Fisherman’s Wharf Gold Coast: 25 years since The Spit landmark music video was closed

Fisherman’s Wharf was a beloved Gold Coast landmark for 15 years and hosted everyone from Nirvana to Midnight Oil. But nothing went right, leading to its sad final days. INSIDE STORY

IT was one of the Gold Coast’s best-loved venues whose name immediately conjures up memories of good times.

Fisherman’s Wharf on The Spit was the place to be in the 1980s and 1990s and hosted some of the era’s biggest acts.

But all things came to an end and the curtain came down on the wharf 25 years ago this week as developers moved in to revamp the site.

Fisherman's Wharf on The Spit on the Gold Coast circa 1987. The Sheraton Mirage is under construction in the background. Picture: Stanford Stanford Stanford and 4GG

It’s farewell gigs over the 1997-98 new year was a memorable finale to what was a short, but sweet life.

Fisherman’s Wharf, a retail and hotel complex, was the brainchild of Brisbane-based developer and dentist Dr Nick Girdis. It was built and opened in 1983 when it became an immediate hit with audiences.

Not only was it well-known as a place to drink or catch a boat to South Stradbroke Island, but also as a music venue.

Among those who performed there over the years were INXS, Midnight Oil, the Violent Femmes, Nirvana, Joe Cocker and Jimmy Barnes.

Graham Dodds and Rod Andrews say goodbye to Fishermans Wharf in early 1998.

Nirvana and the Violent Femmes both played on the same night in 1991, with a crowd of 13,000 people enjoy the concert.

Despite being a great place to go, Fisherman’s Wharf itself was not a success for its owners or investors.

Dr Girdis sold the complex in the mid-1980s and it changed hands multiple times and was briefly owned by the Raptis Group before it was in the hands of the banks.

By the late 1990s things were going badly for the Wharf and it was finally sold to developer Sunland Group which announced in late 1997 that the complex would close in January 1998 after a final series of concerts.

Jimmy Barnes farewells Fisherman’s Wharf at its final day.

Sunland said it initially planned to demolish the building to create a $200 million four-star hotel.

But it was decided that Fisherman’s Wharf would go out with a bang rather than a whimper with a series of summer concerts over the Christmas and New Year period of 1997-98.

Gold Coast promoter Critton Astras organised the gigs, with Jimmy Barnes headlining the January 4, 1998 End of an Era Concert.

It was the only southeast Queensland stop for Barnes on his tour that year and was standing room only as around 10,000 people turned out for the concert, which also featured James Reyne.

Sunland founder Soheil Abedian at the Fisherman's Wharf site once it had been demolished a few months after its final concert.

Reyne immediately jumped on stage wearing a Hawaiian shirt to immediate applause and sang Australian Crawl’s greatest hits.

Barnesy hit the stage and belted out blues numbers and other standards.

“I first saw Barnesy here when I was still too young to drink,” said Pete Jackson, then-28.

“This place means a lot to me.”

Today the former Fisherman’s Wharf site is home to the Palazzo Versace hotel.

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Originally published as Fisherman’s Wharf Gold Coast: 25 years since The Spit landmark music video was closed