The Tote

The Tote Hotel (1980) is a hotel, pub, bar and music venue on 71 Johnston Street, the corner of Johnston and Wellington Streets, in Collingwood, an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The first hotel was built sometime in the mid-19th century and in 1876 the Ivanhoe Hotel opened on the site and remained operating until the name change to "The Tote" in 1980 when the venue began hosting local and Australian punk, post-punk, heavy metal and hardcore bands. The venue hosted many independent local, Australian and international acts throughout the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s and carried a reputation for showcasing new and emerging independent musical acts of a variety of stylistic origins. The venue operated 6 days a week with performances across 3 settings, the "main stage", the "cobra bar" and the "front bar". Residencies were also a popular occurrence at the venue. On 15 January 2010, due to high financial costs surrounding disputed liquor licensing laws, it was announced that the venue would be closing that same weekend. A groundswell of community support for the venue and opposition to aspects of liquor licensing laws, quickly mobilised. Several groups on social networking sites quickly sprung up, one such group attracting over 20,000 people. On Sunday the 17th, an estimated crowd of around 2,000 rallied outside the Tote. The events surrounding the closure, the rally and various petitions, sparked public and political debate about liquor licensing laws and live music in Melbourne and Victoria. On 23 February, a much larger rally of at least 10,000, the 2010 Melbourne live music rally, was later held in central Melbourne, that same day amendments to liquor licensing laws were announced.