The Manzil Room – Springfields
It’s hard to describe The Manzil Room to someone who had never been there. It was almost like a parody of the ultimate rock venue. It was a place that was always jumping, especially in the wee hours of the day. I distinctly remember leaving there on more than one occasion, just in time to catch the bus down to Martin Place to start work at 8 am. It was a place where you had no idea what time it was or whether it was night or day. It was all about the music.
It wasn’t just the great bands that played there, it was all the musicians in the audience. It was THE place to go after you’d finished your own gig just to catch up with other Muso’s and Crew who were in town. The Manzil Room was the original “after party” before there was even a term for it.
I had the pleasure of working there with Bandanna a few times and The Choirboys on one occasion and saw many other great acts like Kevin Borich and Judge Mercy. It didn’t matter who was on though, there was always someone to party with there.
Some time around 1990 the Nightclub changed its name to Springfields and the legend continued on for a while longer. I’m not sure of exactly when it closed down but I’m sure it is sadly missed by many.
What are your memories of The Manzil Room?
Known Gigs as The Manzil Room
| Date | Artist | City | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20/06/80 | Doug Parkinson | Kings Cross | The Manzil Room |
| 22/06/80 | Ayers Rock | Kings Cross | The Manzil Room |
| 23/06/80 | Imports | Kings Cross | The Manzil Room |
| 24/06/80 | Shades | Kings Cross | The Manzil Room |
| 25/06/80 | Damaged Goods | Kings Cross | The Manzil Room |
| 26/06/80 | I.Q. | Kings Cross | The Manzil Room |
| 27/06/80 | Doug Parkinson | Kings Cross | The Manzil Room |
| 29/06/80 | Ayers Rock | Kings Cross | The Manzil Room |
| 30/06/80 | Imports | Kings Cross | The Manzil Room |
| 01/07/80 | I.Q. | Kings Cross | The Manzil Room |
| 02/07/80 | Matt Finish | Kings Cross | The Manzil Room |
| 03/07/80 | Mark Williams | Kings Cross | The Manzil Room |
| 25/09/80 | Matt Finish | Kings Cross | The Manzil Room |
| 01/10/80 | Matt Finish | Kings Cross | The Manzil Room |
| 03/10/80 | Matt Finish | Kings Cross | The Manzil Room |
| (Late show) | |||
| 12/08/82 | The Agents | Kings Cross | The Manzil Room |
| 25/07/83 | Q.E.D. | Kings Cross | The Manzil Room |
| 12/02/86 | Bandanna | Kings Cross | The Manzil Room |
| 26/02/86 | Bandanna | Kings Cross | The Manzil Room |
| 16/05/86 | Kam Sha | Kings Cross | The Manzil Room |
More Gigs here
Known Gigs as Springfields
| Date | Artist | City | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18/04/91 | Judge Mercy | Kings Cross, NSW | Springfields |
| 26/04/91 | Judge Mercy | Kings Cross, NSW | Springfields |
| 27/04/91 | Judge Mercy | Kings Cross, NSW | Springfields |
| 18/05/91 | Judge Mercy | Kings Cross, NSW | Springfields |
| 29/05/91 | Nick Barker | Kings Cross, NSW | Springfields |
| 31/05/91 | Judge Mercy | Kings Cross, NSW | Springfields |
| 01/06/91 | Judge Mercy | Kings Cross, NSW | Springfields |
| 07/06/91 | De Mont | Kings Cross, NSW | Springfields |
| 08/06/91 | De Mont | Kings Cross, NSW | Springfields |
| 29/06/91 | Koma Red | Kings Cross, NSW | Springfields |
| 09/07/91 | Grafik | Kings Cross, NSW | Springfields |
| 04/09/91 | Thieves | Kings Cross, NSW | Springfields |
| 27/09/91 | Judge Mercy | Kings Cross, NSW | Springfields |
| 29/11/91 | Lost Angels | Kings Cross, NSW | Springfields |
| 08/01/92 | Thieves | Kings Cross, NSW | Springfields |
| 17/01/92 | Judge Mercy | Kings Cross, NSW | Springfields |
| 31/01/92 | Judge Mercy | Kings Cross, NSW | Springfields |
| 07/02/92 | The Poor | Kings Cross, NSW | Springfields |
| 08/02/92 | The Poor | Kings Cross, NSW | Springfields |
| 13/03/92 | Judge Mercy | Kings Cross, NSW | Springfields |
| + Thunderjam | |||
More Gigs here
Ace, with 96 ACL’s hanging as a backwall to the stage…
A place where everything was neutral and everyone equal. You’re right, in that it was a timeless place once entered and “the Manzil sunrise” has found no equal anywhere else
The Muso’s Club Surrey Hills
The Lifesaver Bondi Junction
and The Mandrax Room three great places to see and catch up with your muso and crew mates long missed and fondly remembered.
