Advertise on podcast: In Search of Lost Venues

Thank you so much to everyone who listened and participated. There will be a new conversation in the next few months, and the occasional bonus episode. I always saw this as a finite project; there are way more stories to tell but I don't want to get repetitive in my own angle into this topic.

Luke Meat was the music director at CiTR radio during the 2000s. From 1998-2000 he was the DJ at the Brickyard under the name Audio Where. Luke was a member of the bands Damn Fine Sandwich, Storc, Value Village People, and Zero Percent Interest and currently in Bat Leather. This conversation was recorded on January 15 2026. The Brickyard was at 315 Carroll Street. In the late 1990s and early 2000s it was one of the main venues for local bands and out of town bands looking to play smaller venues. The building still exists and has been renovated into a  bakery, vintage shop and coffee shop. Other venues visited: Selectors Records, Blim. Other venues discussed. Columbia, The Old American, Smilin' Buddha, Hoko's, Web Cafe, Starfish Room, Richards on Richards. Bands discussed: Chixdiggit, Fluff, Sunn O))), Boris, Groovy Ghoulies, Smugglers, Maow, And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, At the Drive-in, Matmos, Modest Mouse, Close Caption Radio, Wide Mouth Mason, Kinski, Industry & Agriculture, Unclean Wiener, Destroyer, Jerk with a Bomb, Jennifer Gentle, Sleater Kinney, The Evaporators, Seam, GOB, d.b.s.   This episode features the following music: Kinski: Point That Thing Somewhere Else from Semaphore EP (2002). d.b.s.: Galleon's Lap from If Life Were A Result We'd All Be Dead (Originally released on Crap records, 2014) Bat Leather: Pageantry (2025)

Dennis Mills has been playing with bands in Vancouver for over four decades. He was in AKA and Rhythm Mission, and still plays with the Judys and the Jazzmanian Devils. This conversation was recorded on November 28th 2025. Venues visited:  Tamara Restaurant (311 W Hastings), site of the first Jazzmanian Devils show in 1983. Warehouse show location (152 West Hastings). Helen Pitt Gallery (163 W Pender), The Lotus, In Concert, the Lamplighter, the Town Pump, John Barley's, the Savoy, Gambados, Lanalou's, City Space. Other venues mentioned: the Railway Club, the Commodore, PUMPS, Smilin' Buddha, the Plaza, Cinderella Ballroom, Glass Slipper, Cambrian Hall. Musicians mentioned: Captain Beefheart, UJ3RK5, Zealots, I Braineater, the Psychic Healers, 54-40, Los Popularos, David Thomas, Tragically Hip, Red Herring, Death Sentence, the Odds, The Rheostatics, the Clash, the Dishrags, Bo Diddley, Los Lobos, the Frights, the Moral Lepers, the K-Tels, Subhumans, DOA, the Pointed Sticks, Work Party, Emily Faryna, Tin Twist, the Dils, Rank and File. This episode features the following music: AKA: CIA from Dead Therapy Rhythm Mission: Shudderdown Tin Twist: Sitting Here, Waiting Here (Mo-Da-Mu 1980)

Ziggy (Yuriko Iga) opened Blim in 2003, after graduating from the Alberta College of Art and Design and starting a venue called Kisaten in Calgary. Blim was a music venue performance space, art gallery and much more. Blim hasn't had music events for about 14 years but is still a shop/retail art installation. Blim began as a venue  in 2003 in the penthouse at 23 W Pender St in the old BC Electric Building. It moved to 197 E 17th for 2005-2010 and then to its current location at 115 E Pender.  This coversation was recorded on November 26, 2025. Venues visited: 3 locations of Blim Venues mentioned: Unit/Pitt, the Sugar Refinery, the Binding Light!, Kisaten, Squib. Bands mentioned: p:ano, Nicholas Krgovich, Tygh Runyan, Crys Cole, Tunnel Canary, Joshua Stevenson, The Hidden Cameras, Dandi Wind, Josh Rose, Brady Cranfield, Loscil, Fieldhead, Lee Hutzalak, Cartoon Express, connect_icut, Prophecy Sun, Jeffrey Allport, Johnny Wakeham, Standard Grey, Pink Mountaintops. This episode features the following music: p:ano: Trouble Ahead from Ghost Pirates Without Heads (Mint Records, 2005) Kellarissa: Harlean from Superstar EP (2008) Fieldhead: he'd found the sea from they shook hands for hours (2009)  

