The FOCO Club is Born, Reborn and Inducted Into Parliament

There are few things as synonymous with Lefty’s then a great night and a Whisky Apple. In episode 6 of Building The Scene we get to dive into the history of the iconic Brisbane venue Lefty’s Old Time Music Hall. From the bustle of the bar to the roaring of the crowd, hear first-hand accounts on these shared experiences . Explore how Baroona Hall was transformed into The Velvet Cigar and took on its new look at Lefty’s. Hear about the rise and the fall, the debt and the closure, and the memories made between on the final episode of Building The Scene: Baroona Hall. Woven into the fabric of Brisbane’s history is a very visible, yet crucially unrecognised part of our social culture. Where great names have been built on stages, city streets and town halls… the history of the walls which held these grand events are often left unspoken. Building The Scene is an episodic podcast that looks to shine a light on the history of some of Brisbane’s most iconic, unknown and revolutionary nightlife venues. Each part of the story diving into facets of culture relayed from first hand accounts and extrapolated by industry specialists. Built by a team of passionate researchers, audio engineers, and radio personalities, Building The Scene contains stories ranging from incredible changes and progression in Brisbane’s society down to the seedy underbelly of the city.  Drop us a line! @buildingthescene on Instagram and Facebook

Take your place in the clash between the punk music scene and the local authorities as they found their very culture threatened by an unwavering foe. We see how Baroona Hall stood as a parapet in defiance of police aggression, antagonising their opposition by holding protest and charity gigs just 50 metres from the Petrie Terrace Police Barracks. We also see how instrumental and revolutionary the Caxton Legal Service was at protecting Brisbane’s most vulnerable citizens.  Woven into the fabric of Brisbane’s history is a very visible, yet crucially unrecognised part of our social culture. Where great names have been built on stages, city streets and town halls… the history of the walls which held these grand events are often left unspoken. Building The Scene is an episodic podcast that looks to shine a light on the history of some of Brisbane’s most iconic, unknown and revolutionary nightlife venues. Each part of the story diving into facets of culture relayed from first hand accounts and extrapolated by industry specialists. Built by a team of passionate researchers, audio engineers, and radio personalities, Building The Scene contains stories ranging from incredible changes and progression in Brisbane’s society down to the seedy underbelly of the city.  Drop us a line! @buildingthescene on Instagram and Facebook

Episode 1 of the Baroona Hall series takes a look into the expansive history of a building constructed two centuries ago. Exploring how the changes in the wider area of Brisbane can be tracked by key moments reflected in the building’s history. Bringing us right into the 1970’s and 80’s, we begin to take a dive into the vital and iconic punk scene of the era and interview acts who performed at Baroona Hall in this period. Woven into the fabric of Brisbane’s history is a very visible, yet crucially unrecognised part of our social culture. Where great names have been built on stages, city streets and town halls… the history of the walls which held these grand events are often left unspoken. Building The Scene is an episodic podcast that looks to shine a light on the history of some of Brisbane’s most iconic, unknown and revolutionary nightlife venues. Each part of the story diving into facets of culture relayed from first hand accounts and extrapolated by industry specialists. Built by a team of passionate researchers, audio engineers, and radio personalities, Building The Scene contains stories ranging from incredible changes and progression in Brisbane’s society down to the seedy underbelly of the city.  Drop us a line! @buildingthescene on Instagram and Facebook

With the future of FOCO brought into disrepute with a negative political campaign, negative media campaign and the team fracturing from within, the end is near. With police raids in the air, the FOCO Club is no more but the influence of the short 18 months of operation will go on to influence the trajectory of Brisbane creatives for years to come. Woven into the fabric of Brisbane’s history is a very visible, yet crucially unrecognised part of our social culture. Where great names have been built on stages, city streets and town halls… the history of the walls which held these grand events are often left unspoken. Building The Scene is an episodic podcast that looks to shine a light on the history of some of Brisbane’s most iconic, unknown and revolutionary nightlife venues. Each part of the story diving into facets of culture relayed from first hand accounts and extrapolated by industry specialists. Built by a team of passionate researchers, audio engineers, and radio personalities, Building The Scene contains stories ranging from incredible changes and progression in Brisbane’s society down to the seedy underbelly of the city.  Drop us a line! @buildingthescene on Instagram and Facebook

