Melody Inn
A long-running Indianapolis bar and live music venue known particularly for punk and alternative music.
Last updated August 26, 2026
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Overview
Melody Inn, also known as The Mel, is a bar and live music venue in the Butler-Tarkington neighborhood of Indianapolis, Indiana. The establishment opened in 1935 as a piano bar and has operated under several different formats during its long history. In the 1980s it also served lunch and dinner, while its later identity developed around drinks, intimate live performances, and a strong connection to Indianapolis’s punk and independent-music communities. The venue changed ownership in October 2001, when Dave Brown and Rob Ondrish completed a purchase of the business. Neither had previously run a business of their own. Their connection to the bar predated the acquisition: Ondrish had worked there in the 1980s, and he and Brown met in 1995 while both were employed by BMG Music. They became regular visitors and later began working at the Melody Inn before agreeing to buy it from the existing owner. During their first year as proprietors, Brown and Ondrish worked every shift themselves while establishing the business. The Melody Inn is recognized for its small, informal, historically layered interior. It is commonly characterized as a dive bar, with a low stage, a compact arrangement of tables, booths, and bar seating, a rear beer garden, and walls decorated with old instruments, damaged guitars, artwork, and family portraits. Much of the interior, including the flooring, metalwork, large mirror, and oak bar, is described as original or retained from earlier periods. The booths reportedly came from the former Teepee Restaurant. The venue’s atmosphere emphasizes intimacy and continuity rather than large-scale production. Music is central to the brand. More than 7,000 bands and musical acts were estimated to have performed at the Melody Inn since 2001. Artists associated with its stage include The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band, which debuted there, as well as Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s, She Wants Revenge, and the Brain Surgeons. The venue hosts recurring programming including Saturday-night Punk Rock Night, a drum-and-bass event known as Broke(n), and Hillbilly Happy Hour. Punk Rock Night began as a weekly Sunday event in October 2000 under promoter Greg Brenner and became one of the venue’s defining recurring programs. The Melody Inn has also participated in community and music-industry fundraising. In 2013 it hosted a benefit for Norton Records after Hurricane Sandy destroyed much of that New York label’s vinyl inventory; Cheetah Chrome headlined the event. The venue has received repeated local recognition, including being named Indianapolis’s favorite punk-rock bar by Nuvo Newsweekly readers for seven consecutive years and receiving the publication’s 2013 award for best bar, restaurant, or venue for punks. Rather than operating as a multi-location consumer brand or record-label imprint, Melody Inn functions as a single-site hospitality and entertainment venue. Its identity rests on its historic Indianapolis location, owner-operated character, compact stage, recurring genre-focused events, and role as a sustaining platform for touring, regional, and emerging acts.
History
Melody Inn opened in Indianapolis in 1935 as a piano bar. Its early operating history is associated with owner Lou Swain. By the 1980s, the business had expanded beyond its original piano-bar identity and was serving lunch and dinner. The site later became increasingly associated with bar service and live music, eventually developing a reputation as one of Indianapolis’s most distinctive small punk and alternative-music venues. A major transition occurred in 2001. Dave Brown and Rob Ondrish acquired the business after becoming familiar with it as customers and employees. Ondrish had worked at the Melody Inn during the 1980s. He met Brown in 1995 while both worked at BMG Music, and the two frequently visited the bar together. Ondrish returned to the venue part time, Brown also began working there, and the existing owner eventually told Brown that he wanted to sell. Brown proposed the purchase to Ondrish, and the pair agreed to proceed. They signed a contract and paid for the business through monthly installments, becoming owners in October 2001. The first customers under the new ownership arrived on October 2, 2001. The Manion family, longtime patrons, came in to have a drink in memory of Bill Manion, who had died from a brain tumor. A one-dollar bill signed by the family was framed above the bar as a memorial. Brown and Ondrish worked every shift during their first year, reinforcing the venue’s personal, owner-operated character. The physical setting remains central to the Melody Inn story. The club is small, with a short stage, four tables, four booths, a limited number of barstools, and a beer garden at the rear. Its walls contain broken guitars, instruments, artwork, and family portraits. The building retains much of its older visual character, including original or longstanding flooring, metalwork, a large mirror, and an oak bar. The booths were sourced from the former Teepee Restaurant. These features contribute to the venue’s dive-bar atmosphere and distinguish it from larger, more polished concert rooms. The Melody Inn’s modern reputation was built through an unusually dense schedule of live performances. It was estimated that more than 7,000 bands and musical acts had played there since 2001. The stage has hosted acts such as The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band, which debuted at the venue, along with Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s, She Wants Revenge, and the Brain Surgeons. The venue also became a home for recurring genre-specific programs. Punk Rock Night began as a weekly Sunday event in October 2000, promoted by Greg Brenner, and later became a Saturday-night fixture. Broke(n), a drum-and-bass night, was held weekly from 2005 and was subsequently described as a second-Tuesday event. Hillbilly Happy Hour became another regular program. Beyond regular entertainment, Melody Inn has occasionally supported the wider music ecosystem. In 2013 it hosted a benefit for Norton Records, whose vinyl inventory had been largely destroyed by Hurricane Sandy. Cheetah Chrome headlined the fundraiser. Local readers and critics repeatedly identified the venue as an important punk bar, with Nuvo Newsweekly naming it Indianapolis’s favorite punk-rock bar for seven consecutive years and recognizing it in 2013 as the best bar, restaurant, or venue for punks. Melody Inn is therefore best understood as a historic single-location hospitality and music institution rather than a conventional product brand. Its continuity comes from the combination of a prewar bar history, owner stewardship since 2001, preserved interior, recurring events, and a broad record of presenting independent and underground performers.