The house PA – EV TL boxes. It worked better than you would have thought. We took in desk, mics, effects, lights and monitors. The bands would expect a cheaper touring production without FOH stacks. Load in at 2pm with the place de-odor gassed, Carpet so sticky your thongs would get sucked in. Soundcheck by 6, go do dinner at The Barons. First band on at 10.30pm, headline 1.00am with second set at 2.30am. Load out at 4.30am into the dawn. Crew rental trucks parked up and down the street, half with parking tickets. Place full of all kinds at 4.30am!
This is exactly how I remember it, with a couple of small additions…
Playing backgammon after coming back from Barons before your show.
In the morning, go up the alley across from the front door past the sex shops and have breakfast at sweethearts.
Those were the days.
I was a regular at the Manzil Room when writing for Streetbeat and later booking bands with Phil Shute’s agency, Sound Energy. http://media-mulch.blogspot.com/2014/01/streetbeat-magazine-australian-music.html
Played there once – 1985? All I can remember is – seedy, smoky – and sticky! I always thought that L-shaped room was so the punters could get out the back if the cops came in the front door – though the KC division were doubtless aware of that … A LOT of speed and smack around that time. Proud to have been there, but!
PS. someone needs to do an entry on the Trade Union Club, the Southern Cross / strawberry Hills and the Hopetoun!
Manzil Room, Carasoul Sweethearts Bourbon and Beefsteak, the violin man and his budgerees playing on the cnr of Roslyn street. Those were the years my friends.
Memory better than a word
Yep, the place to catch up with everyone. Prettymu h the only reason I ever went there really, to hang with friends whom I knew would be there. Oh, except for that one time of course when I played there lol. That was after it became Springfields. As for how to describe it… You know that expression that people use “It’s not the end of the world”? Springfields/Manzil Room was the one place where you could correct them for saying it!!!!
Just kidding lol
It’s not the end of the World… but you can see it from there.
Played there a few times when it was called Springfeilds around 92-94. They had the Manzil Room sign up half way down the room.. Lucky enough to have Slash, Matt Sorum, Gibly Clark, Sab ( Skid Row ) and crew walk in and get up and play with Medicine Show. While on the illusions tour. Fuck what a blast. Played Tatts, Circus of Power, Zeppelin and old ac%dc for about an hour. Plenty of Alcohol, drug, sex, filled night’s in that place.. Hazy night’s….
What or who was Manzil,
How did it get its name?
Noun
manzil ‎(plural manzils)
(Islam) Any of the seven partitions of the Qur’an, one of which can be read in an entire day.
In the Arabic world, a house or inn used a place of rest, especially by travellers.
I loved the Manzil Room. Played there with Gotham City in 1982.
Joe Giesh (or something) the guy who started it, it was his favourite curry house in Manchester England
Thanx Paul, Mystery Solved
I bought a second-hand AKAI 4-track in the early 80s through the Trading Post. The reel on it contained extended original multi-track recordings of the venue promo song, “Let’s go to the Manzil Room“. I was told the AKAI previously belonged to Stephen Housden (LRB guitarist) and he wrote and recorded Manzil on it. One muck-around track on the reel featured sheep singing “Let’s go to Caring-bahhhhh.” I have no idea what brought that on. The story was that Steve lived in Caringbah. Does anyone knows if any of this is true? Around ’85 our band, Collage, played at the Manzil till late, followed by Howard Uno. I recall the long, narrow, sticky-floored bunker feel of the place. I also recall a fair amount of black leather, stainless steel studs and Mohawks, especially lined along the back wall. We did the first set with the house PA but it sounded shocking, so we brought in our own desk and set up our own PA. It then became a great gig. Great memories. Collage’s founder, writer and bass player was Waldo Fabian (Garrido). The gig was a milestone for the band at the time.