Kristjanne Vosper's current project is KMVP. She has played in  Smearlord, Bash Brothers, Repukes, and OK Vancouver OK. She lives in Nanaimo. Venues visited:The Black Lab ( E Hastings) was a "DIY, collectively run, volunteer-based punk space"  on Hastings Street , just east of Main, in the Downtown Eastside, from about 2014-2024. Other venues visited: Pat's Pub, The Secret Location, Red Gate, Iron Road Studio, Fingers Crossed, Bullet Farm. Other venues discussed: Jam space at Main and Powell, Crace mountain Bands mentioned : Time Cops, Flat Bed, Shearing Pinx, Wameki, OK Vancouver OK, Red Circle, Screaming Queens, Bad Sister, Hag Face, Jo Passed, buddies, Felonious Parker, Freak Dream, Garbage Dream, Bereaved, Mansion Music, Imaginary Pants. This episode features the following music: KMVP: Anarchist Superstar from NUCLEAR FREE NANAIMO VOL III ( 2023) Bash Brothers: Party Hat from BASH (2014) KMVP: Swimming //without frogs from KMVP "goes Ribit" WITHOUT FROGS ( 2024)

Amber Webber is known for the bands Lightning Dust and Black Mountain. She briefly had a project called Kodiak Deathbeds and has been a guest singer on many other projects. She started in the band Dream On Dreary. This conversation was recorded on August 13th 2025. Venues visited: Pat's Pub was the site of the first Black Mountain show around 2004. Shindig, the CiTR battle of the bands, took place at Pat's for several years in the mid-late 2010s. The downstairs bar in the Patricia Hotel has had music shows for over a hundred years. It was once a renowned jazz venue, and in the early 2000s hosted local bands for many years. The space was originally called the Patricia Café and opened in 1914. The Hawks Street House was a women's collective house and a community space at the corner of Hawks and Georgia. Hoko's/Lanalou's Other venues discussed: The Chapel, The Interurban Gallery, The Lido, Richard's on Richards, the Brickyard, the Commodore, the Marine Club. Bands mentioned: The Cave Singers, Better Friends than Lovers, Rae Spoon, Ladyhawk, Animal Collective, Mecca Normal, Jerk with a Bomb, Megamall, Magnolia Electric Company, Murder City Devils. This episode features the following music: Black Mountain: Druganaut from Black Mountain (Scratch Records, 2004/Jagjaguwar 2005). Kodiak Deathbeds: Borderlines from Kodiak Deathbeds (2015). Lightning Dust: Diamond from Fantasy (2013 Jagjaguwar).  

Sydney Hermant played in the bands Bonaparte, Hello Blues Roses, and the Choir Practice. She is also an artist and was the curator of the Or Gallery. She put on cabaret shows with the Hot Rod Puppet Ensemble. This conversation was recorded on July 30th, 2025. Venues visited: Sydney's house from 2004 - 2012 at Princess and Powell (Bonapoarte, The Choir Practice and Destroyer practice spaces). Dunlevy art space at Dunlevy and Powell (1998 art and music studio with Steve Wood, Scott Morgan, Neko Case. Destroyer practice space) Art Studio at Gore and Powell. Pat's Pub. The downstairs bar in the Patricia Hotel has had music shows for over a hundred years. It was once a renowned jazz venue, and in the early 2000s hosted local bands for many years. The space was originally called the Patricia Café and opened in 1914. Other venues discussed: the Starfish Room, the Sugar Refinery, the Railway Club, the Or Gallery. Bands mentioned: The Beans, Destroyer, Battles, Pink Mountaintops, Capozzi Park. Loscil, Black Mountain, The Secret Three, Rodney Graham, Radio Berlin, Book of Lists, Nikki Sudden, Jonathan Richaman, Luna, Yo La Tengo, The New Pornographers   This episode features the following music: Hello Blue Roses: The Aloe from Wild Nights! (JAZ Records, 2020). Bonaparte: Tree Song (recorded by Kurt Dahle and Dan Bejar on Cordova Street at Kurt and Coco's house 2005/6).  The Choir Practice: Believe in Something from The Choir Practice (Mint Records, 2007).

