Merri-bek has been renowned for great live music venues. Here are some of our favourites.
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Top Live Music Venues in Merri-bek
There’s nothing quite like the experience of live music. It’s hard to pinpoint what it really is that makes it so special. The heart-thumping drums, the sound system, the lights, the energy, the music. But more importantly, it’s the venue that can turn a good show into an epic show!
Merri-bek has been renowned for great live music venues. Here are some of our favourites. Some venues have changed due to COVID restrictions so please don’t use this list as a definitive guide, please check with individual venues for more accurate and timely information.
The Jazz Lab
27 Leslie St, Brunswick VIC 3056
The Jazzlab is host to the Melbourne International Jazz Festival, Melbourne Women’s International Jazz Festival, and the Melbourne Jazz Cooperative. We will be instrumental in presenting residencies for developing recording material, and curating educational programs for live recording studies.
The Jazzlab dedicates itself to promoting and developing live jazz as an artform as it’s mantra. Located at the quintessential setting on the corner of a deadend laneway, the Jazzlab was opened by Michael Tortoni on April 7 2017. Formerly of the rock n’ roll era with top charting albums, a string of wild gigs and Countdown appearances, Michael Tortoni (Gemini) starred as the bass playing, platform sporting, lapel and lycra-cladded spunk from the great Aussi rock band Taste.
The Jazzlab has surpassed all expectations, with 25 years’ experience, Michael was able to transport all the best features of Bennetts Lane to create the ultimate live concert club with excellent lines of sight for its 216 capacity.
Howler
7–11 Dawson St, Brunswick VIC 3056
Burgers, Bands and an amazing beer garden in Brunswick.
Howler, a converted woolshed designed by Chris Stanley from the Splinter Society, unfolds onto an incredible open space, which funnels into a more intimate bar. Manned by cocktail guru Chris Lemelu, Howler’s bar boasts one of the nation’s most eclectic beer lists. On offer are beers such as Japan’s immaculately weird Hitachino Nest and delicious oddities from America’s beardy north.
There’s a dedicated performance space outback, with a pretty rad lineup of local indie acts, electronic oddness, and noisy art bands from the world over. Out front, you’ll luxuriate under one of Melbourne’s most banging sound systems with a lineup of DJs who know how to use it.
Read more about Howler on Broadsheet
Find upcoming gigs at Howler here — Howler Songkick
Temp Rubato
34 Breese St, Brunswick VIC 3056
Tempo Rubato is a live classical music venue in Brunswick. All of the profit from Tempo Rubato is donated to Piano Project. They work in partnership with Piano Project, a Melbourne charity that supports projects that provide access to musical education. They have a performance space for ticketed concerts with a 102 key Stuart & Sons concert grand piano. And a bar which hosts other musical meals. All profits made at Tempo Rubato are donated to Piano Project.
You can become a member of Tempo Rubato for $3 a month. As a member, you will be helping to support them. You will also get a 10% discount at the bar, a monthly email with the upcoming schedule, priority access to concert tickets, and other benefits as they think of them.
Learn more about Tempo Rubato on Broadsheet.
Buy tickets for Tempo Concerts here
Bar Oussou
653 Sydney Rd, Victoria VIC 3056
Local World Music Connoisseurs. Africa’s home away from home. The first eating house for French Senegalese cuisine in Australia.
Nested in the Anstey Village, Bar Oussou is a cultural centre that incubates rich and creative events in a rare vibrant community spirit. We provide a platform for local and International artists 7 days a week. Enjoy a good vibe relaxing venue with multiple settings to cater for your every wish! Bar Oussou is a place that you can experience a range of international, Australian and local Brunswick beer. Nested in the Sydney Road strip, Bar Oussou is the first eating-house for French Senegalese food. Aromatic dishes are prepared on weekends with a daily menu during the week. It is home to some of the finest musicians in Melbourne and has live music everyday of the week (except Mondays during the winter months).
Find upcoming shows at Bar Oussou here
The Brunswick Ballroom & Brunswick Artists Bar
314–316 Sydney Road, Brunswick, Melbourne
The newly refurbished BRUNSWICK BALLROOM is located in the old Metropolis House on Sydney Road and is destined to take the mantle as one Melbourne’s most dynamic and exciting performance venues. This extraordinary venue has been reimagined, refurbished and renamed and will feature the best of Australian and international music, cabaret and comedy. The upstairs ballroom accessed via the dramatic staircase features stunning stained glass domes inspired by legendary Australian artist Leonard French before expanding out onto an open-air balcony that takes in the urban streetscape below and the sights of Melbourne’s skyline.
What’s on at The Brunswick Ballroom — click here.
Whole Lotta Love Bar
524 Lygon St, Brunswick East VIC 3057
Whole Lotta Love is one of Melbourne’s premier small dive bars and live music venues. With Led Zeppelin murals on the walls, the backdrop to the stage is one of the most iconic and recognisable around. Whole Lotta Love is the bar that’ll fill the hole in your whiskey soaked heart, paying tribute to the many kings of rock across the ages. Every weekend’s a party. Stay tuned for great events and promotions! At the gates to the city and poised right at the top of Lygon Street in Brunswick East, Whole Lotta Love is a bar like no other.. Whiskey, great tunes, live music every night, and heaps of local brews. Inspired by the mystery and mischief of the world’s greatest rock band, Led Zeppelin, the bar drips with a vibe all it’s own.
Rubix Warehouse
36 Phoenix St, Brunswick VIC 3056
Melbourne’s hidden warehouse wonderland. Tucked away in the industrial back streets of one of Melbourne’s most colourful areas, Rubix Warehouse brings you deep into the heart of Brunswick’s world famous creative subculture.
Offering an underground, edgy, entertainment alternative, far from the usual venue, Rubix is constantly evolving with every event being a different adventure, even for our regulars.
Find upcoming events here
MusicLand Fawkner Music Complex
1359 Sydney Rd, Fawkner VIC 3060
Musicland really is — Built by Muso’s for Musicians.
It was meant as a creative Haven for Live Music, Musicians and Music Lovers, a place to create, a place of great sound, warm ambience, pure vibe, a place to heal, feel relaxed, safe, a place of laughter, friendship, a place with no boundaries, a place for every age, every genre, everyone who loves and plays Live Music in all its forms, and I think they all say we succeeded.
Check out their upcoming gigs on their Facebook page
Post Office Hotel Pub & Dining Hall
229–231 Sydney Rd, Coburg VIC 3058
The Post Office Hotel, a combination of café, pub, dining hall and bottle shop all in the one, proudly presents a mix of quality food, booze and gigs every day of the week.
Coburg’s Post Office Hotel mixes the old with the new. A renovation in 2010 restored much of the old girl’s original art deco features, breathing new life into the hotel. The team behind the bar provide an old fashioned warmth and hospitality, and with a background in music, ensure classic tunes are always part of the equation.
Take in the live music in the spacious front bar on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings, while on Sundays bring the family for a relaxed weekly-changing winter roast while checking out the afternoon band.
Check out their upcoming gigs here