Bad Decisions

Bad Decisions is a 100-capacity live-music bar in Fitzroy, Melbourne, built around an upstairs band room and a downstairs late-night bar. Its defining feature is the split-level setup: a red-neon entrance leads to drinks and a rear courtyard below, while gigs land upstairs on a Funktion-One sound system. For a small show, that separation gives the performance its own compact, purpose-built space instead of leaving it to compete with the bar crowd.

A bar room gains a courtyard

Bad Decisions was operating as a two-level Fitzroy cocktail bar by 2019, under owners Dave and Tina Barrett, whose Johnston Street portfolio also included Laundry Bar and George’s Bar. Contemporary coverage described private and semi-private areas across the venue, plus an open-air courtyard and fireplace; the upstairs room already served as a space for bands and events.

A documented turning point came on 27 May 2020, when Yarra City Council approved an amended planning permit for the existing bar at 46 Johnston Street. The decision extended the licensed area into the rear courtyard, while retaining conditions around its use. That ruling makes the courtyard part of the venue’s working identity: an outdoor decompression point between sets and a separate social zone from the upstairs crowd.

By August 2019, Beat described live music in the band room as a narrow, brick-walled space with its own bar, hosting emerging artists across genres. That detail remains the clearest through-line in the venue’s available record: a bar designed to turn a small upstairs room into the main event.

The room after dark

Bad Decisions welcomes gigs and events seven days a week, with live music programmed three to four nights weekly. Its calendar and venue material point toward a broad local-bill approach: indie, alternative, rock, folk, hip-hop, R&B and pop all fit the room. Expect an intimate standing show, close sightlines, a private upstairs bar and smoker’s deck, plus the downstairs bar and rear courtyard for pre-show drinks or a breather. All shows are 18+.