Popular Sydney Music Venue To Immediately Shut Its Doors

The popular Sydney music venue HiWay Enmore is permanently closing its doors, effective immediately, after it was revealed that the venue director owed 15 creditors $160,000.

The live music and arts space often hosts burlesque nights, disco and DJ nights, pop-rock bands like 51st Avenue, South Australian death metallers Endless Loss, and many more. 

“HiWay has closed,” its website reads. “Thank you to the artists and patrons who supported us.”

Scott Howell from Insolvency Experts has been brought in to handle the matter alongside Steven Kugel. As News.com.au reports, Howell revealed that liquidation is the “end of the road” for the beloved venue.

Howell also told News that the HiWay Enmore director owed roughly $110,000 to Revenue NSW for a Covid-19 assistance grant, the landlord was owed $20,000, and the Australian Tax Office was chasing somewhere between $10,000 to $20,000.

“I know there have been sustained losses over the past three years. I don’t know whether Covid had a factor to it all, in those years where Covid was around it was making losses but that doesn’t mean it was Covid,” Howell commented.

“I really don’t know what happened yet. We have only been in a week so that’s part of our investigations to determine what’s happened.” News.com.au also reports that some bands were forced to cancel their upcoming appearances at the HiWay.

Today’s news arrives off the back of the information that The Great Club in Marrickville, NSW, was in danger of closing due to noise complaints last month.

"I'm going through a very stressful time at the moment because of one neighbour who is determined to have TGC shut down. You'll see the last photo of this thread is the latest in their attempt," venue owner Ali Flett wrote before referencing "so much more" going on behind the scenes.

Flett added, "I'm extremely grateful to my team of lawyers who are navigating this with the same amount of grit, heart and soul that I put into this venue. We now need to engage our supporters to kick this into 5th gear."

As of last week, The Great Club was still fighting against its neighbours and continues to fundraise legal fees and potential soundproofing. It’s still operating as a music venue.