Why You Should Be Stoked About The New Music Venue Opening In Newtown's Vanguard Space

Newtown lost one of its most beloved establishments when The Vanguard closed its doors last month, but the pain is to be short-lived with a new live music venue to launch in the space next month. 

The new venue, Leadbelly, will offer free live music and is to be run by the co-owners of Surry Hills' Tipple Bar & Bistro, Luke O'Donohoe and Zac Davis.

Speaking to theMusic, O'Donohoe says they want Leadbelly to live up to the reputation of the recently-closed King Street hot spot. 

"It's such a great space to watch live gigs," O'Donohoe said.

"It has a certain warmth and history to the building we don’t want to lose that. We plan on delivering the same great service and continue support the local community as [Vanguard owner Russall Beattie] has for so many years.

"The building could have easily slipped through to a function centre or a much simpler style restaurant, we are really looking forward to getting Leadbelly on the live music map."

A number of local and international talent have performed at The Vanguard over the years, including Russell Crowe, Elvis Costello and Megan Washington to name a few. 

O'Donohoe says the biggest similarity between The Vanguard and Leadbelly will be "the music element". 

"Leadbelly will be open to the public seven days per week showing accessible bands and musicians that appeal to a larger demographic," he says, adding that all live performances will be free of charge.

The new space will also serve as a restaurant and offer a pizza menu, brisket sandwiches and an extensive cocktails list. 

Leadbelly will host a showcase in the first week of August before taking part in the King Street crawl this September.