How British Columbians are getting creative with live music venues

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.