Hi Mark… just saw your post. Waldo is a great latin bass player. I never saw your band but it must have been very good.
I’m not Stephen Housden but I was the drummer in the Imports and the singer on the ad. We both lived in Caringbah in our former years. The tape you have might be one of the ones we used to demo the ad before recording it. (circa 1980/1) We used a TEAC 4 track recorder. Not sure how it ended up on an AKIA. Do you still have the tape and do you live in Sydney? Regards, Malcolm
I was too young to remember it as ‘The Manzil Room’ but remember it fondly as ‘Springfields’. I used to go there in the early 90’s and catch up with my guitar teacher, Lex Wilson who was their sound tech there for a while. Lex passed away in the early 2000’s. RIP Lex…A fantastic guitarist and a great guy.
Great times were had at ‘Springfields’…seedy, sexy, hazy and a whole lot-a-fun!
Great venue. My band The Last Metro played there supporting The Rockmelons.
Marty Clapps ” There’s a Party in my pants and I want you to come ” birthday party @ Springies I was playing in The Unloved at the time ( managed by Marty ) 1990s
We played then later, jammed until dawn with …. too many to mention Cant remember seeing Tibor. Awesome times. Jules Cameron RIP Scott Chapman drummer with The Unloved
Nev, I’ve still got the denim invite,to party in my pants,”open from 8pm ’til You call the Ambulance”keep it in my rock family album….cheers….T
Hey Nev, it’s Shelley, remember me? When did Jules & Scotty pass away?
The Manzil Room was our favourite venue in the 1970’s. Great music, great bands ALWAYS good for a dance. Often arriving after an evening shift (nurses), dancing, then snacking a Chez Guy before heading home and then sometimes off to a early shift at work! They were the days! Wish I could remember the name of what I believe was the resident or regular band that played during those times (1975 – 1980), the band had an excellent percussionist whose name I think was Keith. Fond memories of those years – fun!
Michelle Visser-Fitton Ayers Rock played often at that time. Their percussionist was a guy from Bermuda, Keith Casey.
Ron Barry and the wam band. I worked at the Manzil, on the floor and behind the bar in 1978-79
Hi Mark
Congrats on the site. It’s fantastic mate.
I remember playing the Manzil support for Bandanna. You, Brett & Brian being the tech crew. Half way through our set Ian Moss walks in with his then girlfriend Megan Williams
now deceased and sits down. I’m thinking oh shit Khe Sahn coming up on the set list, I nudged Frank(Brent) Lead Guitar and whisperd in his ear “look who’s here it’s Mossy” at the time we were in the middle of a Hendrix tune Frank playing with his teeth as he did so well. I shit you not I thought Frank was gonna have a nervous breakdown. Anyway got through the set. Met Mossy and he liked it . No doubt the seediest, grubbiest but most fantastic venue of it’s day.
Gibbo hope your well, say hi to Brett & Brian for me.
Hi Peter, thanks for the kind words.
I distinctly remember that night. You guys absolutely nailed it. I can still remember that you did Sultans Of Swing as a soundcheck and had the whole of the bar staff dancing.
Good days.
Cheers mate, Gibbo. 🙂
Hi Mark, I played there in the Shades. We are on the poster! Ted Gardner was our manager. Teddy managed Matt Finish as well. He died this week. R.I.P.
Believe it or not I remember it all pretty clearly.
Do you know what happened to Grant and Quinton, the door guys/girl?
Hi Robert, I do have a sketchy memory but pretty sure I hung out with the guys from Shades. Not sure about the Manzil Room but Eastwood Hotel and abouts. Maybe the Charles. Who were the guys in the band.
