The 850-capacity venue is in the basement of the Century Building designed by architect Marcus Barlow.
The venue originally opened in 1940 as the Century Theatre cinema.
[1] Over the subsequent decades it underwent various changes in name and focus, from newsreels to European films, before closing as a cinema in 1985.
[2] The Hi-fi Bar & Ballroom opened in the former cinema in 1998, and become a major live music venue in Melbourne.
[3] In 2015, after being placed in administration,[4] the venue became Max Watt's House of Music under new ownership.