Punters Club

The Punters Club was a pub and live music venue located on Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, in inner Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.It developed a reputation as one of the city's premier live music venues, drawing comparisons to the likes of New York's CBGB. It was also noted for its rough, alternative, yet casual atmosphere with audiences sometimes sitting on the floor while watching bands.HistoryThe Punters Club started in 1987 with the taking over, renaming, and renovation of the Moonee Valley Hotel as a live-music venue. It played a broad and eclectic range of music, such as indie rock, electronica, nu country, lo-fi, metal, Celtic and ska. The venue helped launch the careers of a number of successful Australian bands, including Frente!, Magic Dirt, Something for Kate, Spiderbait and You Am I. Mat Everett took over the Club in 1993 and operated it for the remainder of its life.From 1995, the Punters Club nurtured a close relationship with local purveyors of live electronic music, such as IF? Records (with their Zoetrope (sessions) and Clan Analogue, and regularly played host to live acts like Zen Paradox, Little Nobody, Artificial, Andrez Bergen, Voiteck, TR-Storm, Blimp, Son Of Zev, Isnod, Soulenoid, Guyver 3, Frontside, Half Yellow, and Honeysmack.