The Fly by Night Musicians Club, also known as Fly by Night Club, Fly by Night and The Fly, was a music venue and not-for-profit music organisation in

Fremantle, Western Australia Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

in operation from 1986 to 2018. It was originally housed in the Artillery Drill Hall, a heritage-listed former Defence Department building owned by the

National Trust of Western Australia The National Trust of Western Australia, officially the National Trust of Australia (W.A.), is a statutory authority that delivers heritage services, including conservation and interpretation, on behalf of the Western Australian government and co ...

, fronting Holdsworth Street and Parry Street. In 2015 it then moved into Victoria Hall, a former parish hall designed by

Talbot Hobbs Lieutenant General Sir Joseph John Talbot Hobbs, (24 August 1864 – 21 April 1938) was an Australian architect and First World War general. Early life Hobbs was born in London, the son of Joseph and his wife Frances Ann Hobbs (née Wilson). E ...

and named in celebration of the

diamond jubilee of Queen Victoria The Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria was officially celebrated on 22 June 1897 to mark the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Queen Victoria's accession on 20 June 1837. Queen Victoria was the first British monarch ever to celebrate a Diamond ...

in 1897. The club assisted development of local musicians and performing arts, and provided a venue for other community-based activities. Capacity of its main hall was 500 patrons, mostly standing. In 1996, it was the first venue in Western Australia to bar

tobacco smoking Tobacco smoking is the practice of burning tobacco and ingesting the resulting smoke. The smoke may be inhaled, as is done with cigarettes, or simply released from the mouth, as is generally done with pipes and cigars. The practice is believed ...

. A smaller performance space, "the Fly Trap", held 100 patrons for local gigs, mainly by band members of the club. Other smaller spaces were available for rehearsals, workshops, seminars and community fundraising activities. Western Australian bands which have performed there or launched their careers at the club include the

John Butler Trio The John Butler Trio are an Australian roots/rock band led by guitarist and vocalist John Butler, an APRA and ARIA-award-winning musician. They formed in Fremantle in 1998 with Jason McGann on drums, Gavin Shoesmith on bass and John Butler on vo ...

The Waifs The Waifs (originally styled as The WAiFS) are an Australian folk rock band formed in 1992 by sisters Vikki Thorn (harmonica, guitar, vocals) and Donna Simpson (musician), Donna Simpson (guitar, vocals) as well as Josh Cunningham (guitar, vocal ...

Eskimo Joe Eskimo Joe are an Australian alternative rock band that was formed in 1997 by Stuart MacLeod, on lead guitar, Joel Quartermain, on drums and guitar, and Kavyen Temperley, on bass guitar and vocals, in East Fremantle, Western Australia, Austral ...

San Cisco San Cisco is an Australian indie pop band that formed in 2009 under the original name of King George, in Fremantle, Western Australia. The band are a Trio (music), three-piece, and currently consists of Jordi Davieson (guitar, lead vocals), Jo ...

The Panics The Panics are an indie rock band originally from Perth, Western Australia, and currently based in Melbourne, Victoria. History 2000–2006: Band formation and LittleBigMan Records The band started out while Jae Laffer (then known by his actu ...

and the Joe Kings. National and international performers have included

Boy & Bear Boy & Bear are an Australian indie folk band formed in 2009, consisting of David Hosking (vocals and guitar), Killian Gavin (vocals and guitar), Tim Hart (drums and vocals), Jonathan Hart (vocals, banjo, mandolin and keyboards), and David Symes ...

Gotye Wouter André "Wally" De Backer (born 21 May 1980), better known by his stage name Gotye ( ), is a Belgian-Australian multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter. The name "Gotye" is a pronunciation respelling of "Gauthier", the French cognat ...

The Cat Empire The Cat Empire are an Australian jazz/funk band, formed in Melbourne, Victoria, in 1999. For most of the band's duration, the core members were Felix Riebl (lead vocals, percussion), Harry James Angus (trumpet, vocals), Will Hull-Brown (drums), ...

Paul Dempsey Paul Anthony Dempsey (born 25 May 1976) is an Australian musician. He is best known as the lead singer, guitarist and principal lyricist of rock group Something for Kate. Dempsey released his debut solo album, '' Everything Is True'', on 20 Au ...

Grizzly Bear The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America. In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horri ...

and

The Black Keys The Black Keys are an American rock duo formed in Akron, Ohio, in 2001. The group consists of Dan Auerbach (guitar, vocals) and Patrick Carney (drums). The duo began as an independent act, recording music in basements and self-producing their ...

. , it was the regular venue of the annual

WAM Song of the Year WAM was originally formed as the Western Australian Rock Music Industry Association Inc. (WARMIA) in 1985, with its main aim to develop and run annual awards recognising achievements within the music industry in Western Australia. WAM first receiv ...

event. The Fly closed at Victoria Hall in 2018, after their lease was not renewed by the

City of Fremantle The City of Fremantle is a local government area in the south of Perth, Western Australia. The City covers an area of , and lies about southwest of the Perth central business district. History The City of Fremantle is named after Charles Frem ...

. It was initially reported that the club's lease would end in August, but after the council announced in July 2018 that they would sell the building, the club temporarily remained in operation pending relocation. In September 2018, the club announced that they were in imminent danger of liquidation due to their poor financial state and began a fundraising campaign, but announced in December 2018 that the campaign had been unsuccessful and that the club would be wound up.

References

{{commons category-inline Former music venues in Australia Nightclubs in Australia