Confusion over Shannon Bennett music venue’s future
The future of a music venue co-owned by celebrity chef Shannon Bennett’s company is in doubt after claims it is shutting down less than a year after it opened.
Events company Oztentatious Occasions told the Herald Sun their upcoming ball at Geddes Lane Ballroom was cancelled with “no warning at all” by the venue co-owned by Bennett’s Vue Group and Melbourne property developer Lorenz Grollo.
“Unfortunately Geddes Lane closed down on September 1st, and sent us an email about it in the last week of August,” a spokesperson for the company said.
“The email said that the ‘business owners have decided to cease operations’, which is very crushing to us as we have invested a HUGE amount into this event (energy, time, love, money, and effort).”
A Facebook post made by the venue manager a fortnight ago said Vue Group would "cease operating" the venue on September 1.
"After two weeks going back and forth with Grollo, [we] have been unable to come up with a solution for the venue's future ... our last show will be on August 31st," the post reads.
In a twist though, Bennett denied claims that Geddes Lane Ballroom had shut its doors. "Once again rumours and innuendo rubbish, Geddes Lane is not closed," he told The Age.
A spokesperson for Bennett’s Vue Group said that the ballroom’s business model had changed and it would now only run “private events, such as album launches and one off events, tour dates and such”.
“We have loads of events coming up in the summer season. It will support any bigger live tours and the space is a brilliant for larger events,” the spokesperson said.
Sheridan Randall, 10th September 2019
