Cloudland
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Originally called "Luna Park", Cloudland Dance Hall was a famous Brisbane entertainment venue located in Bowen Hills. It was later demolished and made into an apartment complex.
On its hilltop site above Brisbane, Cloudland's distinctive parabolic laminated roof arch, nearly 18 metres high, was highly visible.
[edit] History
It was constructed in 1939-40, and opened on 2nd August 1940. A open-air type tramway ran up the side of the hill from the Tram Stop on Breakfast Creek Road carrying passengers to the rear of the Ballroom. This was eventually dismantled and the area was turned into car parks.
As a pop/rock/old time music venue it hosted thousands of dances and concerts in the 50s, 60s and 70s, including some quite famous events. Cloudland hosted three of the six concerts performed by rock'n'roll legend Buddy Holly on his only Australian tour in February 1958.
Cloudland was used regularly by Australian bands from the '50s to the early '80s, and for much of the Sixties it was the central venue for the Sunshine group. Sunshine was headed by Brisbane businessman Ivan Dayman (originally from Adelaide), who bought Cloudland 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.
The venue was a classic World War II structure. Inside it had hard timber floors, decorative colums, 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.
By 1982, Queensland had been ruled for nearly twenty years by Joh Bjelke-Petersen, who was rather anti-heritage and more pro-development.
Like the Bellevue Hotel before it, Cloudland became one of several historic Brisbane landmarks that were destroyed during the Bjelke Petersen regime. Despite strenuous public calls for its preservation, the building was illegally 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.
Midnight Oil, who had played at Cloudland many times, immortalised the demolition in their song Dreamworld (from the Diesel and Dust 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
