Cherry Bar Owner Steps In To Save Festival After Espy Closure Revelation

6 May 2015 | 3:06 pm | Staff Writer

Grass-roots festival Wallapalooza will go ahead despite the last-minute threat posed by Monday's renovation news for the Esplanade Hotel

Monday's news that St Kilda's iconic Esplanade Hotel would be shutting in a matter of weeks for renovations was polarising for artists and punters alike.

However, it carried an extra sting for promoter Andy Clark and the crew behind grass-roots festival Wallapalaooza, which had been scheduled to be held at The Espy on 12 June, as they found themselves suddenly left without a venue for the event — without warning, Clark says. 

"A bunch of interstate bands have been left high and dry with no venue and non-refundable airfares booked four weeks before hitting the road, not being told by the venue before it was announced publicly," he said in a statement.

"There is no acknowledgment or subsequent apology to any of the artists who have been left in the lurch," Clark continued. "We heard conjecture through credible sources over Facebook on the weekend, [but] we had not been notified by the venue of any concerns with our booking.

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"On Monday morning, we read a post from a media outlet which was the first official confirmation of any sort we had received about the closure of The Espy."

Clark goes on to say that, after several hours of attempting to reach the venue's organisers, they made contact with him yesterday afternoon to inform him the show had been cancelled.

TheMusic.com.au reached out to The Espy for comment but did not hear back from representatives before publication.

"I expressed my concerns and dismay to the fact that my bands had booked airfares and they weren't able to transfer them, and that the show was in four weeks and we would find it near impossible to find a venue as they would almost all be booked up," he said. "There was no solution given, no compensation or subsequent booking date given."

With six bands — five from interstate — plus crew and a swathe of non-refundable bookings all resting their hopes on a miracle Plan B, Clark reached out to Melbourne's music community, and, with the assistance of Cherry Bar/Yah Yah's owner James Young, was able to relocate the festival at the last minute.

"When all was looking lost, a friend sent me James Young's phone number," Clark explained of the turn of events. "I rang James and explained to him what had happened. James was very sympathetic to my circumstance and told me he would look at a few things and call me back[, which he did] … He moved the local line-up that was playing at Yah Yah's on June 12th (thank you to the bands) and agreed to take Wallapalooza and all its acts."

As a result, the festival will now go ahead on its original date of 12 June at Yah Yah's, 99 Smith Street, Fitzroy; tickets are $10 at the door, and the line-up features bands such as These Four WallsHailmaryRedHook, Smoking MarthaFlannelette and Fuck The Fitzroy Doom Scene.

"On behalf of myself and the bands I would like to thank James Young for his overwhelming support of live music and … in particular [for] Wallapalooza," Clark continued.

"Without his support, we would have not been able to make the Melbourne show happen … Wallapalooza can't wait to tear it up in Melbourne."

Wallapalooza will also be held in Byron Bay (5 June), Brisbane (6 June), Gold Coast (7 June) and Sydney (14 June); see the event's Facebook page for more information.