Ngunnawal Land venue Shadows Night Club announces closure over financial strain

Shadows, the venue at 21 East Row in Ngunnawal Land/Canberra’s Civic hub, announced yesterday via its social channels that it would be closing its doors.

“It has been our pleasure to be part of the wonderful community that Shadows has become, and we know we have fought hard to keep it going, but sadly we have lost this fight,” the announcement read.

The space had become a regular, reliable fixture for local creatives since opening in 2024 in the space previously occupied by beloved venue Sideway. Shadows continued to carry the torch its previous inhabitants had held so firmly, working with a wide variety of local promoters, artists, performers, and the city’s queer community, with a model that let collaborators use the space without paying a booking fee.

Andrew Heaney took over the venue the night after Sideway closed. In a little over two years under his watch, Shadows became one of the few rooms in the city where someone could get their start.

The reason for its closure, Heaney said in a conversation with Mixmag ANZ, was simple.

“It’s certainly not a decision that… has to do with not wanting the business to operate. There’s not the economy currently in Canberra to be able to support us, and what we were doing in the model we were running.”

"One of the issues we've got is that [Canberra] has a limited audience," he says. "There's only so much of an audience to share. So every time a venue opens, or there's a new space, that audience is shared across all of the venues."

For many who live and play there, Canberra's intimacy is one of its most valuable assets. Unlike many other cities, Canberra's broader creative community is one where a feeling of neighbourly familiarity runs deep.

Lulu Blackwood, a former Shadows employee, shared her dismay at the venue’s closure. “Shadows brought together all the people who were willing to follow the local Canberra arts scene. And what are performers if they don’t have their audience?” she asked.

“We had everything from drag to dance classes to hardstyle nights to ambient deep listening parties. I saw so many creatives, young and old, try to bring their dreams into the public eye for the first or 100th time, and it was really special.”

Heaney attributes the venue’s financial difficulties to two key factors, both tied to punter availability. The first is infrastructure, which, in a comparatively small city like Canberra, is tough to overcome.

“Crowd numbers are non-existent at times,” he said. “Civic’s nightlife is only really being supported by the uni students that live local. It’s kind of foot traffic and nothing else because there’s no late-night transport, government-provided transport. There’s no parking,” Heaney said to the Canberra Daily. When Shadows opened its doors, construction of Canberra’s Stage 2A light rail had just begun, which isn’t due for completion until 2027-2028.

Government incentives for liquor licensing have been introduced to help venues that regularly showcase music and cultural activities cover costs, but in a place where patron numbers can fluctuate so heavily seasonally, Andrew says such schemes ultimately hurt Shadows overall.

"I thought, that's great. I'm literally nothing but a live music venue," he says. "It's going to be good for us to get that discount." However, it didn't play out that way. "The local shop suddenly had bands on," Heaney says. "They're obviously after the discount; they put on a band for the night. "Both the performers and the audience were spread super thin."

Shadows has reported interest in buying the space, which Heaney has said he hoped would continue as a bar and live music venue.

In their announcement, the outpouring of support was clear.

Local DJ and producer Zacattacq shared:

“thanks crew. genuinely loved the space whenever there, and it is again sad to see the struggles of night time economy within canberra. hoping the industry can be seen as legitimate and finally get the necessary leg up it has been screaming for for years.”

DJ Trae Bashford added:

“Much love to the team and thank you for all that you’ve done! Shadows 4eva”

Vent Canberra’s resident Madfaze also shared:

“very sad news to hear, thank you for sharing this amazing space with us and allowing so many people to start somewhere and flourish within this community at shadows. we all will cherish our opportunities and memories together here, thank you crew”

Artist manager and co-founder of community radio platform Trust.FM Aakanksha weighed in on Shadows’ importance, sharing:

“Venues like Shadows, and previously Sideway, are essential cultural infrastructure for a community to find belonging and connection through music and events in a small city like Canberra. Losing a venue like this sets a community back, forcing people to find alternative, sometimes unsafe spaces to gather in affordable ways. We lose workers and artists to bigger city centres for exactly these reasons, and it stagnates the night-time economy in real terms. This room has been of significant importance to the community for many years; we just hope whoever takes it on next preserves its community and culture.“

What Shadows built, according to Heaney, was done by more than just the staff.

"I spent a lot of time in there when it was just me and an empty room," he says. "When it filled up, it's when the community arrived. So the community is really the people."

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Jack Colquhoun is Mixmag ANZ's Managing Editor. Find him on Instagram.