Meet Whole Lotta Love, Brunswick East’s Led Zeppelin-inspired live music venue and bar which has affirmed itself as a must-visit Melbourne haunt.
Whole Lotta Love, as it is today, was a case of two impulsive friends deciding to take over a bar out of the blue; these two friends, and now partners, being Dillan Burchall and Sash Janssen.
“We both always thought about getting a bar, so we casually started looking,” says Burchall. “Sash got an email about Whole Lotta Love. We came in to check it out and thought we would just give it a go. We’ve both been in plenty of bars, and been to plenty of gigs, and thought we would try to run our own for a while.”
They kept the theme mainly the same as the previous owner had had it, but now they just want it to be the best version of itself that it possibly can be, being a solid live music venue and a great place to hang out with friends. The bar may be small and only licensed to hold 80 people, but what it lacks in size it makes up in other areas. They have a large selection of reasonably priced drinks, a beer garden, friendly staff and a great area for live music.
“If you like to go to a place where you can sit at the bar with reasonably priced craft beer and have a chat or terrible banter with the bartenders and locals, then we are for you,” Janssen comments.
With live music at the fore, Whole Lotta Love hosts events nearly every night between Wednesday and Sunday. Janssen says that she sees the bar as a place for all bands great and small – those playing their first-ever gig to a packed room of mates or those who have been around for a long time, who sell out the venue and put on an intimate show for their biggest fans.
“It’s about the bands and the fans.” says Janssen. “We love supporting launches [for] EPs and albums or even fundraising events for the bands.”
While Whole Lotta Love strive to support bands with regular gigs, they also like to host small festivals and parties throughout the year, creating the feel of a big house party in the bar.
The bar just had their second annual Whole Lotta Helloween festival, organised by frontman from Melbourne hardcore band Hailgun, Pat Simkin. It featured members from over a dozen local bands playing a few original sets and then doing covers of classics from Guns N’ Roses and The Misfits, among others.
With the success of Whole Lotta Helloween, Janssen sees more potential for future festivals being held at Whole Lotta Love.
“I’m a huge fan of two-piece bands, so I’ve started a two-piece festival called UTAH! Get Me Two. I book some two-piece bands I want to see, or have seen before and want to see again, and then build a huge day of it for everyone else to enjoy with me. The next one will be early-ish next year, so make sure you watch out for announcements,” she says.
So why should you head down to Whole Lotta Love? Is it that you’re a Led Zep fan and are taken by the Zeppelin-inspired name? Want to have a cold one with your friends and trying to find a new venue? Or maybe you just want to witness some of the greatest live and local talent Melbourne has to offer? No matter the motivation, Whole Lotta Love has it all for music lovers, keen drinkers, mad chatters alike, even those after a simple knock-off or two.
“If you want to experience Melbourne’s live music scene, and really actually want to see some local talent, then we are definitely for you,” says Janssen.
