Rad Bar

 ( Event Venues Established In 2013 ) 

Rad Bar was a music venue in Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. It opened in 2013 and played a crucial role in the development of young musicians and bands from the region. At the time, it was Wollongong's only dedicated Music venue of its size, and was considered iconic in the local scene. The bar was closed in August 2019, when its block was demolished to make way for office towers.

---

History Ben Tillman, Adam Smith and Balunn Jones, who were graduates of the University of Wollongong, were the previous owners of the site, a Coffeehouse called Yours and Owls, which hosted live music five or six nights a week.

Glen Humphries (2025). 9780648991137, Last Day of School. ISBN 9780648991137

Opening in 2010, it quickly became an important hub for local artists wanting to refine their live show for bigger audiences. The cafe was sold and closed in 2013, and the three owners pivoted their brand more towards Talent agent and Music festival. Taking over the site was drummer Daniel Radburn, who was committed to keep hosting Concert. The newly renamed Rad Bar opened on 15 September 2013.

Rad Bar's floor size was less than 80 Square metre and had a maximum capacity of about 80 people, making for an intimate and raucous live music setting. It was the only dedicated music space of its size in Wollongong. The venue was credited for nurturing many young bands across the Illawarra, and being a unique setting where they could "learn how to play". Prominent local bands to have come through Rad Bar in their early years included Pacific Avenue, Totally Unicorn, the Pinheads, Totty, Los Pintar, and most notably Hockey Dad, who played at the venue on its first trading night.

Not long after Radburn took over the venue in 2013, the Lang's Corner block, which was built in 1933, was sold to developers for $4.5 million. The property then changed hands multiple times until May 2017, when a proposal was issued to turn the building into a Tower block office tower. The plans for demolition attracted intense criticism from the Wollongong music community. In April 2019, Radburn announced that all tenants of the block were being told to vacate.

Rad Bar's final trading night was 16 August 2019, with Sydney band Dear Seattle headlining. There were concerns that after its closure, the youth music scene in the Illawarra would lose momentum. In October 2019, Yours and Owls opened the 150-cap La La La's dive bar and music venue a short distance away in Globe Lane.

The Lang's Corner block was turned into an 11-storey office tower, which opened in 2022.

One of the stages at the 2019 Yours and Owls Festival was named after Rad Bar in honour of the venue's legacy. This occurred again for the 2023 festival.

Post Comment