Promoters Information

Rubys overview

Rubys is located on the outer eastern edge of Melbourne nestled onto the mountains of the Dandenong Ranges. We are effectively a regional venue located in Melbourne. Thus bands can play in the city, and play at Rubys, without leaving town and without affecting their city gigs - saves money, time, promo and its a 50 minute drive. That is our niche and we do it well. We provide live original music to a population of 400 000 people with a focus on independant bands.

Capacity

Rubys licenced capacity is for 330 people. Guest lists, support bands, promotional lists and crew sizes will obviously have an impact - please keep us informed if any surprises are in store (i.e. 50 tix given away on a radio promotion).

dressing room

The middle-level provides a small storeroom and dressing room with mirrors, tables and a couple of couches. It is secure and keycode protected but not very attractive. At the bottom level of Rubys is our function room (the Library) and bathroom facilities. Push the centre of the bookcase and it opens into a 80 person capacity room with a cocktail bar, comfy couches and rear door access. With headline artists this room is reserved for them and is a damn fine place to hang out away from the noise. Riders & snacks are setup here.

security

We have an exceptional security crew and a very relaxed, soft atmosphere. Artists are not hassled, and patrons are surprisingly well behaved and respectful. This can vary depending on the artists fans, and needs to be discussed if it is foreseen as an issue.

riders

The venue supplies fair riders!

Where the downstairs bandroom is used, riders are provided as agreed on by management.

For nights where the bandroom is not used drink cards are provided for basic beer & spirits, wine and soft drink.

publicity

We promote our events extensively from our local area, all the way into the inner city. Extensive postering, flyers, press, on-line media, database & radio publicity ensures our concerts are well promoted. Weekly advertisements are placed in the Herald-Sun and street press. Gig listings are across all popular media formats and street frontage and in-house promo is actually a tad excessive. Outside the city there are no other original music venues, for a population of around 400 000 people and accessing the live music niches is essential to our success.

patrons

The local population encompasses outer suburban areas and extends all the way out into the backwoods. The Hills itself is an epicentre for art and alternative lifestyle - beautiful, lush, cheap and outside the 'system': and 40 minutes from the city (which is pretty damn cool). So there are lots of hippys, hipsters, geeks, freaks, bogans, rednecks, suburbanites, white trash, poets, radicals and damn nice people roaming around everywhere....makes life interesting.

access hours

Sunday to Thursday - 5pm on with sound check preferably finalised by 7:30pm Fridays & Saturdays - 5pm on Earlier access can be arranged where large rigs are involved.

noise

We are licenced to 3am every night, with a limit on 'Live Music' to 1am on the weeknights. This can be extended, but the we need 5 weeks notice to do so. Please discuss requirements.

accommodation

The Dandenong Ranges is an astonishingly beautiful sub-Alpine forest region, with extensive rainforest, national parks and walking tracks. Enourmous 150 foot eucalypts tower over ancient treeferns and lush undergrowth. Tucked within the forests are extensive B & B and accommodation facilities catering to a diverse range of needs. On a national tour most bands are happy to stay in their city hotels (it is only a 40 minute drive), though for a real experience talk to us about staying in the mountains. In the drudgery of living from hotel to hotel, it is a unique and sparkling part of the world, that is worth experiencing. Have a look at http://www.dandenongrangestourism.com.au for some options.

merchandising

The merchandise table is available on request- It is set up in front of the front windows of Ruby's. The front entrance area has the advantage of handling larger crowds and more of a browsing environment. Change for floats can be exchanged at the bar.