Sebastian's

Location: Flinders St, Melbourne
Operated: mid-1960s to ca. 1973?
Owner/manager: Tony Knight

Sebastian's was one of Melbourne's leading venues in the late 1960s and early 70s. During the heyday of the disco scene in the late 60s, it was one of four major inner city venues that shared a similar roster of bands and featured similar styles music, the other three being Bertie's (also operated by the Knight family), Thumpin' Tum, and Traffic.

It was a relatively small venue, considerably smaller than Berties, and less than half the size of Thumpin' Tum.

"Sebastian's was a converted grainery [sic], quite a bit smaller than Bertie's, and it too was packed Thursdays through Sundays. What's particularly impressive is that is stood about half a mile up the street from Bertie's and was just as popular."
Billy Thorpe

Many major Aussie groups played there. Late 60s regulars included Cam-Pact, The Spinning Wheels and The Masters Apprentices. It was the venue for the live debut of progressive rock band Procession on 3 Decemeber 1967, and in 1972 Tamam Shud played two of their three final shows there on September 1 (with Mackenzie Theory and Toads) and September 3 (with Blackfeather and Carson)

Billy Thorpe
Most People I Know (Think That I'm Crazy), Pan McMillan, 1998