Melbourne’s Ding Dong Lounge Reopens

Ding Dong, the witch is most certainly not dead, as one of Melbourne’s most iconic music venues, the Ding Dong Lounge, is set to re-open its doors on July 6 after some extensive cosmetic surgery. A fire in the German restaurant downstairs in 2011 forced the closure of the Ding Dong, and owner Billy Walsh took the opportunity to give the bar a facelift.  After a very quiet year, the Chinatown institution is back and, thanks to some very exciting changes, it’s better than ever.

It’s been split into three rooms – a saloon bar modelled after the ladies lounges of Australian pubs of yesteryear, a Studio 54 style bandroom, and a disco, complete with sunken dancefloor. They’ve added a garden balcony, a brand spankin’ new PA and lighting setup, a private den for functions of special guests, and to top it all off there’s a brand new cocktail menu designed by their in house mixologist!

And what better way to launch this remodelling than to throw a weekend long housewarming with some absolutely epic acts? On Friday July 6^th, Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees, Queens Of The Stone Age and The Gutter Twins) will be returning to Australia for the second time this year to play a very special one off and intimate solo show, and the next night will see Australia’s favourite female rock quintet of Zappa, Hendrix and Zeppelin lovers, the four Findlay sisters – otherwise know as Stonefield – return to the stage of Ding Dong with their blistering live set fresh off the road from a sold out National Tour for their current single ‘Bad Reality’.

Surround http://dingdong.oztix.com.au/ for tickets

Tagged Billy Walsh, Ding Dong Lounge, disco, Hendrix, Mark Lanegan, Queens of the Stoneage, Stonefield, studio 54, Zappa, Zeppelin