For the second time in six months, the future of live music at Granville Island鈥檚 Backstage Lounge is shrouded in uncertainty.
The venue鈥檚 sound engineer Nick Tyzio told the Courier he鈥檚 been left in the lurch due to a lack of communication from the venue owner 鈥� the neighbouring Arts Club Theatre Company 鈥� and pretty much anyone else he鈥檚 reached out to for answers.
鈥淎s far as I know now, we鈥檙e open for the rest of the summer,鈥� Tyzio said. 鈥淚f we stop doing live music, it鈥檚 a loss of culture for 麻豆传媒映画and B.C. This shouldn鈥檛 happen. We should be regaining these things.鈥�
News of the venue鈥檚 re-branding first broke in September 2017, when it was suggested the Backstage Lounge would become a restaurant only. The club鈥檚 final show was slated for Dec. 31, 2017, though Tyzio said that deal eventually fell apart.
Because news had circulated that live music wouldn鈥檛 continue into 2018, bands and promoters stopped coming and confusion set in.
鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to book bands when you don鈥檛 know if you鈥檙e going to be open,鈥� Tyzio said. 鈥淏efore we got the news, I was sometimes working seven days a week and now I鈥檓 down to one or two. Bands did their final show there and they didn鈥檛 want to come back because they thought they might look silly.鈥�
The Backstage Lounge has been at its current location since 1979, and Tyzio has worked there for about a decade. The Arts Club Revue Stage and Backstage Lounge was home to Atlantic Canada House during the 2010 Olympics and hosted gigs by the likes of Sloan, Hey Rosetta! and Ashley MacIsaac.
Should the music be silenced, there will be virtually no live music locations in 麻豆传媒映画west of Cambie Street (other than downtown). The Fairview Pub near Oak Street and Broadway .
鈥淓verybody is in shock,鈥� Tyzio said. 鈥淓veryone works there because it has live music. They love live music. This was like a sledgehammer to the head for everyone.鈥�
Arts Club publicist Sarah Barton-Bridges was short on details in an email to the Courier.
鈥淲e are currently looking into updating the Backstage Lounge into what would be a more sustainable model for the venue,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his is a long-term project, so the lounge will remain open as is throughout the summer while we research best options. The vision is that the venue will remain a casual place for food and drink on Granville Island.鈥�
A follow-up email from the Courier asked how those changes would affect the dozens employed there, and for a definitive yes or no on the future of live music at the club.
鈥淪taffing levels are fluid throughout the year usually, with summer always being the peak,鈥� Barton-Bridges responded. 鈥淎nd at this point, we are still looking into options and ideas for the venue but hope to have more details on what that will look like soon.鈥�
Tyzio said he鈥檚 reached out to Vancouver-Centre MP Hedy Fry for help, a route that he says has gotten him nowhere. Vancouver-East MP Jenny Kwan told Tyzio she鈥檚 written a letter of support to keep the venue operating as is and has sent it to the Arts Club.
Fry, meanwhile, left a voicemail for the Courier suggesting nothing is happening to the venue outside of routine renovations.
鈥淭he Backstage Lounge on Granville Island isn鈥檛 closing for any other reason than that they鈥檙e trying to reinvent themselves,鈥� Fry said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e trying to upgrade and update all kinds of things.鈥�
Tyzio鈥檚 lobbying efforts to keep live music on Granville Island are online at .
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