Ryan McCormick is the band Collpasing Opposites and has also played in Green Belt Collective, They Shoot Horses Don't They? and others. He was a director of the Safe Amplification Site Society. This conversation was recorded on July 10, 2025.   Hoko's was a sushi restaurant at 362 Powell Street that started having shows in the 2000s. It was closed due to licensing problems and is now the venue Lanalou's. The Zoo Zhop (223 Main Street) was a venue and record store in the 2010s. The Prophouse Cafe (1636 Venables Ave) was a coffee shop and venue in the 2010s. Astorino's was the venue for the Safe Amplification Site Society (Safe Amp 2013-2015) at the site of a former Italian dining hall at 1739 Venables Street.   Other venues mentioned: Starry Dynamo Cafe. Bands mentioned: Half Chinese, Apollo Ghosts, Kidnap Kids, Chris-a-riffic, OK Vancouver OK, Mt Eerie.   This episode features the following music: Collapsing Opposites: Places from Microchips Implanted In Your Brain (2005). Apollo Ghosts: Shanghai Alley from Forgotten Triangle EP (2009). Collapsing Opposites: Non Profit Volunteer Band from Real Moving (2011).

Ana Rose Carrico is a grassroots arts administrator who co-founded The Red Gate Arts Society. She is the current Executive Director, a former Station Manager of CiTR & Discorder Magazine, and a lifelong advocate for the cultural life of Vancouver. This conversation took place on May 9th 2025. The Red Gate first opened on Hastings near Cambie in 2004. It moved to 855 East Hastings between 2012 and 2018. The venue was evicted from both locations before moving to its current space at 1965 Main Street, one of those rare venues which has managed to survive and create a distinct, thriving identity at multiple addresses. Other venues visited: Church of Pointless Hysteria, Dynamo Gallery, 151, Pat's Pub, the Remington, The Secret Location, The Emergency Room.   This episode features the following music: Koban: Down in the Well from null (the broadway to boundary), 2013. TV Ugly: Trash Party Island from UCLA Yankee Cola, 2015. Mourning Coup: Master from Baby Blue, 2015.  

Keith Parry founded and ran the legendary record store and label, Scratch Records, which opened in 1987. He played in bands including Superconductor, Octatrackter, Twerdocleb, Kicking it with Coho, The Gay, Pink Mountaintops, and Neko Case. Keith lives on Vancouver Island and we walked and talked on April 25th 2025, when he came to Vancouver to see some music shows. This conversation will extend across two episodes and this is part two.   Scratch Records started in 1987 at 317A Cambie St. It moved to 109 West Cordova St, 726 Richards St, and finally, the Interurban Gallery at 1 East Hastings (2010-2104). The Cruel Elephant opened at 117 Granville St in August 1990 and lastest for a couple of years before moving to two other locations. Other venues visited: the Marine Club, the Arts Club Lounge, Richards on Richards. Other venues discussed: Comox Valley Curling Club, The Railway Club, the Town Pump. Bands discussed: Yob, The Flaming Lips, Texas Instruments, Green Day, The Smugglers, Jesus Lizard, Thinking Fellows union, Surgery, Pavement, Snuff, Nomeansno, Destroyer, Devours, Drama Queen, Isocracy.   This episode features the following music: Superconductor: Thorsen's Eleven on Hit Songs For Girls (Boner Records 1993). Windwalker: Burning Inside on The Mint Is A Terrible Thing To Taste (Mint Records 1991) The Smugglers: Vancouver, B.C. on The Smugglers At Marineland (Nardwuar Records 1991)

Keith Parry founded and ran the legendary record store and label, Scratch Records, which opened in 1987. He played in bands including Superconductor, Octatrackter, Twerdocleb, Kicking it with Coho, The Gay, Pink Mountaintops, and Neko Case. Keith lives on Vancouver Island and we walked and talked on April 25th 2025, when he came to Vancouver to see some music shows. This conversation will extend across two episodes.   The Savoy at 6 Powell St, was run by Janet Forsyth and showcased local and touring bands from the early 1980s until it closed  in April 1988. Scratch Records started in 1987 at 317a Cambie St. It moved to 109 West Cordova St, 726 Richards St, and finally, Interurban Gallery at 1 East Hastings (2010-2104). Other venues visited and discussed: The Marine Club, The Railway Club, UBC Sub Ballroom, the Town Pump, Richards on Richards. Bands discussed: Simple Minds, The Cult, Go for Three, The Residents, Nomeansno, Flaming Lips, Soul Asylum, Spirit of the West, Grooveaholics, Art Bergman, Bob's Your Uncle, The Scramblers, the Nerve Tubes, Animal Slaves, Poisoned, Brilliant Orange, White Lung, Ancients, Tobeatic, Black Wizard, Three Wolf Moon, Mecca Normal, Pedestrian Sacrifice, Duotron, Couch, To Live and Shave in LA.   This episode features the following music: Superconductor: Bushpilot from Heavy with Puppy (Boner Record Company, produced by "special" arrangement with Scratch Records, 1992) Oktatrackter : Kiddie Fist from Kiddie Fist 7" (Kil-Tel Records 1991)

