Club 76 - Heritage and music digital trail
Heading out of the city from Upper Roma Street, on the busy intersection of Petrie Terrace and Milton Road, is No.4 Petrie Terrace. This modest tin and timber building was for a short but legendary period ‘Club 76’, a sharehouse, rehearsal space and live venue for Brisbane band, The Saints.
The precise date for the construction of No.4 (known for much of its existence as No.2) is unclear. Its simple gabled form suggests that it may be quite an early colonial residence. Built by journalist and later government printer Edmund Gregory as a rental property, it housed a range of tenants, from doctors to gardeners into the early 1900s. Later, the building was adapted for use as a ‘mixed goods’ shop and residence, by the early 1970s the building’s use as a shop ended.
In 1976 Saints’ singer Chris Bailey moved in to No.4 with his sister Margaret. When she left soon after, Bailey was joined by band mate and drummer Ivor Hay. The former shopfront became a new rehearsal space for The Saints. Bailey, Hay, guitarist Ed Kuepper and bass player Kym Bradshaw practised frequently, honing their blistering sound, which was first forged in the outer suburbs of Oxley, Inala and Corinda.
After a glass plate at the front of No.4 was smashed in protest against the band, Ed Kuepper suggests writing ‘Club 76’ over the boarded up window and using the house for shows.
Beyond suburban halls, options for live performances in Brisbane for the Saints had always been limited—but now they had their own venue. Attendances grew rapidly from a handful of friends to a packed house. Australian music journalist Clinton Walker described the Club 76 shows as, ‘a humbling, thundering thing to experience’.
Ultimately, Club 76 was short lived. Police and health inspectors took a dim view of the overcrowded and unlicensed venue with insufficient fire exits and toilets, and closed it down.
The Saints moved on, leaving Brisbane in early 1977, seeking a wider audience abroad.
Their time at Petrie Terrace leaves a lasting cultural legacy that reverberates far beyond Brisbane. Their extraordinary sound, their independent approach to their art, live shows and music is hugely influential. While No.4 Petrie Terrace has long since reverted to retail use, it will always retain its special association with The Saints.