Are you an avid fan of true crime? Or are you just curious about what truths lie within Melbourne’s underworld?
Then you may have heard of Australian crime authors and journalists Jon Silvester and Andrew Rule, who know all about what happened during the Melbourne Gangland Wars.
You may know them from their work investigating the underworld, particularly their novel Leadbelly: Inside Australia’s Underworld Wars, which inspired the first series of Underbelly.
Jon Silvester, known as Sly of the Underworld, is a journalist and chief crime writer for The Age, a bestselling author and host of a regular crime show on Melbourne’s 3AW radio station.
Andrew Rule is a Herald Sun crime writer featured in the Australian Media Hall of Fame and has won Journalist of The Year.
Mr Silvester and Mr Rule will visit Shepparton to share the inside word on Melbourne’s underworld this Thursday, February 8, at the GV Hotel.
This event is just one of many events the hotel is hosting in the coming months.
INXSIVE, Australia’s longest-serving INXS tribute band, will be playing at the hotel on Friday, February 16.
On March 1, AFL legend Dane Swan will be in town for his Live and Uncensored show, with more events planned over the coming months.
Ownership of the hotel changed six months ago.
The new owners are local and hope to breathe new life into the hotel with a range of different events.
Hotel function manager Brittni Church said the owners were eager to bring more events to the region.
“We’re trying to bring back life to the venue because we feel everyone has a memory from the GV, so for them to come back, they can reminisce, and it’s a really positive experience,” Mrs Church said.
“We’ve started reaching out to people, linking in with a couple of groups.
“We’ve had really good engagement so far — the Carlton football player visit last week brought in 270 people, and the Collingwood night in December, there were another 300 people attending, so it’s been really good so far.
“We’re looking into the rest of 2024 and 2025 and planning more events.”
Mrs Church said people from the Underbelly tour reached out to the hotel to host the event, and were keen to see how the event went.
“They recently told me the ticket sales, and it’s past 200 people attending so far, which is fantastic to see.”
Doors open at 7pm on Thursday, and the show starts at 8pm.
Tickets cost $53 and need to be pre-purchased at Eventbrite or the GV Hotel’s Facebook page.
To keep up to date on all GV Hotel events, follow its Facebook and Instagram pages.