Some sad news to pass along.... Caleb Henyu-Crowchild passed away mid-April in his sleep... He was a strong supporter of the punk and metal music scene and rarely missed a gig.... To honour him as an exemplary single dad and raise some funds for his girls, we are having a couple of shows coming up in May...
The first one is his memorial show on Monday, May 6 featuring the Dayglo Abortions with Snaggletooth [Motörhead] and the Fight United... There will be a 50/50 draw and a donation box at the show... A second full fundraiser show is slated for Saturday, May 18 and is being co-organized with RC Guns and her band the Wett Stilettos... Both shows are at Funkys 37 West Hastings...
Deadlines... Something that both writers and booking coordinators have to deal with constantly... Sometimes when I bang out this column two weeks before the issue comes out, things shift in the scene.... It's the same with booking.... I can send the booking calendar to print for the month only to have it change within an hour.... Music is definitely a fluid business and dealing with humans, the variables in life events are endless.... That is why I always include the disclaimer at the bottom of the monthly that reads... 'all gigs subject to change shall be the whole of the law'... Waiting around for people to get back to you with full line-ups also makes things hairy... People just don't know that most advertising deadlines are two weeks in advance so you really need to have the line-ups set sooner than later for proper gig promotion...
So going around on Facebook today was an iPetition to save the Wise Hall.... Seriously, after 52 years of existence, is nothing sacred for the gentrificating NIMBY neighbourhood newbies...? I'm really sick of these cashed-up cultural purists that frown upon anything that doesn't suit their tastes .... Good old noise complaints are the bane of any live venue! What I don't understand is how nightclubs with droning booming bass wouldn't be more annoying?! Hey developer peeps! Go buy up some land on the West Side and slap up a complex of lofts and town homes over there.... Keep your modern urban living out of East Van!
Good news for the all ages scene... After years of hard work trying to find spaces to get kids off the streets and into live music, Safe Amp has finally secured a temporary space at Astorino's on the corner of Commercial Drive and Venables... If you are interested in playing there go to safeamp.org and fill out the booking form... Safe Amp also started a petition to change the archaic B.C. liquor laws that segregate minors from attending shows... It's thankfully getting a fair amount of press so I hope it helps the cause... I had the mom chaperone of a local underage metal band's member that was quite choked that the boys had to play and then leave courtesy of these rules over the weekend...
Hoping the City of Vancouver's restriction-lifting venue policy has made a change for the better for people trying to put on shows and create alternate spaces ... I am definitely seeing a resurgence of restaurant-disguised liquor spaces that are holding a lot of art themed 'cultural' events that include drinking and dancing ... I guess it's a start seeing how those words 'drinking and dancing' in the same sentence were forbidden by the City just a couple of years ago... Bravo!! It's a start!!
- wendythirteen
