Rickshaw Theatre owner Mo Tarmohamed estimates he lost $50,000 to $75,000 last year due to bands not wanting to perform in the Downtown Eastside. Photo by Dan Toulgoet/麻豆传媒映画Courier
Mo Tarmohamed is out to the tune of roughly $60,000, if not more.
It鈥檚 not on account of a guys鈥� trip to Las Vegas, home renovations or a vehicle purchase.
It鈥檚 the price he pays to own a business in the Downtown Eastside.
Tarmohamed bought the Rickshaw Theatre in 2011, knowing full well its location just steps east of Main and Hastings could be bad for business.
He had little idea at the time that the area would deteriorate to the point it now has.
鈥淚t was somewhat tolerable before, but that鈥檚 because we鈥檝e normalized it so much,鈥� Tarmohamed said. 鈥淲hat鈥檚 tolerable to us, should not be tolerable. It was bad eight years ago, and even then I thought it wasn鈥檛 normal. Now it鈥檚 10-fold worse.鈥�
Tarmohamed estimates his 2018 losses were between $50,000 and $75,000, solely because bands don鈥檛 want to be in the area. Tarmohamed sees tours that landed at the Rickshaw in years past go elsewhere, typically to the Venue on Granville Street. In some cases, those tours won鈥檛 come to 麻豆传媒映画at all.
Tarmohamed follows up with booking agents and promoters, asking why those shows aren鈥檛 coming. The reasons are almost always the same.
鈥淭he bands that do come here, they鈥檙e like a deer caught in the headlights. These are guys from Chicago, Baltimore, Detroit and New York who are saying, 鈥榃hoa, this is crazy,鈥欌�� Tarmohamed said.
It doesn鈥檛 help his businesses that musicians the world over post videos and photos on social media of needles, feces and scores of people intoxicated in the immediate vicinity of his venue.
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Last summer, a band loaded in the back alley of the Rickshaw as a drug user pretended to be playing darts 鈥� except the darts were needles and the dartboard was a telephone poll near the band鈥檚 tour van.
Hank Von Hell, former frontman of Norwegian rock band Turbonegro, played the Rickshaw in late August and was initially scheduled to perform somewhere between 60 to 80 minutes. Von Hell cut his set to 40 minutes so he could 鈥済et the hell out of the neighbourhood, not the venue,鈥� according to Tarmohamed.
Tarmohamed鈥檚 property taxes have doubled since 2011, and he characterizes the value for service as 鈥渄iminishing.鈥� Condos built in the blocks around the venue over the last three years have exacerbated the problem, creating a cluster-like effect right outside his doors.
He doesn鈥檛 begrudge drug users themselves, but characterizes the response from the police and all levels of government as non-existent. Tarmohamed said he has stopped calling the city or VPD for assistance because they never show up.
鈥淚t feels like abandonment. It feels like they don鈥檛 really care about what goes on here,鈥� Tarmohamed said. 鈥淭hey probably do at some level, but not enough to really do anything about it.鈥�
There goes the neighbourhood
罢丑别听Courier聽attempted to speak with as many Downtown Eastside promoters and venue owners to gauge what business and crowds are like in light of the deterioration of the DTES.
Management at the Smilin鈥� Buddah Cafe declined comment, as did MRG Concerts, which runs the Imperial. Both venues are a stone鈥檚 throw from Main and Hastings. Imperial general manager Peter Gordon provided the聽Courier with a brief statement that read, 鈥淚 can only say that we strive to provide a great positive shareable experience to all of our guests.鈥�
Everyone who agreed to an interview said business is down, but crime and violence are up substantially. Foot traffic is also on the decrease and young women in particular increasingly won鈥檛 travel to shows by themselves. Musicians from other countries who tour the world for a living are overwhelmed by what they see.
Wendythirteen has worked in music promotion for 20 years, having booked shows at numerous venues across the Downtown Eastside, many of which closed around the arrival of the 2010 Winter Olympics.
She now promotes gigs at Pats Pub near Hastings Street and Dunlevy Avenue, where a 50-year-old Surrey man was shot Sept. 22.聽
She was verbally attacked by a handful of young gang members while working at Pats the night before: words were exchanged, bottles were thrown and threats were made.
It鈥檚 in this context that Wendythirteen has seen the one of the biggest shifts in the neighbourhood over the last three years. She says a code that once existed even among hardened criminals and drug users 鈥� don鈥檛 use in front of kids, don鈥檛 steal in your own neighbourhood, leave the elderly alone 鈥� has vanished.
Wendythirteen suggests her attackers on Sept. 21 were likely all around the age of 20.
鈥淚鈥檓 a tough girl, but there鈥檚 a lot of knives and machetes around these days,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he entitlement and the rudeness of the addict these days is beyond anything I鈥檝e seen.鈥�
Her crowds are decreasing, though hard numbers weren鈥檛 provided. Wendythirteen attributes those dips to two factors: young people leaving the city because of unaffordability and fear of the neighbourhood. Her punk and metal crowds aren鈥檛 as affected as the older people who take in jazz and blues gigs.
Owners of the Patricia Hotel, where Pat鈥檚 Pub is located, Daryl Nelson and his sister Lindsay Thomas聽because of increased theft and violence in the area.
Jason Puder and Abelardo Mayoral-Fierros have 25 years鈥� worth of promoting between them, a span that鈥檚 seen the two Vancouverites bring more than 1,500 shows to 麻豆传媒映画venues: the Rickshaw, Astoria, Pats Pub, Pub 340, Red Room and along the Granville Strip.
Promoter Jason Puder outside the Astoria on East Hastings. Photo by Dan Toulgoet/麻豆传媒映画Courier
The majority of Puder鈥檚 bookings are at the Astoria, where thousands of dollars鈥� worth of musical equipment was stolen from a vehicle on Sept. 20. In mid-August, Puder witnessed a man ride his bike through a crowd outside the venue while shooting bear spray at everyone in the vicinity.
Three fires in surrounding properties happened around the same time.
Puder also organizes Western Canada鈥檚 largest metal, punk and hardcore gathering, the Modified Ghost Festival. The 2018 iteration was the festival鈥檚 most successful over its four-year run, drawing people from across the globe.
The five-day festival wasn鈥檛 20 minutes old when someone tried to break into a tour bus parked next to the Rickshaw.
鈥淭he people that had weeklong passes 鈥� some from the States, some from Europe, some from other parts of Canada 鈥� they were totally mind boggled,鈥� Puder said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 one thing if you鈥檙e here for a night, it鈥檚 another if you鈥檙e in the area every night for five days.鈥�
Mayoral-Fierros鈥� experiences in the area are largely the same. International bands usually revert to sarcasm and mockery when they arrive at venues to cover up their initial reticence to perform in the area.
It鈥檚 after that point that the difficult questions arise.
鈥淔irst it鈥檚 shock,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hen the comments come around, 鈥榃hy doesn鈥檛 someone do something about this?鈥欌��
