WHARF WINDS UP WITH A BLAST
Good times at a popular Gold Coast venue came to an end with a series of concerts in the summer of ‘97-’98
IT was one of the Gold Coast’s best-loved venues whose name immediately conjures up memories of good times.
Fisherman’s Wharf on The Spit was the place to be in the 1980s and 90s and hosted some of the era’s biggest acts.
But all things came to an end and the curtain came down on the wharf 20 years ago as developers moved in to revamp the site.
Its farewell gigs over the 1997-98 New Year was a memorable finale to what was a short, but sweet life.
Fisherman’s Wharf, a retail and hotel complex, was the brainchild of Brisbane-based developer and dentist Dr Nick Girdis.
It was built and opened in 1983 when it became an immediate hit with audiences.
Among its best-loved events was the annual Birdman of the Broadwater competition, in which competitors had to use winged outfits or devices to slow their fall into the water.
The winning ‘pilot’ earned $10,000 for their efforts.
Not only was it well known as a place to have a drink or catch a boat to South Stradbroke Island, but also as a music venue.
Among those who performed there over the years were INXS, Midnight Oil, Violent Femmes, Nirvana, Joe Cocker and Jimmy Barnes.
Nirvana and the Violent Femmes both played on the same night in 1991, with a crowd of 13,000 people enjoying the concert.
Despite being a great place to go, Fisherman’s Wharf itself was not a success for its owners or investors.
Dr Girdis sold the complex in the mid-1980s and it changed hands multiple times as Christopher Skase’s Marina Mirage shopping centre and Sheraton Mirage both rose on neighbouring sites and became the focal point of the area.
It was briefly owned by the Raptis Group and was in the hands of the banks.
By the late 1990s things were going badly for the Wharf and it was finally sold to developer Sunland Group which announced in late 1997 that the complex would close in January 1998 after a final series of concerts.
Sunland said it initially planned to demolish the building to create a $200 million four-star hotel.
But it was decided that Fisherman’s Wharf would go out with a bang rather than a whimper with a series of summer concerts over the Christmas and New Year period of 1997-98.
Gold Coast promoter Critton Astras organised the gigs, with Jimmy Barnes headlining the January 4, 1998 End of an Era Concert.
It was the only south-east Queensland stop for Barnes on his tour that year and was standing room only as around 10,000 people turned out for the concert, which also featured James Reyne.
Reyne kicked off proceedings wearing a Hawaiian shirt to immediate applause and sang Australian Crawl’s greatest hits. Barnsey hit the stage and belted out blues numbers and other standards.
“I first saw Barnsey here when I was still too young to drink,” said Pete Jackson, then a 28-year-old speaking of his earlier experiences at Fisherman’s Wharf. “This place means a lot to me.”
Today the former Fisherman’s Wharf site is home to the Palazzo Versace hotel.