Hotel Manly

By Mark Gibson | October 11, 2010 |
Hotel Manly

Hotel Manly was a classic pub venue. One of the hardest working that I’ve ever seen. In its heyday it had live bands, often more than one, on every night of the week.

I first worked there with Bandanna back in 1985. The following year we supported Chain which was a massive gig for us. It was packed and we got to use a big PA system belonging to the main act and operated by “Arthur”. Anyone around the Sydney music scene of the 80’s & beyond will know Arthur.

Have a look through the flyers below & see for yourself what a busy and important Sydney gg the Hotel Manly was.

What’s your favourite memory of the Hotel Manly? What was the best gig you saw there? Let me know in the comments.

Images

April 1988
manly1
manly2

Video

Mad Gorilla Hotel Manly 1983

Known Gigs

1979

October

1982

December

1983

July

August

November

December

1985

April

August

October

November

1986

March

June

October

1987

October

1988

January

March

April

August

October

1989

January

February

More Gigs here

Posted in Venues - H, Venues - M

14 Comments

  1. Izzy Foreal on December 23, 2010 at 10:46 am

    Bernie Zarsoff, Terry Zarsoff and I started playing in the front bar of The Hotel Manly in 1979 (Sundays, from memory), firstly as The Likker Act, then as The Zarsoff Brothers. Because live music hadn’t worked there for a while (if ever), we had to talk the hotel’s management into letting us charge $1 a head at the door, and we eventually built it up to about 300 punters (not bad money for a 3-piece in those times). Management then got greedy and decided that they would take the door and give us a flat fee of $150 or so. We declined the generous offer, but got to come back later, when The Manly evolved into a proper gig. By then the music had moved into the side bar and a bigger room, and we were happy to accept our bottom-line figure of around $1,500 for a spot.

    Reply
  2. Johnny Jazz on July 25, 2011 at 10:02 pm

    Thanks so much for this topic. I had some great nights at the Manly pub seeing bands such as Electric Pandas, Cockroaches, Phil Small’s band the Pound, Huxton Creepers, Cockroaches & a lot of others I can’t recall. Hands down however the best band I ever saw there was a band called the Notations. I think they were locals who played a lot of covers and some excellent originals. They used to do the Who covers including substitute, your generation and they had a British rock n roll sound and feel. The singer was also the lead guitarist who put on a fantastic show. They were all great players though. I often wondered what happened to those blokes. I saw them many times and they were always fantastic. I’ve tried to find anything online about them but nothing comes up. Would love to know who they were and where they are now? Go the Manly!

    Reply
  3. Ted Brennan on January 5, 2012 at 2:09 pm

    Have great memories playing in The Booze Bros at Manly Hotel. Sydney certainly had a great live music scene back then. It’s a shame to see so many live venues shut down.

    Reply
    • Mark Gibson on January 6, 2012 at 10:29 am

      Hi Ted, great to see you here. I remember mixing the Booze Brothers on quite a few occasions at the Hotel Manly (and a thousand other venues!) back in the day. You guys were always fantastic. I’ve got some Booze Brothers photo’s somewhere that I will dig out & post here.
      Cheers, Mark

      Reply
      • Ted Brennan on January 6, 2012 at 10:45 am

        Thanks Mark … that would be great, would love to see them!

        Reply
  4. Nicola Parker on December 13, 2012 at 2:56 am

    I was in Australia(from England) I worked in The Cosmopolitan on the Corso and every Sunday a big crowd of us would go to see Vegimite Reggae.Happy days,great band a nd always a brilliant atmosphere

    Reply
  5. Matt on October 25, 2013 at 11:48 pm

    Worked in the drive through out the back with Paul bell, blond Julie and Brett Cohen ( when he bothered to turn up) in the early 80’s, when henske hill of grace was $22 a bottle( now $499). We would dive into the gig every night after we shut the bottle shop. Happy days.

    Reply
  6. Matt on October 28, 2013 at 9:45 pm

    What date did the Hotel Manly close and what were the reasons for it’s closure.

    Also does anyone have any images of the Hotel Manly/ Stage setup etc?

    I would be GREATLY APPRECIATIVE if you could email them to me @ mattychampion@live.com.au.

    They will be used in a research assignment on live music in manly.

    Thanks so much,

    Matt

    Reply
  7. Gary on January 10, 2014 at 4:21 pm

    i rember seeing The Hitmen Wet Taxis Lime Spiders S Celibate Rifles Surfside Sixcreaming Tribesmen Motorhead _- good times

    Reply
  8. Andrew on June 19, 2015 at 6:48 pm

    Saw the Numbers at the Hotel Manly in 1984 or maybe it was late 1983. I remember Chris and Annalise Morrow (2 of the band members) wore dark sunglasses on stage, pretty good crowd there and I was drinking schooners of Tooheys New. I remember it like it was yesterday. Great band, great gig, good venue, great memories.

    Reply
  9. Stephen Ashton on November 6, 2020 at 4:29 pm

    Loved this gig did it a few times with The Blues Brothers Revival

    Reply
  10. Dennis on August 15, 2021 at 3:17 pm

    Manager there… best time, Staff were lovely and very motivated. Sadly no more pub venues for Aussie bands to learn the trade. Hi Matt. Closed about 1990ish

    Reply

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