Some of the best years of my life ?
I worked behind the bar for years, will always be a great memory. You were a cool boss too Marty !
Hi, were you working there with Quinton?
Me too!! I was the other Michele, I worked there Fri & Sat nights early 90’s for a few years. Time of my life! Thanks for the memories Marty.
Ha ha , I remember you. I worked there too. What a time. What an awesome place. And yes you were a great boss. Or whatever that was. 💋
so famous, the Tatts wrote a song about the place
The Tatts song (and it’s a kick*ss one) ‘Manzil Madness’ is what brought me here. I heard that the song was about some rock pub in Sydney. Not being Australian, I really had no clue what the song was about otherwise. Angry Anderson’s line “spent too many nights holdin’ up the bar” was classic. Sounds like it fit? These stories on this page are an education for sure. Peace out to you all.
The Mandrax was the go to allnighter ,I spent a lot of time in there listening to and interviewing some awesome bands. I loved the “you must have an intention to eat” policy in the liquor licence. We once ordered the cheese board but finished up using it for ammo as it was the same board week in week out. Not that i was ever hungry. Slipping the bouncers $$ to watch our motorbikes out front. Its now a boutique hotel. How ironic.
My sister gave me a Manzil room membership for my 18th birthday at the beginning of 1977. The Manzil was not a rock venue. It was a Funk, Latin, Soul, Jazz Rock venue. Eventually it morphed into a rock venue in about 1980 but the original styles continued to appear. Greg Horder booked the bands at the Manzil for years and I think it was his taste that most influenced the vibe of the Manzil and what made it great. When I first started going there there was a bunch of great bands who played there on a regular basis. Ayers Rock, Ron Barry, Barry Leef, Doug Parkinson and the Southern Star Band featuring Mark Kennedy and Tommy Emmanuel etc. Perhaps my Favourite band that played in those days was Doug Williams and Power. I worked in the music business for 35 years as a sound engineer, I worked for some of the biggest and best bands in the world and met a lot of cool people but Doug Williams was the coolest cat I ever met. I have a million stories about the Manzil usually involving marijuana and famous people like cricketers Clive Lloyd and Joel Garner, Tennis player Vita Geraulitis and a memorable conversation with David Bowie at the bar one night. What the Manzil represented most to me was the freedom we had in Australia in the 70’s and 80’s. You could chop up on the tables, smoke dope all night and drink until you couldn’t speak…Those were the days my friends, and my only regret is that young people will never again experience the freedoms we had in those heady days in the late 70’s and early 80’s…
What did the bar look like? And furnishings?
Any photos.
I like reading about that period in Sydney.
Especially with the early days of pop bands.
Rick Scutts I still have my Manzil Room membership tag with my member# on the back! It takes pride of place on my key ring. it gives me quite the nostalgic buzz. Loved that venue!
Ayers Rock, Renee Geyer, Sammy Gaha (Sammy andThe Sisters Gaha)
Hi Rick, thanks for your memories, just wondering if you can debunk an urban myth story that someone told me that the Rolling Stones secretly played there during the 1980s. Thanks
Well said, memories of a free and less complicated time Rick.
Played there many times over the years with 3 Way Radio,Flex & Going Troppo.Always had a fantastic time there & stumbled out at dawn many a time.Sometimes slept a little way up the street in my van before driving home. Great memories of a great place.
Who played there in the first half of 1980?
I’m doin muso research. Cheers.
Leo de Castro
Tommy Emmanuel
Ayres rock
Barry lief band
And many I’ve forgotten
Had my 1st drink in there,very early 80’s 81,me thinx…..forgotten more nights,and mornings in there than I remember………”They were the Best Years of Our Lives”
Does anyone out there know how I can contact a guitarist named Sony that was playing with a band called Empire in the mid 90s?
He played with lots of other bands too , but the above was a regular headliner at Springfields and his name and ability on the guitar was quite unique.
