Photo of iconic Brisbane music venue reveals Valley’s changing landscape

The stage was the breeding ground for some of Brisbane’s biggest bands but the hallowed venue has been demolished to make way for apartments.

The music industry is mourning the loss of an iconic venue that became a breeding ground for Brisbane’s biggest bands after The Arena was reduced to rubble.

The Fortitude Valley haunt, earlier known as The Roxy, hosted a legendary roll-call of international acts including the Arctic Monkeys and Radiohead, while the stage also served as a launching pad in the ’90s for the city’s stars, including Powderfinger and Regurgitator.

As a live venue, the site had been abandoned for many years but its demolition to make way for an apartment complex has served as a reminder of the city’s evolving landscape, with some concerned The Arena’s razing was the nail in the coffin for the Valley’s once-bustling arts scene.

The Arena in Fortitude Valley being demolished. Picture: Brad Fleet

Luke Johnston, who co-owns another nearby venue, The Zoo, described the demolition as “brutal” and said it was indicative of an industry struggling to find its feet following the devastation of prolonged Covid-19 restrictions.

“Now that it’s gone, obviously with the building being demolished, there’s no chance of it ever coming back,” the former tour manager and guitar tech told The Courier-Mail.

“So many iconic venues and so many iconic gigs in Brisbane are all going.

“I don't think the valley needs more apartment blocks, it just needs more support for entertainment and things to do.”

Gallery: Classic moments from The Arena nightclub

The Zoo co-owner fears the Valley has lost its soul, with the once vibrant independent arts and culture scene being replaced as a “going out spot for clubs and uni nights”.

Prolific Brisbane band Regurgitator played at The Roxy more than 30 times and the group’s longtime manager, Paul Curtis, who also booked acts for the venue between 1993 and 1998, said the site’s demise was sad but inevitable.

“It’s been heading in that direction for a while,” he said.

“It had its time in place, I suppose. Could it have been adapted into a venue now? It’s hard to say.

“It's important to have music venues for our music ecology perspective, relative to how the community grows, particularly the smaller venues, because they’re like the breeding grounds (for local talent).”

Powderfinger launched their careers at The Roxy in the 90s.

Mr Curtis reminisced on a number of wild nights at The Roxy where a roll-call of international and local stars graced the stage, including raucous shows by the infamous Rollins Band, the time the venue caught on fire, or the night police showed up to serve a warrant to a Regurgitator band member on stage for outstanding parking fines.

The 25-storey apartment block proposed for the site on Brunswick Street.

But it was the famed venue’s role in harvesting local talent he recollects most fondly, with nights dedicated in the 90s to a large number of lesser known bands who then soared in popularity.

“We suddenly had this cohort of Brisbane music placed in optimum conditions — large stage, large production, large lighting show — and I think there was a realisation from the local music community that these bands were just as good as the interstate or the international ones,” Mr Curtis said.

“That was the period that you saw Regurgitator, Powderfinger, Pangaea, Custard, Budd, and a bunch of stuff emerge.”

From the rubble, a 25-storey apartment block with more than 300 units will emerge with ground floor retail, a cafe, a co-working office space and a fitness studio.

According to the development proposal, a quarter of the apartments, about 140 units, will be dedicated to affordable housing with rent subsidised by the Queensland government to assist with the state’s critical lack of public housing stock.

Originally published as Photo of iconic Brisbane music venue reveals Valley’s changing landscape