Perth Scores Yet Another Live Music Venue

The Perth live music scene has been inundated with new venues opening over the past 12 months, so the launch of Late Night Valentine’s exciting new live room and amphitheatre is a sure sign the venue shortage is over.

The 110-capacity Highgate live music space held a soft launch earlier this month with a handful of local musicians christening the space while owner-operator Cale Mason got a feel for the basement’s potential while locking down what promises to be an impressive spread of national and international talent to take over the main stage and outside Amphitheatre as summer approaches.

“The biggest thing for it was the fact with the space that we have, we have an opportunity to add something to the creative community of Highgate,” Mason told theMusic.com.au.

“And with the closure of Velvet Lounge and Hydey, the lack of live music around here, especially with the amount of talent we have, it’s number one on the list to get some live music happening and do it late night.”

Velvet Lounge was forced to stop its live music program last year following noise complaints from nearby residents, which is something Mason and his business partner took into account when designing the venue; contracting Advanced Production Engineering – the same team behind Tame Impala’s live sound – for the job.

“There’s a lot of curved walls and concrete pylons and every other aspect of the place is built out of timber panelling with a walnut finishing – it treats the sound really nicely.”

Among the band’s on opening night was WA psych-rockers Doctopus, whose singer and bassist Stephen Bellair is an “integral part” of the team and does the venue’s bookings.

But the venue’s schedule won’t just feature rock, with Mason and co looking to book everything from jazz to comedy to theatre at the space.

Check out the Late Night Valentine Facebook page for more info.