever.”

Joey Sandagon, Drunken Dumpling

Sunshine Coast restaurateur Joey Sandagon.
Sunshine Coast restaurateur Joey Sandagon.

Joey Sandagon is the entrepreneur behind four popular Sunshine Coast restaurants and bars which include The Good Bar, Juan Fifty, Drunken Dumpling and his most recent Verona Pizza and Wine Bar.

Mr Sandagon launched Drunken Dumpling in 2020 on Ocean St originally intended as a late night bar with a small selection of snack dishes.

However, the spread of Covid-19 prompted him to pivot the business towards having a stronger food offering, which he said has attracted a wider demographic to the venue and will benefit the business in the long term.

“The food we ended up presenting there was because of Covid and has been a higher standard than what we intended from the beginning with the concept,” Mr Sandagon said.

“Now that we’ve got really good food there we want to get that message out and still go about what we normally do as a late night bar.”

Drunken Dumpling has become a well known destination for late Friday and Saturday nights for its music entertainment and atmosphere set inside a modern, upscale, neon-lit space.

Zariah Lamont, Zyped

Zyped founder Zariah Lamont
Zyped founder Zariah Lamont

At 20 years of age, Zariah Lamont has founded five businesses including Noosa Cold Brew and her most recent venture Zyped, a cocktail bar and nightclub which opened in late-2021.

The lively venue situated on Ocean St has already made an early mark on the clubbing strip which regularly boasts long queues of party goers on Friday and Saturday nights despite high competition from other established operators.

Among the bar’s drinks line up include coffee liqueur cocktail blends such as espresso martinis made from nitro cold brew, along with other classic cocktails and mixed beverages.

Ms Lamont has described Zyped as a “dream” project.

In 2019 Ms Lamont took out the Generation Innovation Challenge business award.

Colin Cameron, Peak Wine Bar

Peak Wine Bar owner Colin Cameron (right) and his wife Mo Qin (left).
Peak Wine Bar owner Colin Cameron (right) and his wife Mo Qin (left).

Peak Wine Bar was launched by Colin Cameron in 2015 with a focus on fine dining options at the beginning.

Since then, Mr Cameron has revamped the venue which now slanted towards entertainment with an “RnB influence” to give the space an upbeat vibe and a condensed food menu.

Peak Wine Bar does themed nights with Wednesday trivia events, uni nights on Thursdays, RnB entertainment on Friday nights, ‘dirty disco’ on Saturday nights with new and classic dance music, and blush Sundays which feature performances from drag queens.

The venue’s food offering consists of sliders, pizzas, fried chicken wings, cheesy kimchi spring rolls and an extensive drinks list with red and white wines, cocktails, spirits, beers and ciders.

The business also has a range of its own branded T-shirts.

Original URL: https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/sunshine-coast/business/sunshine-coast-bar-and-nightclub-owners-revealed/news-story/6a000b48a824cf7071aa65f3c31d35cd