WA Venue Convenients Closed Permanently

As of yesterday (27 November), Northbridge, WA, music venue Convenients closed permanently. Citing “rising costs of rents, insurances, wages, liquor, interest rates and tax”, owner Matt Hatton of Mad Hatter Productions detailed the venue’s permanent closure on Facebook.

Thanking the WA community for their support, Hatton continued, “For everyone who supported convenients and played we are truly grateful and we are incredibly grateful for the opportunity to serve and pay just under $327,000 to the Perth live music scenes artists and promoters over the last 3 years.”.

Hatton wrote that the pressures of keeping a live music venue alive with the monetary strain have resulted in losses, admitting that “the venue has been slow to pay artist invoices” so Hatton and the team could try to keep Convenients going. In good conscience, Hatton can’t continue with the venue. You can read his complete statement below.

Convenients opened in early 2021 and quickly made headlines with its secret bar entry via what looked like a convenience store. But once Northbridge locals opened the fridge doors, they entered a space dedicated to rock and roll.

Hatton made a point of making the space for musicians built by musicians, including members of Gyroscope, Murderbirds and Childlike Empress.

In addition to Convenients, Hatton is also the owner of the Perth speakeasy space Volstead Lounge, which opened in December 2021.

Convenients was a space that hosted beloved WA-based and other Australian bands, including the likes of Glitoris, The Decline, Phil Jamieson and many more.

It is with a heavy heart and great sorrow to announce that the fridge doors will now be closed permanently from today. This was not a decision that was taken lightly.

Convenients was created by a couple of guys just wanting to provide a space and stage for artists to display their art. It was never about money or profit, just a place for alternative live music in the heart of the city

However due to rising costs of rents, insurances, wages, liquor, interest rates and tax, the pressures of keeping a live music venue alive have now become so great it has caused upset and aggression within the very scene we were trying to serve

We had to decide splitting all income between rent, staff, artists, utilities, stock, insurances and all other outgoings it costs to run a venue to stay alive another week and more often than not the amount of income vs outgoings left nothing at the end of the week resulting in losses.

I will be the first to admit that the venue has been slow to pay artist invoices and that was a choice we made to try and keep the venue alive as we kept on getting asked for bands and promoters to put events on while we tried to find ways and means to get investment or loans injected into the venue

We persevered to try and find away and exhausted all avenues but it never came and it now recently all came to a head and the community we lived to serve has made their voices heard about it. Something we never wanted.

This is why in good conscience I cannot continue on.

For everyone who supported convenients and played we are truly grateful and we are incredibly grateful for the opportunity to serve and pay just under $327,000 to the Perth live music scenes artists and promoters over the last 3 years.

Thank you

Matt.