The winds of change at Queensland University have left an opening for more to get involved with the Trade Union movement, but an idea from heads of the Civil Liberties movement will take union involvement in a direction never seen before. Welcome to the FOCO Club, one of the most experimental arts experiences ever brought into existence. Woven into the fabric of Brisbane’s history is a very visible, yet crucially unrecognised part of our social culture. Where great names have been built on stages, city streets and town halls… the history of the walls which held these grand events are often left unspoken. Building The Scene is an episodic podcast that looks to shine a light on the history of some of Brisbane’s most iconic, unknown and revolutionary nightlife venues. Each part of the story diving into facets of culture relayed from first hand accounts and extrapolated by industry specialists. Built by a team of passionate researchers, audio engineers, and radio personalities, Building The Scene contains stories ranging from incredible changes and progression in Brisbane’s society down to the seedy underbelly of the city.  Drop us a line! @buildingthescene on Instagram and Facebook

In the late 1960s, residents of Brisbane with an artistic mind are feeling like they are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Australia is moving into a booming technicolour future of overseas influence and dramatic social change, but Brisbane seems to be staying stuck in the past and going down a regressive conservative path that will stretch the creative community to its last thread. Venues such as the Primitif Cafe offer young inquisitive minds a chance to congregate away from the watchful eyes of law enforcement. With some agitators at the university insprired to begin a movement that will combine arts and politics in a way never seen before or after. Woven into the fabric of Brisbane’s history is a very visible, yet crucially unrecognised part of our social culture. Where great names have been built on stages, city streets and town halls… the history of the walls which held these grand events are often left unspoken. Building The Scene is an episodic podcast that looks to shine a light on the history of some of Brisbane’s most iconic, unknown and revolutionary nightlife venues. Each part of the story diving into facets of culture relayed from first hand accounts and extrapolated by industry specialists. Built by a team of passionate researchers, audio engineers, and radio personalities, Building The Scene contains stories ranging from incredible changes and progression in Brisbane’s society down to the seedy underbelly of the city.  Drop us a line! @buildingthescene on Instagram and Facebook

Woven into the fabric of Brisbane’s history is a very visible, yet crucially unrecognised part of our social culture. Where great names have been built on stages, city streets and town halls… the history of the walls which held these grand events are often left unspoken. Building The Scene is an episodic podcast that looks to shine a light on the history of some of Brisbane’s most iconic, unknown and revolutionary nightlife venues. Each part of the story diving into facets of culture relayed from first hand accounts and extrapolated by industry specialists. Built by a team of passionate researchers, audio engineers, and radio personalities, Building The Scene contains stories ranging from incredible changes and progression in Brisbane’s society down to the seedy underbelly of the city. Season one includes the incredible tale of “Australia’s Most Evil and Repugnant Nightclub”, FOCO Club, a forgotten but crucial component to a cultural shift in Brisbane. Emerging during the repressive years of the state government outlawing protest and tearing down much-beloved venues. FOCO offered a radical alternative for entertainment, with poetry, film, theatre and music all coming together in an old office building every weekend. Also featured is Baroona Hall (Lefty’s), the venue which hosted the very first gig of one of Brisbane’s most influential and renowned groups, The Go Betweens, as well as countless other essential bands at the heart of the Brisbane live music scene. Finally, we uncover the historic past behind one of Fortitude Valley’s most adored modern nightlife locations, Netherworld, and the incredible acts that performed there throughout its many iterations as a live music venue from its beginning as the Shamrock Hotel. Sponsored by the Brisbane City Council Creative Sparks program, Building The Scene offers enchanting and passionate stories for all listeners who are intrigued by what has happened behind hallowed halls of iconic nightlife venues.