Live Nation ventures into Perth with $30m Northbridge Music Hall

After establishing successful music halls in Brisbane and Adelaide, entertainment company Live Nation is poised to expand its venue portfolio into Perth with a new $30m custom-built concert room.

Paul Piticco, backstage at Hindley Street Music Hall, says there is ‘a really strong local music culture’ in Perth. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

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After establishing successful music halls in Brisbane and Adelaide, entertainment company Live Nation is poised to expand its venue portfolio into Perth with a new $30m custom-built concert room to open in about 18 months.

Northbridge Music Hall will be located within the inner-city suburb of the same name, and its 3000-capacity space will offer tour promoters a mid-size option between the likes of Metro City (2000 capacity) and Red Hill Amphitheatre (5000 capacity).

Its name is a continuation of Live Nation’s prior efforts in the venue construction and management sector: The Fortitude Music Hall opened in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley in 2019, followed by Hindley Street Music Hall in central Adelaide in 2022.

With concert capacities of 3300 and 1800, respectively, those two rooms have been regularly booked by promoters touring international and national artists, with about 85 per cent of events held in Live Nation-associated venues booked by other promoters.

In effect, both the Brisbane and Adelaide halls filled a market demand that was previously unmet, and the multinational company is making a similar bet again in the WA capital.

“I see in Perth a lot of the similarities that I saw in Brisbane, as far as its needs,” Live Nation Australasia’s director of touring and venue development, Paul Piticco, told The Australian on Tuesday.

“There’s a really strong local music culture over there, and not all the right stepping stones to show local bands where they could get to, and give them something to aspire to; to see themselves on bigger stages, that look, feel and are run professionally, like they would be anywhere in the world. I think it’s a good training ground for local bands.”

An artist’s impression of the Northbridge Music Hall in Perth.

Situated at 77 Francis Street, the Northbridge site has long been home to a cafe, grocery store and European food warehouse run by the Re family.

It was sold in November for $10.615m, and a development ­application submitted by Live Nation in March lists an estimated cost of $14m for “alterations and additions to existing building for use as a multipurpose event space/function centre”. The Australian understands the final cost of investment will be about $30m.

The new venue’s neighbours will include nightclubs, breweries and restaurants, and its location falls under the Perth/Northbridge protected entertainment precinct for night-life operators.

“Both the local council and state government have been super supportive,” Mr Piticco said. “We find the WA spirit is ­really ‘can do’ and problem solving. They’re very positive about bringing a major piece of arts infrastructure to the city.”

Mr Piticco outside Adelaide’s Hindley Street Music Hall in 2022. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

Mr Piticco managed the career of now-defunct Brisbane rock band Powderfinger, and was a co-founder of Byron Bay music festival Splendour in the Grass, whose future is unclear after the planned 2024 event was cancelled due to low ticket sales. His involvement with Live Nation began in 2016, when it bought a 51 per cent share in Splendour’s parent company, Secret Sounds.

Following community consultation on the Northbridge Music Hall development proposal, Mr Piticco is hopeful construction will begin by the end of the year, with a view for it to be operational from late 2026, ideally in time to meet the peak summer touring demand.

With the dual-purpose venue to be split between the 3000-­capacity main room and a smaller club space for about 500 patrons, Mr Piticco expects to book about 120 events in the first year of operation.

“I can’t see any downside; it can only have a positive impact on the music community over there,” he said. “For WA audiences, it will bring a lot more music to the state, and at the same time it will be another rung on the ladder for local bands to step up.”