The Zoo, 30 Years Later: 'There Are No Other Spaces Like The Zoo'

The Zoo is celebrating 30 years of music, art, and community throughout December. The venue is iconic for music fans and musicians in Brisbane; everyone from The Pixies, Silverchair, The Black Keys, Lorde, Ben Harper and Nick Cave and The Dirty Three have played there.

The good times kick off on 2 December with A Love Supreme. On 3 December, Punkfest will throw a birthday bash for the iconic Brisbane venue, with stalwarts of the Brisbane punk scene and original opening night performers, FAT, headlining what is sure to be a delightfully chaotic and raucous event. 

On 4 December, Katie Noonan and her ARIA and National Jazz Award-winning composer/saxophonist husband Zac Hurren will revive Jazz On A Sunday Vibe. Celebrations are stacked with music and photographic memorabilia on 7 December. The Predators, a band formed by the three founding members of Powderfinger, with Haug on guitar, John Collins on bass, and Bishop on drums and vocals, are headlining proceedings on 8 December. The festivities continue until 11 December. 

Today, The Zoo announced that Regurgitator and Butterfingers will perform on 10 December, with the former headlining! 

"It is a grand honour of the highest order to be invited to return to play at the one true Brisbane independent music ICON!!! This incredible venue has always, and continues to operate independently of the bone-crushing music industry machine, supporting local, interstate and overseas talents in a true grassroots fashion," says Ben Ely of Regurgitator. 

"The 30th birthday party week will be like returning to the best high school reunion that ever was, and ever will be. Come out. Show your support in celebration of the one true independent Brisbane icon. Love you ZOO."

To celebrate all things The Zoo, we caught up with co-founder Joc Curran and co-owners Cat Clarke and Luke 'Boo' Johnston.

Pic by Cat Clarke

In 1992, Curran had just finished studying photography in Melbourne. She returned to Brisbane and met up with her business partner, C. Smith, who found inspiration from one state to bring to the other. "When I came back from living in Melbourne for a year, we were like, 'Oh, we want to open this small little cafe that would have art on the walls' that was really inspired by that year of living in Melbourne," Curran says. "That was the grain that started the whole process and permeated and became The Zoo.

"We were a BYO cafe for the first four years," she begins. The Zoo had a strange license at the time - the venue was classed a 9B place of amusement because it had a pool hall. "They didn't know what box to put us into. There were six pool tables. There was live music; there was also a cafe. So you had to eat to see live music there."

Curran adds, "We used to have this system. When you'd walk in, you be given this little ticket, and you'd bring your alcohol, you'd hand your alcohol in, and we charged people $1 to look after their alcohol for the night. You had to eat. The idea was that you couldn't be on the premises if you weren't eating. So we got really great for those first four years of making lots of veggie curries and lots of veggie things," she laughs. "You had to eat, and then you could see music. And then, in 1996, things changed. We had to apply for a regular license. That took quite a while, and once we got that license, we were like a normal, licensed venue."

At the time when you had to eat to watch live music at The Zoo, many struggling uni students would find a meal and a welcome space. "At first, people were like, 'no, I don't want it; I'm not hungry,'" Curran recalls. But there were very few empty bowls at the end of the night. "If you wanted an extra bowl, we used to charge people $2. Many people said that was the only meal they ate that day, or they'd come in to be able to eat because that's all they could afford. Maybe we fed a lot of alternative young people in need during our time," she says.

The Zoo also experienced some not-so-wonderful times during the COVID-19 pandemic. How did Clarke and Boo take it? "It was absolutely shit," Boo says. Clarke agrees, "We had a few grants come through, which helped, but didn't offset the gravity of the loss of revenue. It was a very difficult time, and we only just scraped through."

Boo insists that the challenges haven't ended despite no more government regulations around COVID-19. "It's still just as hard; we still get COVID cancellations and the lack of confidence in ticket buyers in thinking that the shows will actually go ahead," he tells. It's harder for the co-owners now, with so many factors keeping people from attending gigs.

"It's COVID; it's inflation and cost of living... it's a perfect storm of really tough conditions that's bought us to the spot we're in now," Clarke explains. "People are afraid of getting sick in live music settings, and there's obviously no government support if you get sick anymore. People don't want to lose work. On top of that, there's no confidence in purchasing tickets; people constantly think that tours will be cancelled, and they're not wrong because they are still being cancelled all the time. 

"And on top of that, just not having the money to spend on concert tickets, that's usually one of the first things to go when times get tough, and people need to tighten the purse strings. It's not just the ticket: It's getting the Uber, having drinks and dinner, and booking the babysitter."

Clarke says that playing at The Zoo has been a rite of passage for many local and touring Australian bands, but with the competition of so many stadium and arena gigs spearheaded by an influx of international acts happening now borders are open, people are saving up to see acts like Blink 182 and passing up local shows. 

"The venue means so much to people, not just in Brisbane, but for the whole community. It's such a beloved space," she adds. "It's such a nurturing space for up-and-coming artists and with other artists. [The Zoo] has to be there because there aren't many other, well, there are no other spaces exactly like The Zoo with the history that The Zoo has." Boo concurs, "no other venues had the history and the heart and soul that The Zoo has."

Boo remembers the old-school tour circuit for bands: "Every time, you'd see The Zoo, The Annandale Hotel, The Corner and Enigma Bar. They were the first four stops for those international tours," he says. All the venues had something negative about them. The infamous poles at The Corner, "The Zoo's version of that there was no air conditioning, and The Annandale had the most disgusting toilet in the world," he adds with a laugh.

Curran recollects the first time Silverchair played at The Zoo, following a phone call from their manager who said the band would make it big. Listed as The Innocent Criminals, that night was wild. "It was a Saturday night, and these girls stole the microphone that Daniel Johns sang out of, and our sound guys were running down the street trying to get it," she chuckles - those amazingly chaotic nights happened a lot.

Another thing the trio love about The Zoo is Music For Good, a program of special nights and fundraisers for "houses burnt down, people who needed to get in an electric wheelchair, somebody had to have a back operation, sick children, etc." No matter what the community needed, a musical community rallied around them, ready to put on a fundraiser. "Music is such a gift. Having a capacity where people can get together, believe in something, and come along and support it, and be involved is so special."

One time, Music For Good happened for a staff member at The Zoo who needed her foot amputated. "We did a fundraiser before she went to the hospital because we knew that in her recovery time, she was going to need some downtime, so we needed to raise some money for her," Curran explains. 

The team bought a big sheet of Calico fabric and put it on the ground. "Every single person that walked into The Zoo that night took their shoe off; we asked them to put their foot in paint and place it on the fabric. She actually took that banner into the hospital with her to support her through that recovery. I believe it's been about ten years since that happened now."

Tickets for all The Zoo celebration events are on sale now.