At a press conference held at The Tote over the weekend, the current proprietors of Bar Open, Pony and Yah Yah’s, Andrew Portokallis and Jon Perring, announced that they have added the Tote to their list of live music venues.
The beloved venue is set to be renovated and aims to re-open in approximately six weeks.
Victorian Premier, John Brumby was also in attendance to revel in the moment. Stressing the need for laws to be tough on alcohol-related violence, he acknowledged that government policies still need fine tuning. However no new policies have been announced in response to the issues which lead to the Tote’s closure.
Referring to the recent Save Live Australia’s Music (SLAM) rally, Brumby claimed that “it wasn’t a surprise to… see thousands and thousands of people stand up for what they believe in” and as he posed for photos he declared the reopening of the Tote to be “a great outcome”.
While there’s plenty of reason to be cynical about Brumby’s presence at the announcement, Perring had nothing but praise for local Labor MP Richard Wynne citing his influence in ensuring that the voice of Melbourne’s live music scene was heard by the government.
Perring also noted that “Brumby listened to the live music industry and took steps to resolve some of the most pressing issues around liquor licensing through the Live Music Accord.”
The full details regarding the reopening date and the inevitable celebrations have yet to be released.
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