EXCLUSIVE: First Look At Brisbane's Newest Music Venue

Brisbane's Fortitude Valley precinct is about to welcome a new beast to the live-music landscape, with the Woolly Mammoth Alehouse opening its doors exclusively to theMusic.com.au for a first look at the fresh digs.

Rising from the ashes of previous beloved space-holders such as Mustang, Wasteland and Coniston Lane, the Woolly Mammoth — now owned by brothers Duncan and Lachlan Bird, of renowned West End space Lock N Load — offers two floors of entertainment options.

Across the levels, the venue takes in a spacious, exposed-brick, ground-floor bar (the Alehouse, in which a yet-to-be-unveiled, near-full-size mammoth replica already holds pride of place), an upstairs garden bar (pictured) featuring room for giant Jenga matches and cushy turf-style flooring areas for bocce tournaments, and the primary upstairs space — the Mane Stage — which is currently in the midst of a massive aesthetic overhaul, and in which, when it's finished, The Woolly Mammoth will host weekly ticketed Saturday club night Massive.

The venue will host its official launch party on Friday, September 26, featuring an appearance from The Potbelleez DJs and Cheap Fakes, though it will unofficially be swinging open the doors — upstairs at least — over next week's BIGSOUND showcase and conference.

Those celebrations kick off with the unofficial No Sleep 'Til Wednesday party on Tuesday, September 9, with performances from Client Liasion, Oscar Key Sung, Banoffee, I'11s, LUCIANBLOMKAMP, Lower Spectrum, Yeo and Andre Eremin, before they back up for the next two nights hosting BIGSOUND's 'In The Mix' stage, featuring appearances over Wednesday and Thursday from the likes of KLP, Yeo, PACES, Indian Summer, Alison Wonderland, Wordlife, Oisima, SAFIA, Hayden James and Sampology featuring Tom Thum and Jordan Rakei.

With live music scheduled every Friday and Saturday night (from the weekend of September 19-20), as well as their 'Hair Of The Mammoth' Sunday recovery sessions, the Woolly Mammoth is adhering to the space's long history with underground, electronic music, too, with DJs a weekly fixture in the garden bar, as well as downstairs once live bands have finished for the night.

And, importantly, they're not too hung up on pleasing a particular niche, Events and Entertainment Manager Libby Kilby says, explaining that the bands on offer will "not [be] really genre-specific, but a high calibre of local musicians who play anything from blues to folk to funk to reggae".

The venue does not sport its own backline, but a revamped PA system replete with shmick new decks and CDJs will ensure the sound quality is of the highest calibre — and that's before we even get to the venue's raison d'etre: beer, which will flow freely from the venue's 31 taps, echoing the sentiment of the neon sign (currently off) that hangs above the Alehouse bar: The World Is Yours.

"It's all craft beer; it's all craft and local," Kilby explained. "We've got over thirty taps going in, which could potentially grow. I'm pretty sure it's the highest amount, in Queensland, of craft beer on tap."

Not just for straight-up rock and/or electro-lovers, the Alehouse will also play host to a raft of entertainment events, including comedy, burlesque, live world music, folk, blues, singer-songwriters, soul, funk and jazz shows, all of which tie into the Woolly Mammoth's express intention of delivering a next-level live experience for Brisbane's regular punters and tourists. 

"[The venue]'s got a pretty well-founded history of presenting forward-thinking underground and electronic music," Kilby said. "There's been some really great hip-hop acts that have come through here, and we'd like to continue on with that tradition but we also want to be able to welcome in other cutting-edge touring acts that come through this region, basically, and give them a good sound system, and a good space, and friendly Queensland hospitality — and good beer.

"With this particular space, it's been three different venues in the past … now it's all falling under the same umbrella, so it's like we're just kind of bringing it all together to be a perfect mix of where good beer meets good food and good music, basically, in a fun environment."

Have a look at some more shots from inside Brisbane's newest, then get excited for next week and beyond.

(All pics by Aimee Catt.)