He moved to the States in the late 90s and for the life of me I can’t remember his surname so that I can look him up. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I remember the band – i went out with the lead singer Steve very briefly 🙂 they played Springfields and Cobra Club a fair bit. I think Steve moved to Melbourne and tried to become an actor. I lost touch with all those guys but maybe you can track Steve down…. good luck
I remember this place fondly they had backgammon tables at the front and a DJ called Rusty Nails and my friends and I knocked back a few Tequilas with Doug Parkinson and finished off the evening at Sweethearts for breakfast!!
Rusty with the blonde hair, crooked teeth and a manical grin. Ear to ear!
Rusty Nails also worked The Zoo Disco down William St….He sure got around.
Saw Paul Kelly and the Dots, Doug Parkinson, Tommy Emmanuel, met Darryl Braithwaite at the bar, smoked the longest black hash joints often, played backgammon, got pissed, and one night put a lit cigarette butt in the cream on top of a coffee that belonged to the manager of the Cure.
Funniest memory: Graffiti in the men’s that said “I thought Wanking was a province in northern China until I saw the Brenton Roberts Band”.
Always fun reading the Graffiti. I heard the women’s was way worse than the blokes LOL……Please flush toilet twice.,it’s a long way to the Kitchen………
Had badge number 44, wondering how many more are out there…..
Badge # 110 Still have it on my key ring!
I still have mine, but the number has worn off…
I went there a few times…seemed Borich was always playing…grew out of it but good memories 1981 onwards. J
I saw Dr Feelgood at the Manzil room sometime in 1983 or 1984 .
Just another great venue that’s a memory
Spent many a night walking in there with shades on top of head. Ya needed ’em when ya walked out,the door faced East and it was at least 7am-9am when you walked out, and then thought, shit, where’d I park the truck.
I think it closed towards the end of 95 or early 96, Can’t remember much else, but we did put Canned Heat in there in 1982, Yes Grand Piano and 4way PA………….
Waddy Wachtel and the rest of Linda Ronstadt’s band showed up one night and commandeered the house band’s instruments and played from about 1am till 5am without stopping. Jackie Orszaczky told me many years later that he was playing in the house band that night.
Four years on Springfields door, best job ever, if Marty wasn.t paying me I would have paid him.
Loved going to the manzil room after the Bondi lifesaver until the sun came up back in the 70s
I can barely remember the first time I went to the manzil room sometime in the 80s long before Springfield’s. But I’ll never forget seeing Renee Gayer in a leather biker jacket (god rest her sole) sitting at a table with Krissy Amthlett .(god rest her sole)Both smashed of there faces laughing and having a great time with no one getting in there face . It was a great place where the stars of bands of the time would let the hair down with there fans and were left alone without any fear of being front page news the next day . Like someone else said when you were in the room time stood still and when it came time to leave it could be 2 am or 2 pm but you’d never know until you walked out that door and it was night or day lol. What a great place it was and such a good time to be alive. So many good memories of kick arse bands and good times had . Everyone just getting stoned on there drug of choose and left alone to experience the music ,and the awesome people and the vide of a down the earth rock venue that sadly came to an abrupt end RIP the Manzil Room
MY HOME.. Let’s go to the MANZIL…room. Anyone remember IDAZ on brougham st. Late 70s..
I remember playing there a few times in the early ’80s with The (Sensational) Bodgies. For lads from Adelaide it was a real eye opener. I remember a girl in a school uniform (not Krissy) with a white rat that would run around on her shoulders. Our first ever gig in Sydney was there and there was a rubbish collection strike so, along with all the other features of Kings Cross there were piles of rubbish everywhere!
Was the girl in the school uniform with a rat on her shoulder sometime in the later part of the 80’s?
Loved this place so much walking out at sun rise. The vibe was so relaxed with everyone just intent on getting written off while listening to great music. Expanded my appreciation of true musicians. Seen Ayers Rock many, many times. Why haven’t we still got a live venue like this!
1982 My first drinks waitressing job, started at 11pm finished at 7am got $35 for the night; spent the entire night with a loaded drinks tray high above my head. Learnt to play backgammon there, some gangster taught me. Learnt many other things for a green kid from the north shore. Always check the floor when the
lights came on; amazing what people dropped and we girls found. Loved it
and survived it.