THE owners of the Cambridge Hotel have unveiled their plans to transform the King Street Hotel into Newcastle's new "music hub".
As first reported by the Newcastle Herald last December, King Street has been undergoing extensive redevelopment since January to build a new 600 to 650-capacity live music venue to replace the Cambridge.
The Cambridge closed on June 25 following a three-day farewell street festival, which was attended by more than 10,000 punters.
The new live music venue will be known as the "King Street Bandroom" and features a mezzanine overlooking the stage.
Californian rock band Eagles Of Death Metal will open the venue on Friday July 28.
It will be the largest of five separate music spaces. The other spaces include a 250-capacity "Warehouse" room on the third floor for local and emerging acts. There will also be a nightclub room, a front bar and a more intimate "Broken Hearts Bar".
Former Cambridge licensee and King Street co-owner, Dru Russell, said the King Street Bandroom and Warehouse spaces will provide an upgraded experience for music fans.
"We believe in live music and this city," Mr Russell told the Newcastle Herald during a tour of the renovated space.
"You can see it with what we've done here by converting a three-level nightclub into essentially a live music hub."
Mr Russell and his team visited venues in Brisbane and Melbourne during the design phase of the venue.
"The mezzanine is amazing, in certain places you feel like you're on top of the stage, which is totally different to what the Cambridge was," he said.
"In terms of lighting and production it's an upgrade for us. We've tripled the lights and we have the ability to change it from show to show."
King Street will also be one of the only live music venues in Australia to have wheelchair access to the stage due to a $70,000 grant from the federal government.
Federal Member for Newcastle, Sharon Claydon, said King Street's plans to be an inclusive venue made it a worthy recipient.
"Coming off the back of the closure of the Cambo it was really important for us to provide some support to another venue that was going to be able to jump in and fill the void," Ms Claydon said.
Newcastle dance-rock duo Raave Tapes performed at the Cambridge farewell festival and were given a sneak peak at the new King Street venue on Wednesday.
Raave Tapes bassist and vocalist, Lindsay O'Connell, said the lighting rig was a massive upgrade from the Cambridge's set-up.
"Lighting sometimes makes or breaks a show, so there's a lot happening here and that's amazing," O'Connell said.
Raave Tapes have performed extensively along Australia's east coast. Guitarist-vocalist Joab Eastley said King Street would rival anywhere they have performed.
"The Bandroom doesn't feel like a Newcastle venue," Eastley said. "With the mezzanine, it's not something we normally have. It feels a bit fancy."
Following The Eagles Of Death Metal, King Street will host metal band King Parrot (August 5), alt-country songwriter Henry Wagons (August 11), US skate-punks Unwritten Law (August 15), indie band Winterbourne (August 18), US post-hardcore band La Dispute (August 20), alt-rockers Magic Dirt (September 15), pop-folk duo Busby Marou (September 16), punks Slowly Slowly (September 22) and indie-rockers Teenage Dads (October 14).
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