Brisbane live music venue The Zoo saved and to reopen under new name

Popular Brisbane venue The Zoo has been belatedly saved following a buyer having stepped in to reopen the Fortitude Valley institution under the new name The Crowbar in November.

The Zoo closed its doors in July.  Prior to closing, the 500-capacity venue was one of the longest-standing and most well-known live music spaces in Brisbane's nightlife having first opened its doors in late 1992 under the management of Joc Curran and C Smith.

Shane Chidgzey, who purchased the Zoo in 2020 noted earlier this year the venue had been losing money for three years prior to its collapse in 2024 and that an array of factors impacting the live music sector had forced its closure.

Chidgzey, cited a “perfect storm” of forces leading to its closure, including cost-of-living pressures, increasing insurance premiums and declining alcohol consumption among young people.

While ticket sales were said to have remained strong until the end, the venue closed with Chidgzey saying at the time “the model is broken” for live music in Australia.

When it reopens next month, The Zoo will be renamed Crowbar by its new owners Nathan Trad (known as Trad Nathan) and Tyla Dombrovski, who owned a live music venue by the same name that previously operated in Fortitude Valley from 2012 to 2020.

While The Zoo featured a broader spectrum of music, Crowbar focused on heavy metal and punk music until the Covid pandemic forced its closure.

Dombroski said COVID-19 was the final blow for many venues that were already struggling to make a profit due to the rising cost of alcohol.

She said Australia's ever-increasing alcohol excise taxes were making it difficult for venues to keep prices low enough to bring people in the door.

Nathan and Dombrovski opened a second Crowbar in Leichhardt, Sydney in 2018, which is still in operation.

Image. Credit: The Zoo