As reported earlier, Shannon Bennett is moving in to the music industry with the launch of his own live music venue. The celebrity chef has partnered with Lorenz Grollo to open a new pop-up project that ‘restores live music to an iconic location.’ Their target? A 170-year-old venue in the middle of Melbourne that has a chequered past as a former Showgirls Bar a music venue The Grainstore among others.

Geddes Lane Ballroom is set to be launched as a part of a larger King Street Revival project. As a celebration of Melbourne and its live music culture, the 400+ capacity venue will undergo a full restoration, with the final outlet set to encompass three levels, including a ground floor bar and first-floor band room.  

“We’re excited to be bringing live music back to one of Melbourne’s most popular venues throughout the 80s and 90s,” enthuses Ben Thompson who will take care of booking acts. 

“It’s been a hidden gem, centrally located, close to trains and trams and a big carpark with a fantastic tried-and-tested band room. We’re doing some acoustic treatments, putting in a world class PA and cleaning the place up. The venue will be open to all conceivable genres of music from local, national and international acts and we have some surprise shows planned for summer.”

Of course, the restoration wasn’t an easy project to undertake explains Grollo Group CEO Lorenz Grollo.

“Our in-house team are completing cosmetic and compliance works only. But for the removal of some ‘choice’ objects and elements from its former use, we’re deliberately embracing the wonderful bones of this 1850’s Melbourne icon, after all how many live music venues can claim to be 170 years old and once a notorious strip club?!”

Naturally, it’s helpful to have a celebrity chef on hand; Bennett will be taking care of the food offerings on site.

“We’ll be presenting great food that has a social conscious, is sustainable and good for you, and it’ll be fast food.  And think retro drinks like Japanese slippers that were in fact invented in Melbourne, seriously tasty local beers, local produce, our Benny burger will be huge feature and we are designing our own vending food machines offering salad bowls, Lui bar sausage rolls and heaps more!” he says.

Geddes Lane Ballroom is one of the first major steps in the redevelopment of King Street, aptly dubbed the King Street Revival.

“Geddes Lane Ballroom is an initiative under our King Street Revival (KSR) project. We’re passionate about cleaning up King Street, ‘one pole at a time’, and delivering a fun and safe food and entertainment precinct for all Melburnians to enjoy. For too long King Street has been known for all the wrong reasons. We’re now going to put it back on the map for reasons we can be proud of,” explains Grollo. Geddes Land Ballroom will officially open to the public over the coming months. 

Geddes Lane Ballroom
46 King Street, Melbourne
@geddeslaneballroom