The Lansdowne's Last Call Mini-Festival

Overview

Farewell, cheap steaks and schnitties, Chippendale's beloved shabby rock and roll pub The Lansdowne is closing for good. But of course, it's not going out without one heck of a shindig.

Sitting on the corner of City Road and Broadway, the uni student and local band lover-frequented pub will pour its last beer on Tuesday, September 29. But it's not necessarily a lockout thing. According to The Brag, the site will possibly be turned into a new educational facility by the Academy of Music and Performing Arts (AMPA) — they've already lodged the development application with the City of Sydney, for opening in 2016.

Making its mark as one of Sydney’s key live venues since changing ownership in April 2014, the Lansdowne has experienced somewhat of a genuine revival over the last year. Revamped by new owners the Oscars Group (also the brains behind last year’s Annandale Hotel renovation), the Lansdowne has been home to free, well-programmed live music and cheap, cheap steak every week for a a good ten months. We thought the pub had run into trouble in February this year when it closed unexpectedly, but the whole thing turned out to be mere renovations.

This is a big blow to the Sydney music scene, who are sadly running out of shabby pubs to plug their amps into. Although the Annandale was reopened by Oscars last year, the venue's restricted its music programming to folk, country and acoustic gigs (read: softer, more neighbour-friendly music than the metal and prog rock that used to tear the place up).

The Lansdowne will close for good on Tuesday, September 29. But before the cheapo schooners of Old and Ramones cover bands are gone, the team are putting on a huge farewell bash, a free 'Last Call' mini-festival on September 12 to give the ol' digs the final hurrah it deserves. There'll be 14 bands who have been regulars to the Lansdowne stage over the years, and there'll be a barbecue and giveaways. Running from noon until late, expect this hootenanny to run into the early hours until we finally realise this Sydney icon is closing forever. Farewell, you cheap steak-lovin' legend.

Images: The Lansdowne.