How British Columbians are getting creative with live music venues
Photography studios and backyards are standing in for traditional spaces as venues close their doors
Many live music venues are closing.
Whether it's nightclubs in downtown Vancouver, a non-profit space in the province's capital or a smaller venue in rural British Columbia, dedicated spaces for artists to perform are becoming few and far between.
In general, the high cost of rent for both artists and for business owners running the venues is the main culprit.
Communities are being forced to get creative. Traditional theatres and stages may be disappearing, but performance spaces are popping up in unexpected spaces like art galleries and even just random people's living rooms.
Podcast host and producer Kristina Rothstein remembers the Sugar Refinery in downtown Vancouver as a place where "interesting things were always happening and people were trying out new things and putting on a play and doing a weird experimental show."
"I always felt at home," she said.
The venue, located on the Granville strip, shut down in 2003, but music lovers and artists alike still reminisce about the shows they saw there. Rothstein's curiosity around what venues came before and after her favourite spot inspired her podcast, In Search of Lost Venues, where she wanders Vancouver neighbourhoods with local musicians talking about live music events of days gone by.
And while remembering the good old days can be cathartic, there still remains a problem: musicians are looking for somewhere — anywhere — to perform, now.
Beloved B.C. musician Dan Mangan and his business partner, Laura Simpson, founded Side Door in 2017 after noticing a lack of space for performers.
It connects artists with hosts who have a space for them — often their own homes. Both the artist and host are paid automatically through the platform, and thousands of shows have happened since the platform launched.
Victoria Levesque has hosted several shows through Side Door since 2019 and has a few coming up.
She offers an indoor living room space or, weather permitting, a small garden space in her yard.
"When you put the time and effort into hosting artists … it's not for that one day; it's for the future of their career," she said.
In Victoria, a photography studio has become a more broad creative space, hosting live comedy and music.
"I was a punk rock kid growing up. I used to go to lots of punk shows and lots of house party shows," said Antonio La Fauci, owner of Cinderbloc Studios. "I kinda like just getting people together and having people build a showcase through creativity."
Not far from Cinderbloc, the Little Fernwood Gallery has also offered up space for do-it-yourself live music, where artists rent the gallery space and convert it into a live music venue, bringing the equipment, ticketing the event and everything they need to put on a show.
Tarun Nayar, Canadian Live Music Association board chair and a Surrey, B.C., musician, said independent venues — longtime, traditional establishments or DIY spots — are necessary for both local and global musicians.
The association recently released the results of a study on the impact live music has on the Canadian economy. It found that in 2023 alone, live music contributed $10.9 billion to the country's GDP and supported more than 100,000 full-time equivalent jobs.
"We all know it's important, from the biggest Taylor Swift stadium craziness to the local show at the Biltmore or the Fox," he said.
"Taking it seriously is very important, not just for culture's sake but also for the economy."
With files from Rohit Joseph, Courtney Dickson and North by Northwest