Melbourne Tennis Court Turns Focus To Live Music

26 February 2015 | 12:41 pm | Staff Writer

The new space will hold up to 6500 punters

Margaret Court Arena

Margaret Court Arena

Late last year, Melbourne's renowned Margaret Court Arena underwent a significant redevelopment to enable the space to broaden its horizons and turn its focus from being exclusively a sporting ground to include operations as a world-class mid-size music venue.

Now, after some successful test showings late last year, the venue is all set to solidify its presence in the city's live scene, with the former tennis-only space now able to operate as a 6500-capacity (max) concert space. Downsizing options are available for smaller, more intimate events.

"One of our ambitions for MCA is to be able to develop domestic acts and emerging artists," Melbourne & Olympic Parks director of commercial and strategy Greg George said in a statement. "At the same time, the venue also provides a more intimate option for the broader touring market."

The broadening of its scope is a development MCA has taken seriously, ensuring a strong emphasis on sound quality and acoustics in re-imagining the court's versatility. In late 2014, early acts to test MCA's live-music chops included the likes of Dan Sultan, British India, Husky, Lanie Lane and hip hop trio the Hilltop Hoods, who were the first act to hold a commercial concert at the venue, back in October. Local sibling duo Angus & Julia Stone are lined up to kick-start 2015's Aussie offerings with a performance at the venue tomorrow night, 27 February and, from there, a slew of international heavyweights such as The Black KeysBilly IdolJessie JDemi Lovato, Sam SmithBen Howard and Yellowcard are all scheduled to stage shows at MCA in the near future.

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As George explains: "With MCA we can now target more niche and diverse acts as demonstrated by our current line-up of artists. It means we now have a venue to cater for certain genres that have probably been beyond our reach in the past."

"We're certainly very excited about MCA's potential as a live music venue and we're looking forward to showing it off to Melbourne's music community throughout 2015," he continued.

For a full rundown of information, check MCA's website, but keep your eyes peeled on theGuide and The Music App to keep abreast of its future events.