Josh Stevenson has been playing experimental music since the 1990s in projects like Staked Plain, Jackie-O Motherfucker, Glow worm, Bold Axis Arms, -Outhern Acific+, Magneticring, July Fourth Toilet, and Von Bingen. He also does audio mastering under the name Otic Sound. This conversation was recorded on April 17th, 2025. The Anza Club is on the corner of Ontario and 8th Avenue, the home of the Australia New Zealand Association. The building was previously the Mount Pleasant Hall. In the 1990s it was home to Vancouver's weirdo and experimental music scene, but had shows both before and after that. Though the Club still exists, it only very occasionally has shows. Other venues visited: VIVO, formerly Video In, began life as The Satellite Video Exchange Society, founded in 1973. It excited in three other spaces before moving to 1965 Main Street in 1993. It moved to Kaslo street in 2014. The Glass Slipper, a legendary Vancouver jazz club at 185 E 11th Avenue, burned down. Other venues mentioned: the Malcolm Lowry Room, the Sugar Refinery, Chroma Books, Solder and Son, Ms T's Cabaret, the Press Club, Manifesto (Edmonton). Band discussed: Refrigerator, Wicker Spigot, Noggin, Blowhole, Good Horsey, Smog, Truman's Water, the Ruins, Pipe Dream, Blaise Pascal, Sun City Girls, US Maple, Wolf Eyes, Climax Golden Twins, Zumpano, Vic Chestnut, Couch, Duotron, Loscil, Matthew Shipp/Susie Ibarra/William Parker, Eyelickers, New Pornographers, Frog Eyes, Leviathans, GHQ.   This episode features the following music: Von Bingen: Eyeglasses in Kentucky from Von Bingen (2009) Magneticring: The City Lives from City (2011) Magenticring: Side B - Vancouver March 27th 2010 from All the Fluid is Floating (2012).  

Marita M. is a musician, performer and arts organizer. She has been in many bands including True Crush, Lunch Lady, Derek Wheeler, Divorcer, Reveal Yourself and Bill Can. This conversation was recorded on April 3, 2024. Astorino's was the venue for the Safe Amplification Site Society (Safe Amp 2013-2015) at the site of a former Italian dining hall at 1739 Venables Street. Other venues visited: Britannia Community Centre, El Cocal, the York Theatre, the Mansion. Other venues discussed: Mesa Luna, Art Bank, Dharma lab, Fingers Crossed, Alf House, The Shooting Gallery, Lucky's Comics, What Lab, Boombox, Goonies, The Birdhouse, Vancouver East Cultural Centre, Croatian Cultural Centre, Seylynn Hall, Purple Thistle, UBC SUB Ballroom. Bands mentioned: Mt Eerie, Kidnap Kids, Screaming Queens, Hot Fruit, Pet Fairies, Fake Fruit, Death from Above, Animal Collective, Arcade Fire, The Evaporators, Riff Randells, Shreaing Pinx.   This episode features the following music: True Crush: Story Book from We Like Us (2013) Divorcer:  Life is a Hellhole Trap from Nutty Grotty (2022) Bill Can: Hot & Normal from Bootleg 2 (2024)

Jerome is the founder of the band M01E, and of UBC Cry Club, which took place weekly, at one point, at the Fraser River Parkade at UBC. Cry Club started in 2021 and continued, usually weekly, for a couple of years, and then less frequently. It is unrehearsed and open to participation from everyone who attends. Cry Club is on hiatus but hopefully will return. This conversation was recorded on April 1st, 2025. Venues visited: UBC Cry Club @ Fraser River Parkade. Other venues discussed: The Emergency Room, Pit Pub, SUB Ballroom, Red gate, Take Your Time, Grey Lab, Under the Bridge.   This episode features the following music: M01E:  Make Space from The New Youth (2025) UBC Cry Club: VOLUME - Kit, Hansen, Jerome - October 15, 2021 (From UBC CRY CLUB 2021-2022 哭中作乐 / best consumed at volume: 60% - 100% ) UBC Cry Club: DRUM - Sarth, Rafe, Jerome - July 22, 2022 From UBC CRY CLUB 2021-2022 哭中作乐 / best consumed at volume: 60% - 100%)