The Age Of The Venue... Is Gone

I believe the age of “the venue” is gone.

Died out. Gone extinct like the dinosaurs before it. CDs, Band Websites, and now…  Medium-sized Venues. 

I'm not saying that all venues are dead. Lord knows that touring acts are still coming through towns and selling out theatres and stadiums. People, for whatever reason, are okay with paying $200-god-knows-what to get a ticket to sit in the nosebleeds and see their artists perform on a giant screen, because all you can see is a speck of a person on the stage. Thankfully, larger venues like theatres and halls are still selling tickets for touring acts. Hopefully allowing local artists to open up, but nowadays, that opportunity is even less plentiful, and almost more of a pay-to-play as far as opening up for touring bands. 

But asking a local band to sell 300-500 tickets... I don’t know many “local” bands that could. And those that I do know, are used to playing bigger stages, but are only considered local because they grew up here. As I said before; people are willing to pay crazy amounts for some international touring acts, but no one is spending a fraction of that amount on any local shows. Festivals can have more acts which gives a wider net to get fans to pay for tickets, but a one-night, 3 band bill? That is hard to fill in any 300-500-person venue! 


Even I've seen the decline of the “music venues” all around town. Gone are the bars on the Granville Strip that play bands every Friday and Saturday night. The Media Club, Studio, The Cellar; so many places downtown that you used to be able to pop around at night and catch a bunch of bands playing, gone. Venues just can’t pay their rent on nights that don’t sell out. It’s just math. They need to be at capacity every night open, selling booze. And having 40-50 people at their 200-person venue on a Friday night just won’t pay the bills. But places like the Portside Pub, and Guilt and Co., and others still work hard to provide spaces for local music to be played. 

But where are people going nowadays? Well, to places that don't need to sell capacity, to places that don't need to sell $9 dollar beers, to places that aren’t run by owners who never step foot into their venues. Yes, these places are underground, and harder to find the front door. Yes, their bathroom barely works and it's covered in graffiti (thankfully, mostly positive graffiti). Yes, its sound system looks like it’s held together by duct tape and the stage is the size of a bathtub. But you aren’t there to sit down and enjoy the ambiance. You are there to HEAR THE BAND PLAY!

These venues are thriving at the moment and the audience and the scene are loving it! Green Auto, 648 Kingsway, Greylab, Bullys Studios, Redgate; all of these venues are community driven. The only reason they exist is to have a place for the local scene to grow, to foster new bands, to thrive. They aren’t large, but it just means that you can feel the band, see them, touch them (consensually, of course), and feel the music absorb into your body. The crowds are full of people JUST LIKE YOU, wanting to have fun and hear good music. Make friends, bring friends, be respectful and you will receive nothing but respect. 

But every show, every month, they struggle to stay open. Go out and support. If a ticket is $20 or PWYC, and you can afford that $20? Think of it as a helping hand to keep the lights on, keep the stage full of musicians, and with your support, we will have many shows ahead of us.


The scene will always grow and change, but treat it with love and respect and you will see it blossom into something beautiful.