Have you ever heard of Comrad Sound, the Dollhouse, the Funspot or Local Library (LL)? These are just a few of the all ages music venues I’ve seen closed down since 2009, when I entered the scene.
The reasons are diverse; Comrad was closed due to zoning issues, LL lost its space at Central United due to the church needing funding, and the owners of Funspot moved out. The effects are the same though, as we are losing spaces for a huge subculture of youth to feel safe in and listen to music they love without having to wait until they’re 18 or deal with drunks (as these venues are strictly no alcohol or drugs).
June 27 is Undermountain’s (located in the basement at Emmedia) last show ever, and then we are left with The New Black being the only consistent all-ages venue in Calgary. The Goodlife Bike Shop in the Ant Hill building (where Market Collective is held) has been sought as a possible temporary venue, but even they only have that space until December. This is quite frightening for everyone involved in the scene, and should be for others who appreciate that youth need safe places to be, even if they’re a little different and don’t quite fit in at malls or skate parks or parties but don’t want to just sit at home. Unfortunately, good music spaces are hard to come by and even harder to keep – since it is for teenagers, it has to be kept affordable but this means another source of income necessary to pay for taxes and upkeep. Also, the music tends to be a little on the loud side so it needs to be in the proper zoning area or you apply for costly permits – some which again ups the price substantially. These problems usually mean having to piggy back on someone else, but it seems like the only businesses who are willing to do this are those who don’t really have the income to help us.
What Calgary needs for all ages music is a good venue, accessible to all kids (good location), affordable ($5-$10 per show), and some community support to keep such an important youth activity alive. 
The New Black Centre is doing an amazing job with this, but there needs to be more venues to accommodate a wider variety of music tastes and a larger amount of shows, as Calgary has an impressive amount of young bands who would love to play their music. It would be nice to feel like there was more support from the city to create these important aspects of our community as it’s quite a big and difficult task for youth to take up on our own sustaining a venue (though we will help as much as we can and dedicate hours and hours to it!). My teen years have been greatly different and improved thanks to these all ages music venues, and the City of Calgary should work in partnership with local bands and stores to create a good lasting place for these shows so that other youth can have the same experiences as myself.
I absolutely and 100% agree with what this article is saying. Being a youth trying desperately to be apart of Calgary’s music scene I am constantly having to be disappointed when I find really great concerts but are in bars and only 18+ accessible. Calgary has a few very talented youth musicians that could be showcased and given the ability to play more if there were more all ages venues. From the all age concerts that I have been too there is a large support from all the Calgarian teens eager to see some great music. I feel that the music community of Calgary could and would benefit much more if there were all age concert halls, with youth in mind. I know us teens will show our support, we just need the opportunity to do so.
I just want to thank the author for feeling passionate enough about these issues to write this, I think those of us who were close to both the venues and community have felt the loss of our once thriving community, but I think that it created a bond between many young Calgarians that has sparked a fire deep in our bellies and given us the support and tools necessary to keep that fire alive.
I am incredibly honoured to work with Pint Sized Collective in supporting the survival of Calgary’s All Ages community by hosting and promoting local shows & releasing Canadian music on vinyl and cassette format.
I must also show much love for Tubby Dog on 17th Ave SW, who have managed to keep All Ages music alive and under 5$ since 2005 and hopefully for much much longer.
While it was greatly saddening to lose the Undermountain, it was an honour to have had a part in it, and thankfully Emmedia continues to host a variety of events upstairs in the same building.
On top of all this, I am very glad to have the opportunity to host all age matinee shows at Broken City on the last sunday of every month.
keep the fire burning
Dear all who are interested in this topic.
Please keep an eye our for Pint-Sized events. You can usually find out about them through our facebook page and website.
We are constantly working with new spaces and are trying, with others, to keep all ages alive in Calgary!
Sincerely,
Pint-Sized Collective
This article is accurate, and for the last six years I have been very disappointed everytime an all ages venue closes it’s doors for local bands. There used to be a bunch of community halls that were open to promoters to book at semi-reasonable rental fees, but they have pretty much all closed their doors because of a lack of respect – whether it be leaving beer cans around the venue or going past the 11pm curfew – from some of the people who attend these shows. It’s really unfortunate, but that is a reality.
There is, however, a new venue that opened up a few months ago. There are two rooms, one larger than the other that are both available for booking. It’s located across Crowchild Trail from the train Dalhousie Station in Varsity in the Dare2Dream Studio. It is available for booking for a variety of things including all-ages shows.
The number for information regarding booking information is: Lindsay Pylychaty +1 (403) 919-0370
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