- 2013
Norton Records benefit takes place
[1]Melody Inn hosts a fundraiser for Norton Records following Hurricane Sandy’s destruction of much of the label’s vinyl stock.
- 2013
Nuvo recognizes Melody Inn
[1]Nuvo Newsweekly names the venue the best bar, restaurant, or venue for punks.
- 2005
Broke(n) drum-and-bass programming is established
[1]The venue’s recurring drum-and-bass night is reported as having been held weekly since 2005.
- 2001
Brown and Ondrish acquire the venue
[1]Dave Brown and Rob Ondrish complete the purchase of Melody Inn in October after arranging monthly payments.
- 2000
Punk Rock Night begins
[1]Promoter Greg Brenner launches Punk Rock Night as a weekly Sunday event in October.
- 1935
Melody Inn opens as a piano bar
[1]The Indianapolis establishment begins operating as a piano bar.
Products and positioning
An independent, owner-operated neighborhood dive bar and intimate live music venue with a particularly strong punk, alternative, and underground-music identity.
Hospitality · 1935
Bar service
The venue’s core commercial offering is on-site bar service in a compact neighborhood setting. Melody Inn is widely characterized as a dive bar, with a small main room, limited seating, a longstanding bar, and a rear beer garden. The atmosphere and historic interior are part of the customer experience.
Entertainment
Live music
Melody Inn presents intimate live performances by touring, regional, and emerging artists. Its stage has hosted thousands of acts since 2001, including punk, alternative, country-rooted, and other independent performers. The low stage and small room support a close audience-performer relationship.
Recurring music event · 2000
Punk Rock Night
Punk Rock Night is the venue’s signature recurring program. Started as a weekly Sunday event in October 2000 by promoter Greg Brenner, it later became a Saturday-night fixture and helped establish Melody Inn as one of Indianapolis’s recognizable punk-oriented bars.
Recurring music event · 2005
Broke(n)
Broke(n) is a drum-and-bass night associated with the Melody Inn. It was reported as a weekly event beginning in 2005 and later described as taking place on the second Tuesday of the month.
Recurring music event
Hillbilly Happy Hour
Hillbilly Happy Hour is a recurring music program at the venue, combining the bar’s hospitality setting with a country- and roots-oriented live-music format.
Marketing campaigns
- 2013Norton Records benefit
United States
Melody Inn organized a fundraiser for New York-based Norton Records after Hurricane Sandy destroyed most of the label’s vinyl inventory. Cheetah Chrome headlined the event.
Outcome. The event provided fundraising support for the affected record label; the available reference does not report a total amount raised.
Brand decisions
2001
Brown and Ondrish purchase Melody InnM&ABackground
Dave Brown and Rob Ondrish had become connected to the venue as employees and customers before the former owner offered it for sale.
Action taken
They agreed to buy the business, signed a contract, and completed the acquisition through monthly payments in October 2001.
Aftermath
The new owners worked every shift during their first year and subsequently developed the venue’s modern identity around live music and punk-oriented programming.
Recent events
- 2013
Melody Inn hosts benefit for Norton Records after Hurricane Sandy[1]
Campaign · Other
The Indianapolis venue held a fundraiser for Norton Records after Hurricane Sandy destroyed most of the New York label’s vinyl inventory. Cheetah Chrome headlined the event.
- 2013
Melody Inn receives local recognition as a punk-oriented venue[1]
Other
Nuvo Newsweekly recognized Melody Inn as the best bar, restaurant, or venue for punks.
Sources2 sources
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