Melbourne music venue The Empress Hotel, located at 714 Nicholson St. in the suburb of Fitzroy North, shut down operations this afternoon. All upcoming gigs at the venue, including performances from The Ears and Claire Birchall have been cancelled, barring the possibility of new venues.

As theMusic.com.au reports, the venue remained closed this afternoon, with a site staffer reporting that the pub’s doors had been hastily locked up. Pub booker Zen Mejglo then confirmed to the site that the venue will remained closed for the indefinite future, citing the owner’s “personal reasons.”

Mejglo told theMusic that noise complaints, which the venue and owner Sandra Eunson have faced in the past, were not to blame for the venue’s closure. The Empress was one of the first Melbourne venues to face troubles resulting from resident noise complaints.

An Empress source confirmed to theMusic that “family reasons” have resulted in the venue’s sudden and unceremonious — the venue’s closure only became apparent at 5:00PM this afternoon — closure. Stay tuned to Music Feeds and we’ll keep you up to date as details come in.

(Via theMusic.com.au)