The Troubadour was opened by Andrew Pattison in August 1978 as a sixty-two seat coffee house on Bowen Crescent, St Kilda.[1][2] The name was borrowed from similar music venues such as The Troubadour in London and the Troubadour in Los Angeles.[3] Four years later it relocated to a larger location on Brunswick Street, Fitzroy which could seat over 100 people.[2][4] The new venue was BYOB (bring your own bottle), and billed itself as a restaurant-music venue, with Patrick Hayes of The Herald writing their menu was limited, but better than most theatre-restaurants.[5] Pattison sold the business to radio presenter Ray Mow, who took over in February 1988.[1][6]
After closing for three months of refurbishments, on 22 March 1989 a large fire in the kitchen caused extensive damage to the venue and it was forced to close. Mow estimated the fire's damage meant the venue would be closed a further three months and costing $70–80,0000 on top of lost revenue.[6] The venue officially closed in March 1990 after financial difficulties due to the fire,[1][7] with several musicians who had performed at the venue returning for The Troubadour's final week.[8] These included Joe Dolce, Rank Strangers, Rod Quantock, Mike Rudd, Bob Sedergreen, and Venetta Fields.[7]
In 1998 The Troubadour's 20th anniversary was celebrated by previous performers and fans, hosted by Pattison in The Troubadour's former home at 388 Brunswick Street.[9] Pattison later reused the Troubadour name for a Troubadour Wine Bar beginning at 1992's Port Fairy Folk Festival,[10] and later as the Troubadour Weekend folk festival.[1] The Troubadour archive is held by Australian Performing Arts Collection as part of the Raymond Mow collection.
