The Duke of Edinburgh Hotel was opened in 1867. The hotel operated as the Duke of Edinburgh until 1996, then closed for a year until it reopened as a bar, ‘The Duke’, in 1998.

Also known as ‘The Puke of Edinburgh’ to many of the punters, from late 1986 - 1987 Shane Cuskelly ran Sunday punk/rock gigs called ‘The Grunge Ranch’ while around the same time Shelley Thompson was booking many of Melbourne’s hardcore punk bands for Friday and Saturday night gigs.

Many punk/post-punk and alternative rock bands played at The Duke of Edinburgh including The Zorros, Bastard Squad (who played their first ever gig at the Duke in October 1987), Arm the Insane, Aardvarks Afterbirth, Utter Stench, Mental Health, Good and Evil, Venom P. Stinger, M.I.A, Death Sentence, Depression, Chaotic Firing Squad, Stone Circus, Thug, Akashic Rags, PFM, Ku Klux Frankenstein, The Snails, Tombstone Hands, Lunatic Fringe, Boltcutters, White Elephants, Life Without Meaning, Cosmic Psychos, Exploding White Mice and many more.

Click on the PDF below to read memories about The Duke of Edinburgh by people who were there...