'We wish it could have lasted forever': Sunshine Coast live music venue The Station says goodbye

The Station opens to media frenzy and big hopes

In their two years operating, Chris and Lauren brought a new-wave of major acts to the Coast including Pennywise, Rudimental, Machine Head, Alpha Wolf, Sheppard, The Church, Xavier Rudd, Ziggy Alberts, and Hoodoo Gurus, just to name a few.

They also helped host the inaugural Sunshine Coast Music Awards this year, where Chris was an active board member of the Sunshine Coast Music Industry Collective.

The former Nightquarter premises in Birtinya opened their doors to a media frenzy including national attention in March, 2024.

The business couple brought an air of excitement and innovation, turning the giant space into a multi-use precinct boasting its own skate park.

The State Government’s proposed $5.5 billion train line – The Wave – being built for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games is set to sit adjacent to The Station, connecting the North Coast Line at Beerwah to Birtinya, via Bells Creek (Aura), Caloundra and Aroona.

It also would have brought a steady flow of passengers to The Station‘s doorstep.

Sadly, however, it appears the train has arrived too late.

Pictured: An artist’s impression of Stage 3 of the State Government’s proposed train line, The Wave, which would have brought a train station to the live music venue’s doorstep.

‘Gigs at 50 per cent for where we need them’, Chris says

Watch The Station’s Chris and Lauren share a full statement here on Instagram.

“Hey guys, I just wanna share some really sad news,” Chris says in the video.

“Unfortunately, Lauren and I have had to make the decision to close The Station. We’ll be closing on the 3d of January. So our last gig will be Pete Murray, here at The Station.

“What a great way to finish with a local legend Pete, coming back on the 2nd of January. So, look, lots of tickets available. So, come on down, buy tickets, support us. Say goodbye.

“We’ll be updating everybody on their tickets in the next 48 hours to their other gigs. Most of them have been re-booked locally which is fantastic, so lots of local venues getting supported by this.

“Unfortunately the industry is just not in a position next year for us to continue. Gigs are sort of at 50 per cent for where we need them, but we’ll do some socials updates really soon.

“Bye from me.”

Lauren finishes off saying, “Bye from me. Thank you. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all the support.

“We love you guys, we love music.

“We wish it could have lasted forever.”

What went wrong for The Station?

The Station’s closure at a glance:

Over $2 million invested
More than 35,000 patrons and 30+ touring shows in year one
Severe weather and rising costs heavily impacting operations
Venue earns under 4% per ticket; relies on bar and food sales
Business was set to be simplified in the hope for long-term sustainability

The couple were forced to respond to community feedback last month after their business operations were queried on Reddit, just weeks before they announced the closure.

What’s really going wrong at The Station?
byu/Budget-Ring-2346 insunshinecoast

In a post titled: “What’s really going wrong at The Station?” a poster questions the venue’s “identity” and asks what needs to be done to make it a “proper venue”.

In the comments, Chris outlines the realities behind operating a live music venue on the Sunshine Coast, and servicing 35,000 patrons.

He blames unexpected safety requirements, food and liquor licensing changes, and the poor condition of the site with delaying their vision.

Despite the challenges, Chris says they invested more than $2 million into making the venue safe to open.

Prolonged wet weather blamed for skatepark closure

Severe and prolonged wet weather in the first few months forced multiple cancellations, reduced staffing needs, and ultimately led to the closure of the skatepark, which was central to the original business plan, he says.

“The plan was always to enclose the skatepark area with a roof similar to the main concert space,” Chris says.

“We had quotes (several of) had done the engineering and were willing to spend the hundreds of thousands of dollars to make this happen.

“However as we started the process of assessing all the areas of public access it quickly became apparent that we needed to spend twice as much money making the space safe to open to the public than we were told both independently and by our landlords.

“Every floor board in every container had to be replaced. The concert venue was in really bad shape with upstairs rotting away and every container roof full of holes.

“All of this in December 2023 with bands booked for opening March 1 in 2024.

“Let alone dealing with the changes to food and liquor licensing which all came very late into our conversations.”