About The Bendigo Hotel
The Bendigo Hotel is an iconic live music venue in Collingwood, Melbourne, known for its late-night performances and dive-bar atmosphere - now under the new ownership of The Mill Brewery.
The Mill Brewery began humbly in a share-house shed, where founder Mirek Aldridge brewed with a 70-litre homebrew set-up and a small hand-cranked Corona grain mill, inspiring the brewery’s name. The Mill Brewery grew steadily to become a beloved community fixture in Collingwood. Their beers are increasingly found and enjoyed across the city, thanks to the hard work of a tight-knit team and the support of loyal patrons. With the original Sackville St brewery site set for redevelopment, the move to The Bendigo felt like the perfect merge of brands and ideologies for The Mill Brewery team.
Reviving a Collingwood Legend
The Bendigo Hotel, affectionately known as The Bendi, serves as an inclusive hub for great live music and great beer in Melbourne. The Mill Brewery’s relocation to this beloved venue signifies a new chapter for both the brewery and the live music scene in the area. Local booking agent Kit Atkinson (Social State Entertainment) leads the live music revival, bringing extensive experience with artists and venues both locally and internationally.
State-of-the-Art Sound System
The team have worked in collaboration with TAG and Pink Noise to get the brand new QSC L-Class Line Array PA in the venue, with some serious subs on either side. This new system is designed to get the most out of the space and ensure that it sounds unreal at all volumes, and will cover everything from stripped back sets to the most brutally distorted metal the world can throw at The Bendi.
The Bendigo Hotel Reimagined
The Bendigo Hotel now offers more than just a late-night band room, featuring several inviting spaces: a cosy front bar, a lounge with a fireplace, pool table and ‘Altered Beast’ arcade machine, a dining room that transforms into a bandroom by night, and a sunny beer garden. And is dog friendly, of course.
On the kitchen side of things, food partner and fan-favourite Dingo Ate My Taco have an expanded tex mex style food menu, perfectly complementing the atmosphere - relaxed by day, lively by night.
The Mill Brewery beer taps are the prime focus in the newly outfitted front bar, lined with dark timber panelling and accented with deep tones of burgundy and black, creating a warmer environment by day while maintaining a dive pub vibe for gigs and late-night trade.
With The Mill spearheading this revival, The Bendi is set to continue its legacy as a central hub for live music and community in Collingwood.