Our Fave Staff Members, Past And Present, Reflect On 20 Years Of Corner Hotel

When did you first become involved with Corner Hotel and what was your role?

Mat Everett (Owner): Tim and I bought the Corner in '95. We were operating music venues already. The Corner became available and it had been a successful venue previously, it was an obvious opportunity to bring it back to life.

Tim Northeast (Owner): 1995 - part-owner.

Richard Moffat (Ex-Venue Booker): I was booker for the Corner from the mid-'90s until moving on a few years ago. When we first toured the building it had been shut for six months and there was festering green-coloured beer in pots still sitting on the bar - the previous owners had done a runner!

Ben Thompson (Ex-Publicist & Music Coordinator): I started working at the Corner in 2000. I came in three days a week to sell tickets over the phone. No online sales in those days!

Jason Moore (Current Band Booker): I started working in the Box Office in 2011, putting up posters but mainly selling and posting out tickets - how times have changed!

Sally Mather (Music & Marketing Coordinator): I started in the box office about seven years ago, answering phones and selling tickets.

What are a couple of the most memorable gigs you've attended at the venue and why?

ME: Crowded House's 'final' show. A lot of love in the room. Always love a good Spiderbait show as they have been a favourite band, and friends, since the early days. I still have bruising memory when I stage dived when they played the Punters Club reunion show at the Corner a few years ago.

TN: The Living End playing an amazing run of nine shows in 2012 and they blew the roof every night. Lorde playing a run of shows in 2013 before she went on to achieve success in the US. An amazing voice. Seeing one of my personal fave acts, Rodriguez, grace the Corner stage. Midnight Oil playing three shows in the late '90s. It was one of the last big Aussie rock road tours to come through the venue - four semis, an army of roadies and security. Great band.

RM: We hosted Crowded House's 'last ever show' to 500 fan club members and everyone was weeping, but happy. They are playing next week, so have been proved to be liars, but you gotta love that they are back and I'm sure they will still be amazing.

BT: The White Stripes show in 2002, just before they blew up, was one of the most exciting live rock shows I had seen. Rodriguez on his first return tour was special, a generation of Aussie weed smokers grew up with his Cold Fact album and the air was thick that night. Ozomatli when they got (pre-Fergie) Black Eyed Peas on stage with them - the place went off! So many good shows at the Corner because it's intimate and the sound in that room is superb.

JM: So many! Of course, lots of at the time breaking international acts in Australia (Grimes, First Aid Kit, Jungle, Mount Kimbie, Skepta) and a bunch of established legends (Dean Wareham plays Galaxie 500, Sharon Jones, The Dandy Warhols) and favourite locals (Frenzal Rhomb, Kate Miller-Heidke, The Living End, Paul Dempsey, Tina Arena - contender for show of the year!), but I think the most exciting shows for myself are when breaking local acts sell out the Corner (inaugural Corner Award recipient Sampa The Great, Courtney Barnett, Dick Diver, Pond, Marlon Williams, Lorde). I also love seeing shows that aren't in your regular format, you know? Like using both stages (Gizzfest, Elefant Traks Party, Poison City Weekender, AIR Awards) and have thoroughly enjoyed shows in seated mode, too (The Necks, Presentation Night and Raw Comedy). Probably the best line-up I've seen was Parquet Courts and Total Control or Big Scary, Little Red and The Vasco Era.

SM: There's been so many incredible shows and I've gotten to see some of my favourite bands since I've been here, so it's really hard to choose. It's always amazing to see young local acts like Lorde, Vance Joy and Courtney Barnett selling out multiple nights, and following their career trajectory afterwards. Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings are always amazing, she always gets the entire crowd dancing from start to finish.

How about some hilarious happenings or behaviour you've witnessed at Corner Hotel, on stage or off?

ME: What happens in the band room stays in the band room.

TN: Rodriguez (whose eyesight is not the best anyway) was so stoned that he walked onto the stage and started playing to the back wall. His guitarist had to gently turn him around. Weddings Parties Anything did famous Xmas shows every year and had very passionate fans. One year they decided to invite the punters to "bring a plate", like at a country gathering. Of course it was long until the Xmas spirit overtook the crowd and it turned into one of the biggest food fights I've ever seen - I think it took a week to clean up!

RM: We once had Monster Magnet invite some keen female fans on stage, who then removed their tops. Some guys stormed out and demanded refunds. It was hard to believe that people who like Monster Magnet could be so easily offended.

BT: Several G-strings left strewn around the dancefloor post a Peter Combe over-18s comeback show - that was just weird! Most of the shenanigans in the green room and front bar post-show just can't be printed!

JM: A band (Citizen Kay) borrowed my drum kit once and I was helping them load it in, Chuck D came up and gave me knuckles - I was tickled pink. On a more comedic note, it was hilarious to see Molly commentating during Kids In The Kitchen's set from a seated spot on the second stage a couple weeks back - he's still got it!

SM: The David Hasselhoff show was hilarious from start to finish. Some uberfan had made a working model of KITT, the Knight Rider car and drove it down to park beside the venue for the show. The Hoff decided that the front bar was the best place to warm up for the show with some sick moves that included a lot of windmills and high kicks. The show kicked off with him serenading people as he came in through the crowd. I'm pretty sure half the room was middle-aged women losing their minds.

What are some of the personal or professional relationships you developed through your involvement with Corner Hotel?

ME: Tim and I have been friends since school and have gone on to share a business relationship for 25 years. I still consider him one of my closest friends.

TN: Melbourne has the most loyal and dedicated music fans anywhere in the world so to spend the last 20 years working alongside the great bands, promoters and music fans has been an labour of love for me.

RM: There is an amazing community of music fans who work, and have worked, at the Corner over the last 20 years. I love the fact that the audiences are so diverse and that every genre of artist can feel at home there - there is some magic that seems to make the venue shapeshift across young and old, metal and folk, and everything in between. I think it's the diversity of the shows there that keep staff on their toes, and fresh and open to all - no one can get complacent.

BT: My career in the music industry pretty much started at the Corner. I have made a lot of great friends over 15 years and have developed great professional and business relationships across all areas of the music industry. I have a lot to thank the place and the people of the Corner for.

JM: You spend about one third of your life working - crazy!  Lucky for me I work with the staff at the Corner who are the BEST - I must be blessed!  The staff at the Corner make it the incredible thing that it is.

SM: The people at the Corner and the people we work with are all so amazing, the place wouldn't be what it is without everyone involved.

Have you visited the venue to check out the rooftop renovations? If so, what are your thoughts?

TN: Mat and I are both really excited about the new rooftop bar. The Corner is always, and always will be, a music venue but we think the rooftop bar will become a destination in its own right.

RM: I had the honour playing a dodgy wedding-style DJ set on the rooftop just last week and it was super-fun. The trainspotting was top-notch as usual, but I love the fact that there are so many more nooks and crannies to get lost in. The only downside is that it may take longer to find your friends.

BT: I saw the first rooftop renovation in 2005, which created a unique environment where gig-goers, after-workers and sports fans could all coexist and feel comfortable. I've been lucky enough to see the new renovation and it loses nothing of this appeal while gaining a spectacular revamp of the space, opening up a massive new bar and utilising more of the old building to create new areas in which to eat and drink.

JM: Knockout! Can. Not. Wait. To indulge in some refreshments with the sunshine lapping over my face, listening to DJs in the beer garden. All. Summer. Long. Fireplace will be great next winter too!