I
am writing this rant because I am sick of how it seems that whenever there is
an all ages venue for music in Calgary, they always seem to get shut down. I'm not sure how many of you guys may know,
but the City of Calgary has shut down two all ages venues in the past year
or so, and they are working on their third.
“The Area” was about a year ago, and then just recently “The New Black”
has announced their closure. “The Alibi Room” is the next in line to possibly
close in the same fashion. This is not a
new trend either; there have also been other venues that have opened up in the
past that have gone through the same issues with city regulations. It seems to
be that these places are only open for a short amount of time, until the city
finds some sort of reason to shut them down.
There is also the combining factor that without alcohol sales, these
places don’t make enough money to support the amount it takes to keep the
venues operational.
This
topic makes me really upset because unless you are a big band that can afford
to host a show in a venue such as Mac Hall at UofC or the Saddle Dome, there
are becoming fewer ways to have an all ages show in Calgary. This affects both the up-and-coming bands in
high school and all the fans that haven reached the age of the majority. I feel like that kids under the legal age
should still be able to enjoy the live music scene like the rest of us because
as a musician myself, without these kinds of places that are being shut down, I
would’ve never been able to accomplish what I have now. Although it doesn’t affect me as much anymore,
seeing as how I have been legal for a few years now, I still want to want
younger generations in the Calgary area be able to have the same opportunities
that I had.
It
seems that we are trying to make the music scene in Calgary “18+ only” which is
not the way that it should be. The fact
that in order for venues to be able to make enough money to keep these venues
afloat is to have liquor sales really bothers me. What are we as a society trying to support here? I’m not saying that I am against alcohol consumption
here, but I feel like there should be more support from the community to be
able to have places for kids to go to have a good time as well.
I
have placed a link to the situation below if anyone is interested in taking a
read for themselves. I really hope that
this isn’t the end for local all ages venues in Calgary.
http://www.calgaryherald.com/swerve/our-town/Black+Centre+Music+Inglewood/8959653/story.html
I see the point you're trying to make, however when it comes to it many of these places are in it for the money. That's a shame but not a lot of people can afford the $5,000 monthly venue costs as stated in the Herald. When you say that you benefited from these, i can understand that but these kids if they want something should also have to work for it. For example the kids at my high school pushed for (with the support of teachers) things like talent shows and battle of the bands. To have these venues there almost needs to be community support, and achieving support for something that many parents see as an introduction to a shady group. I don't see happening. So long as people wait for venues to front the cash and not help these places out.
ReplyDeleteSuch a bummer! I went to a lot of shows at places like Knox when I was younger... I imagine they must still host some all-ages? And of course, there's always Tubby Dog. Even though we are the so-called culture capital, it's not likely that a great deal of funds will be put into promoting the music scene.
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