Originally called "Luna Park", Cloudland Dance Hall was a famous Brisbane

Brisbane

Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...

 entertainment venue located in Bowen Hills

Bowen Hills, Queensland

Bowen Hills is an inner suburb of Brisbane, Australia, located 3 km northeast of the Brisbane CBD. It was named after a Governor of Queensland, Sir George Ferguson Bowen.-History:...

. It was demolished in 1982 and the site was subsequently developed into an apartment

Apartment

An apartment or flat is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building...

 complex.

On its hilltop site above Brisbane, Cloudland's distinctive parabolic laminated roof arch, nearly 18 metres high, was highly visible.

History

It was constructed in 1939-40, by T.H.Eslick and opened on 2 August 1940. Eslick paid particular attention to the dance floor. He wanted to create the "best ballroom

Ballroom

A ballroom is a large room inside a building, the designated purpose of which is holding formal dances called balls. Traditionally, most balls were held in private residences; many mansions contain one or more ballrooms...

 in the Southern Hemisphere". A funicular railway ran up the side of the hill from the tram stop on Breakfast Creek Road carrying passengers to the rear of the Ballroom. The site was originally intended to have a fun park like Luna park Melbourne, which Eslick had built in 1912. It was the largest building of its type in Brisbane.

Eslick disappeared soon after Cloudland was opened so the building was left abandoned until 1942 when it was used by the American military. When Cloudland was re-opened after the war, the name Luna Park was dropped and the building was thenceforth known as Cloudland Ballroom. The funicular was dismantled in 1967 and the area was turned into a car park.

Cloudland was purchased by sisters Mya Winters & Francis Rouch for 16,000 pounds and re-opened on 24 April 1947. On 2 Sept 1948 Laurence Olivier & Vivien Leigh visit ofter doing the play School for Scandal for a débutants ball for the "Royal society of St George".

As a pop/rock/old time music

Music

Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...

 venue Cloudland hosted thousands of dances and concert

Concert

A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...

s in the 50s, 60s and 70s, including a number of notable events. It hosted three of the six concerts performed by rock 'n' roll legend Buddy Holly

Buddy Holly

Charles Hardin Holley , known professionally as Buddy Holly, was an American singer-songwriter and a pioneer of rock and roll...

 on his only Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n tour in February 1958.

Cloudland was used regularly by Australian bands from the '50s to the early '80s, and for much of the '60s it was the central venue for the Sunshine group. Sunshine was headed by Brisbane businessman Ivan Dayman

Ivan Dayman

Ivan Dayman was an Australian record producer and band manager of the 1960s and 1970s, based first in Adelaide, and then in Brisbane.In 1963, musician-producer-arranger-songwriter Pat Aulton began working for rising Adelaide entrepreneur Ivan Dayman and his Sunshine group...

 (originally from Adelaide), who leased Cloudland from Apel around 1965. Resident bands from the late 60s to its closure included The Sounds Of Seven, The Highmarks and The Seasons of the Witch. The dance format in those times covered old time through to rock n' roll. Cloudland was also used as an exam venue by the University of Queensland

University of Queensland

The University of Queensland, also known as UQ, is a public university located in state of Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest and largest university in Queensland and the fifth oldest in the nation...

.

The venue was a classic World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 structure. Inside it had hard timber floors, decorative columns, sweeping curtains, domed sky lights and chandeliers. Cloudland also had an upper circle of tiered seating which overlooked the floor and stage. An impressive tall domed entrance was also visible from surrounding suburbs. Cloudland Ballroom was said to be the best dance and concert hall in Australia during that time.

Despite strenuous public calls for its preservation, the building was demolished overnight on 7 November 1982 by the Deen Brothers, a 'no-questions-asked' outfit favoured by the state government and Brisbane City Council for such controversial demolition jobs. The demolition took place despite there being no permit and in spite of its National Trust

National Trust of Australia

The Australian Council of National Trusts is the peak body for community-based, non-government organisations committed to promoting and conserving Australia's indigenous, natural and historic heritage....

 listing.

Midnight Oil

Midnight Oil

Midnight Oil , were an Australian rock band from Sydney originally performing as Farm from 1972 with drummer Rob Hirst, bass guitarist Andrew James and keyboard player/lead guitarist Jim Moginie...

, who had played at Cloudland many times, immortalised the demolition in their song Dreamworld (from the Diesel and Dust

Diesel and Dust

Diesel and Dust is an album by Midnight Oil that was released in 1987 under the CBS record label.The album is a concept album about the struggles of the Australian Aborigines and environmental causes, issues both near and dear to the band, and drew inspiration from the Black Fella White Fella tour...

LP) which attacked the greed of the pro-development forces.

In 2004, a ballet Cloudland choreographed by Francois Klaus was premiered at the Brisbane Festival, and has since been performed in a number of Australian and European cities.

Namesake

The entertainment venue was immortalized at the beginning of 2009 when it was used as the namesake of a new Brisbane "Mega-Club" located approximately 1.5 kilometers away in Fortitude Valley. Despite the new venues modern decor and design the developers of the nightclub

Nightclub

A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...

have described it as an urbane oasis, much like the former cloudland.

External links

• Cloudland Bar - Modern namesake.
• A tribute to Cloudland