30/12/2022
For the last 2 years we have slogged our hearts out to sustain something we love. Eleven. But we can’t do it any longer as the financial and mental health toll it has taken to keep it going is too much for us and our family. We have made the very difficult decision over the Christmas break to press ‘Pause’ and close the doors. We are unsure if this is a temporary or permanent situation right now.
Like other venues, the last 2 years have been tough on us. We have ridden a rollercoaster with licensing delays, Covid, and Government mandates targeted at our industry making it almost impossible to trade. We’ve dealt with ever changing mandates, capacity limits, seated gigs, impossibly complicated restrictions, forced closures, and last minute gig reschedules and cancellations. Unlike other venues though we have done this with ZERO government funding. Because we opened after March 2020, we didn’t qualify for anything! We watched as others received RISE grants, and other funding grants that sustained their business through this extremely difficult period. We watched as these grants were handed out to businesses that had no connections to the arts and live music industry numerous times but we continued to play by the rules and trudged on. We applied for all the grants, but never qualified for one even though we were actively trading during this time. We spent every cent of working capital we had keeping our doors open during this period, and worked part time jobs on top of this to keep it going. We pivoted the business more times than we care to remember! (Actually the BYO weekend will go down as one of the craziest pivots but most memorable)
As if this wasn’t enough of a struggle for a new venue, we have also been dealing with our landlord QIC (an investment arm of the QLD Government), over the ongoing issue of our leaking roof which has been documented from day 1 of our tenancy, and that they have refused to acknowledge was an issue until part of the venues roof collapsed due to water ingress in December last year. For over 12 months now we have been fighting with them to repair the damages and replace the roof, or relocate the venue into a space they requested us to move to at the beginning of our tenancy 6 weeks into our fit-out, as well as compensation for the huge financial losses we have sustained from the water ingress. As the water ingress has continued into the venue almost weekly affecting trade and rendering integral parts of the space such as our second bar, sound desk area, disabled toilets and main area completely unusable and unsafe for staff and patrons, and damaged our custom made sound proofing, our sound desk area, and some of the internal structure, it has now become an untenable situation. It has affected our ability to pay bands and suppliers, and our ability to secure further investment of funds that would see the business/venue prosper and grow. Our legal and accounting fees are huge, and debts are mounting due to the trading losses we have incurred and continue to incur from this ongoing issue. We cannot financially continue until this issue is rectified as its affecting the growth and sustainability of the business. We can’t even sell the venue with the issue currently unresolved. The financial stress and mental health impacts from this along with the current issues within the industry of poor ticket sales, tour costs and last minute cancellations, and lack of post covid government support for the arts has put on us is immense. We are not a big company. We are just a small family business that have put their life savings into their dream and love of music.
We want to thank you all for supporting Eleven, the music, the staff, the bands and us. Without you all it is just a room. We are so proud of what we have achieved so far. We set out to bring the biggest bands around to the coast and we did that. And in doing that we created a space for upcoming bands to be given a spotlight they may never have had which was always our main goal. Seeing local bands on our stage supporting the big tours is why we built this space. To give an opportunity to immensely talented local artists that would have gone unheard of. To all the bands, thank you so much for letting us be part of your story and thank you for all the amazing music. To see bands we have loved for so long on our stage was something we only dreamed of. To see local bands just starting out, find there sound here was amazing.
Lastly we want to shout out a HUGE thank you to our incredible staff. Our Eleven Family. You guys are amazing. Its been a s**t few months and you’ve hung in there with us, we couldn’t do this without you. Every night you make sure all patrons are safe, welcome and having the best time. You treat everyone as a long lost mate and every band as if they’d walked into your home. Its hard to put into words how amazing you all are. We hope to see you and your smart arse attitudes slinging tins behind the bar here again soon.
We are unsure what the future holds for Eleven right now, we really hope this is only a temporary thing. We just know that we cannot move forward right now with the water ingress being such a major issue, causing us such huge financial burden and uncertainty. So until an agreement with QIC is reached for damages and the roof either being replaced or we secure another tenancy with them, we must temporarily close the doors for now.
To walk out of here today is the hardest thing for us to do. This isn’t just a bar. A music venue. A room. It’s a safe place for so many of you that don’t fit the “norm” to be yourself, be creative, expressive and feel safe and welcome. It’s a stage musicians, artists can come play regardless of genre, gender, age, background, ability and feel accepted and encouraged.
It’s a home.
See you in the pit soon.
Crumpy & Dee
