The Gasometer has closed before. The pillar of Melbourne’s live music scene shut at the end of 2013 before swiftly reopening in 2014 under Shannon Vanderwert and Clint Fisher. But this time, The Gaso will close for good after the final act, Glen and the Peanutbutter Men, conclude their set on Sunday March 30.

Outgoing director James Martelletti, a software engineer who took over the venue in 2021, says over the past four years he and his team have “done nothing but pour our hearts, money, blood, sweat and tears into providing a space for everyone to enjoy”. But Martelletti couldn’t make the economics work and, in February, announced his decision to walk away from the venue via an Instagram post.

Martelletti chose not to renew the lease on the venue, he tells Broadsheet. But he proposed to the landlord “a few compelling offers from people already in the industry” to take over The Gaso. Martelletti says the landlord opted to “go their own way” instead.

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“They’re scheming up something to do with the venue,” he says. “It’s a crying shame, for sure. It looks like this may be the end of it as a live music venue.”

But the team is going out with “a last hurrah”. On Saturday March 29, there’ll be DJ sets across the whole venue from 1pm to 3am, and on Sunday March 30, a Last Drinks event will be held downstairs from 3pm.

Ultimately, Martelletti points to wider industry struggles as to why he couldn’t keep The Gaso going himself. “Unfortunately, just the math doesn’t math anymore with the economics of live music, and it’s just a struggle,” says Martelletti, who plans to focus on his tech company Hava. “Not only is it prohibitive to tour these days, if you do manage to get someone in, then people don’t have money to spend. So it’s just spiralling out of control at this point.

“I don’t expect sympathy; I knew what I was getting into in terms of the business. It’s just unfortunate for the industry at large – and a sign of more things to come.”

The Gasometer will have its last day of trade on Sunday March 30, 2025.

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