The venue opened January 2010,[8] playing host to over a thousand shows and winning numerous arts awards during[9] its 4 years[10] of operation prior to its closure in 2014.
The deco inspired late night cocktail bar, dinner venue and nightclub played host to a wide variety of stage shows, from aerial circus performances, burlesque, cabaret,[11] theatre and comedy[12][13][14] to international bands,[15][16] djs, jazz,[17][18][19][20] film festivals[21][22][23][24][25] and BDSM.
[31][32] Initially a hub for Melbourne's fringe artists,[33] performers, musicians and carnies,[34] Red Bennies quickly rose in popularity attracting a more mainstream crowd[35] which while galvanising commercial success for the venue, the new found mass market appeal effected Red Bennies image as Melbourne's home for underground performing arts, detracting some of its earlier established more esoteric audience.
In late 2013 Holt and Mitchell sold the venue to a major Melbourne hospitality group to focus on producing large boutique underground events, their first venture a punk rock vampire strip club called "Titty Twister"[36][37][38] named after and inspired by the bar from Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino's 1996 cult film From Dusk till Dawn.
With Holt, Mitchell or Schoeffel no longer at the helm, the new proprietors found difficulties in programming and marketing the venue to the standard established by the previous owners and closed Red Bennies early 2014 to replace the venue with a DJ focused Nightclub which maintained some elements of Red Bennies original shows.