“We Can’t Physically Carry On”: Footscray Music Venue and Bar Misfits To Close in September

When Misfits opened in the former Baby Snakes site at the beginning of 2024, owners and nightlife pros Jacob Bell (of Ferdydurke and Whitehart), Amber Hahipene (from Section 8 and Comet Beverages) and Jerry Poon (The Operatives) hoped to support grassroots music and be “almost like a cultural centre for music, arts and everything in-between”, Poon says. But after two years, the owners have decided to close the Footscray venue. 

“We obviously face increasing challenges – industry pressure, high operating costs, changing customer behaviours – but I think we’ve been significantly impacted by the ongoing safety issues in the surrounding area,” adds Poon, a Footscray resident who has lived in Melbourne’s west for almost 15 years. “It’s not something we didn’t really know about the area. We thought we could have pushed through it, [but] we’ve made the decision that we can’t physically carry on, as much as we want to provide a space for music and the arts in the area.

“Since opening, our staff and security have experienced repeated incidents including intimidations, verbal abuse, we got broken into. We’ve had a mattress set on fire in front of our building. We’ve had female staff followed. 

“These continued challenges have taken a significant toll on the business and the wellbeing of our staff and ourselves.”

It’s not just the neighbourhood. Running a live music venue has become increasingly difficult, with Stay Gold being one of the most recent casualties. Poon also cites lower alcohol sales, increased operational costs and increasing costs from music rights management service APRA AMCOS as part of the challenge

But the founders are proud of what they achieved in the space. “In a short span of two years [Misfits] became quite an institution,” Poon says. “We’ve broken acts. We’ve allowed a lot of young artists to support much larger artists, and we’ve also had much larger artists perform there just for the love of being quite intimately and directly connected to their fanbase.”

The team is working out the closing date, but it will most likely be at the beginning of September. “The space has made an impact, which is awesome. So we want to give it a month to let people just enjoy it.” Upcoming acts and events will be announced via Misfits’ Instagram.