Sandringham Hotel, Newtown

The Sandringham Hotel, locally known as The Sando, was a pub in the inner-west suburb of Newtown in Sydney, Australia. The pub first opened in 1870 and has a long history and is the spiritual homeland to several of Sydney's bands, including Frenzal Rhomb, Bughouse and The Whitlams.

Sandringham Hotel
General information
Address387 King Street, Newtown
Coordinates33°53′58″S 151°10′40″E
Opened1870

Before renovations in the late 1990s, the pub had a unique layout. The bar had an art-deco theme and was essentially a large square in the middle of the pub. It was possible to sit at the bar and watch the band who were at the other side of the bar in the corner. The front-middle stage used to jut into one corner of the square bar allowing performers to rest their beer on the bar at the front of the stage. Between 1980 and 1998 the pub was a thriving live music venue, at one point (1985-1998) hosting live music seven nights a week and "operating as a gateway to the wider inner Sydney pub rock scene".[1]

Following further renovations, the pub was bought in 2005 by music promoter Tony Townsend intending to revitalise the Sando as a live music venue. In June 2012, the Sandringham Hotel was placed in receivership with management owing a reported $3.6 million to creditors.[2] The impending closure of the popular venue caused fans to mobilise a rally to "Save The Sando" on 26 August. The event was publicly supported by musicians Angry Anderson and Tim Freedman and saw an estimated 3000 supporters gather on King Street outside the pub while The Angels former frontman Doc Neeson played to the crowd.[3]

In October of the same year, The Sando was purchased by the owners of popular Melbourne rock venue The Corner Hotel and renamed The Newtown Social Club.[4] The band room upstairs reopened in May 2014 with an audience capacity of 300, hosting live acts several nights per week.[5]

In July 2017, the Sandringham reopened as Holey Moley, a cocktail bar and 18-hole miniature-golf course. A spokesman for developers Funlab said the new venue would give punters much "good content for Instagram".[6]

  • In 1997, Australian band The Whitlams wrote a song about the pub, "God Drinks At The Sando". It appeared on their 1999 album Love This City.
  • In 2002, Australian singer/songwriter Jodi Martin recorded her live album, Twenty One Stairs - Live at the Sando.

See also

References
  1. Smyly, Brendan Paul (August 2010). ""You went there for the people and you went there for the bands". The Sandringham Hotel 1980 to 1998". PhD thesis, University of Western Sydney.
  2. Vanda Carson (22 October 2012). "The Sandringham Hotel sold to music industry figures". The Daily Telegraph.
  3. Matt Buchanan; Scott Ellis (27 August 2012). "Music fans rally to save the Sando". Sydney Morning Herald.
  4. Darren Levin (22 October 2012). "The Sando is dead, long live the Newtown Social Club". FasterLouder.
  5. Tom Mann (23 March 2014). "Sydney's Newtown Social Club finally begins live music". FasterLouder.
  6. Clarke, Jenna (6 July 2017). "The Sando, Sydney's iconic live music venue, is now a golf course". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 13 March 2018.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.