The William Street Bird, known colloquially as the ''Bird'', is a live music bar located in the Northbridge suburb of

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. It opened in 2010.

Description

The Bird plays host to local musicians, with some known performers having gone on to successful international careers. Notable artists to have performed at the venue include

Flume A flume is a human-made channel for water, in the form of an open declined gravity chute whose walls are raised above the surrounding terrain, in contrast to a trench or ditch. Flumes are not to be confused with aqueducts, which are built to tr ...

Stella Donnelly Stella Donnelly (born 10 April 1992) is a Welsh-Australian indie rock singer-songwriter and guitarist. After the success of her debut EP ''Thrush Metal'' in 2017, she signed with Secretly Canadian in 2018. She released her debut studio album ''Be ...

Spacey Jane Spacey Jane are an Australian indie rock band from Fremantle, which formed in 2016. The group consists of Ashton Hardman-Le Cornu (guitar), Caleb Harper (vocals, guitar), Kieran Lama (drums) and, since 2019, Peppa Lane (bass guitar). Their debu ...

Tame Impala Tame Impala is the psychedelic music project of Australian multi-instrumentalist Kevin Parker. In the recording studio, Parker writes, records, performs, and produces all of the project's music. As a touring act, Tame Impala consists of Parke ...

, Gum, and

Methyl Ethel Methyl Ethel is an Australian art rock band from Perth, signed to Future Classic in 2021 and formerly to Dot Dash and 4AD. The band consists of Jake Webb, Thom Stewart, Chris Wright, Jacob Diamond, and Lyndon Blue. Webb previously fronted Sug ...

The inside of the venue resembles a large jam room for a resident band. The interior design is simple, with large amounts of exposed brick. The back of the venue is an open-air courtyard.

History and operations

The live music bar was opened by mechanical engineer and entrepreneur Mike O'Hanlon in 2010. During the same year, the venue was involved in a campaign against a decision by the Liquor Commission to put its late-night trading application up for review. This decision was publicly opposed at the time by Perth's lord mayor

Lisa Scaffidi Lisa-Michelle Scaffidi (; born 12 February 1960) is a former Lord Mayor of Perth, Western Australia. The first female Lord Mayor of Perth, Scaffidi became mayor following the October 2007 council elections, after the retirement of her predeces ...

, and the West Australian Music Association. The restriction would have imposed a 10pm closing time upon the bar, which O'Hanlon criticised as unworkable. The decision to put the license up for review was made despite approval by the Perth city council for a midnight license earlier that month. In 2016 the venue was purchased by O'Hanlon's friend Kabir Ramasary, a former financial planner who also owns multiple nearby venues. The venue has periodically hosted fundraising events for

RTRFM RTRFM (call sign: 6RTR) is a Nonprofit organization, not-for-profit, community radio station based in Perth, the state capital of Western Australia. It is self-funded, largely through listener subscription and fund-raising events. However, it d ...

, a community radio station based in the city.

Reception

In her 2016 live music review for the Perth outlet ''Isolated Nation'', contributor and local musician Tanaya Harper praised the "Wednesday nights at the Bird" weekly local music event, saying: According to the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...

student magazine A student publication is a media outlet such as a newspaper, magazine, television show, or radio station produced by students at an educational institution. These publications typically cover local and school-related news, but they may also repor ...

Pelican Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before s ...

'', the venue is known locally for its "artsy, chilled out atmosphere". The venue has been compared by ''PerthNow'' to the Ellington Jazz Club "for people who are too young to know who

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...

is".

Notes

References

External links