The venue itself plays a large factor in determining the experience that one will have at a concert. Unless you can completely ignore every external factor and focus solely on the music, but the truth is that most people are not like that. At all. Atmosphere has a determining hand in how enjoyable the concert is. A poor atmosphere with unruly, idiotic people and the experience of the show changes greatly. A great atmosphere in a venue with competent, friendly staff generally leaves a better impression, even if the live performance was not that great.
Edmonton has numerous venues for live music. In fact, several more than I’ve even come close to visiting. Edmonton is also gaining the recognition it deserves as a hotbed for live metal performances. There are a core few venues that seem to host metal shows, and these are my thoughts regarding experiences in each venue:
Perhaps better known as the home of the Edmonton Oilers hockey team. Which should be a clue right there that a hockey arena is not an ideal venue for live music. This fact doesn’t seem to matter, as Rexall Place hosts numerous large-drawing shows from every genre of music. Bigger metal acts such as Ozzy, Slayer, Iron Maiden and Metallica have all played at Rexall. Being an arena, the sound is not great unless you are on the floor or in the lower bowl of seating. While plenty of parking is available, it’s expensive. Public transit access is good, with the LRT running almost to the door, but the neighbourhood is known for attracting some unsavory characters to the LRT itself. So be cautious if you choose to use the transit. I’ve had issues with security being overzealous for no reason. If you’re looking to buy beverages, expect long line-ups, warm, overpriced, watered-down beer and a cut-off that happens before the headlining band takes the stage. Depending on the concert, the floor area can either be general admission or assigned seating.
Overall, Rexall Place gets a 2.5 out of 5.
Shaw Conference Centre
Located downtown, parking is at a premium. The best bet is an underground parkade, which is expensive but relatively secure. Due to the concert hall being in a larger venue, access from inside is good, and allows for a warm area to wait for doors to open in the winter. LRT and bus access to this venue is also good, but the neighbourhood a few short blocks away is not, so make sure you know where you are going. Usually there is a zero re-entry policy in effect and pat-down searches upon arrival. If you’re a smoker, expect to wait to get outside and expect to be corralled into a tiny area. The stage opens up into a large, general admission floor area with limited areas of bleacher-style seating on each side. If you want a good view, get yourself on the floor somewhere. Beer gardens are located at the very back of the venue, and unless it’s a no-minors event, you won’t be allowed out of the beer gardens with a beverage. The view from the beer gardens is non-existent and the bar tenders are some of the slowest I have ever had the displeasure of coming across, with the result being ridiculously long lines, warm drinks and dissatisfied customers. The sound is okay, but not great. While smaller than Rexall Place, this is probably the second largest venue to see live music in the city.
Overall, the Shaw Conference Centre gets a 3 out of 5.
Edmonton Expo Centre
Located near Rexall Place, the name should be a dead giveaway that this will not be an ideal set-up for live music. It is a conglomerate of different halls, which work well for expositions and similar events, but do not (in my opinion) work well for music. With the same parking and transit access as Rexall Place, getting to the venue is not an issue. The real issues begin once you get inside. There was no coat check anywhere. In a cold climate, you would expect some kind of coat check in a large venue. I held a general admission ticket to the show I attended at this venue. Upon arriving on the floor, I discovered that the beer gardens were a tiny area at the back of the floor, offering no view of the stage. The beer gardens smelled like a barn, likely due to the fact that they had just held a rodeo in the same venue a few days prior. While this didn’t bother me, it seemed to bother a lot of other patrons. Even more irritating, while those with general admission tickets were not allowed to leave the beer gardens and go onto the rest of the floor with beverages, those who had assigned seats could wander everywhere else around the venue with beverages. The amount of disorganization on the part of the staff was astounding, creating several very angry concert-goers. Through an incident which should have been simple to resolve, we were treated with extreme disrespect and outright rudeness from staff. The sound in the venue is echo-y, and myself and my friends were so exasperated by the staff, the inadequacy of the planning and the venue itself that we did not even stay to watch the headliner finish playing. I will not be back to this venue for live music.
Overall, the Edmonton Expo Centre gets a 1 out of 5, which feels somewhat generous.
Eds
(Eds Rec Room, Reds...) This venue is located inside West Edmonton Mall, and is currently closed while undergoing renovations. I am not entirely sure that it will re-open as a concert venue, but I have high hopes, as it is a pretty decent venue and draws good metal acts. Parking is fairly easy to find, as it doubles as mall parking with additional overflow parking across the street. Unlike some other venues, it’s also free. West Edmonton Mall is also a major transit hub for busses, so as long as you’re aware of what time the last busses run or you’re willing to take a cab (of which there are an abundance after shows), you won’t have a problem with transportation. Shows are general admission, but if you are under the age of eighteen, be aware that you will probably be corralled into a separate area from everyone else with a limited view of the stage. While I personally believe that there needs to be more disclosure about this fact to patrons before arriving at the venue, and perhaps discounted tickets for minors, this does not happen. The biggest complaint that emerges time after time about the venue is the fact that there are a few large, view obstructing pillars on the floor in front of the stage. (Perhaps something will be done to address this during renovations?) There is a bar area on the floor, and one behind the tiers of tables and chairs at the back of the floor. If one arrives early, you can secure a good seat at these tables with a good view of the stage. The merchandise area is somewhat out of the way, near the entrance and coat check area. The layout of the venue is quite unusual compared to anything else I have seen, but seems to work reasonably well. Often times, mandatory coat checks are in place, which are not disclosed until you are inside and which seem like a blatant money grab from management if it happens to be winter since patrons are forced to wait outside and doors are often late to open. This venue has had it’s share of issues with disorganized staff and security guards who have little or no security training. The issue with security guards has seemed to correct itself the last few times I attended shows at Eds due to the hiring of professionals. The venue has adopted a policy of no stage-diving or ridiculous moshing, which is appropriate if you have bore witness to some of the idiotic stunts that have taken place at past shows here. The sound is usually pretty good in this venue, and it seemed to have been improving in terms of policies and consistency in enforcing policies lately.
Overall, Eds gets a 4 out of 5.
Starlite Room
Starlite Room is located downtown, with relatively easy public transit access. There is a parking lot beside the venue, which is quite affordable if you arrive after six in the evening. It is also located beside an after-hours club, which, if you’re attending a weekend show, be prepared to deal with propositions to buy drugs from patrons of that particular club. Also be aware that being located downtown, you will likely have to deal with homeless people looking for change and cigarettes, although the security at the Starlite Room have done a reasonable job of cracking down on as of late. This is a ‘members only’ club. If you do not have a membership, be prepared to pay five dollars for a yearly membership card. On the upside, this membership is good to get yourself and a friend in the door and often a metal-head arriving on his or her own will be generous enough to let you in on their membership if you make friends before the show. The Starlite Room used to draw a large number of medium-sized metal shows, but lately it seems to have focused on other genres of music. The venue itself is fairly well set up for live music, with a sloping floor that allows a good vantage point of the stage from almost anywhere in the room. I haven’t had too many complaints about sound in the Starlite Room and I have been to the venue too many times to count. There are several stairs to navigate to various points in the venue, but these provide some separation of the merchandise area, washrooms, various bars and the small seating area from the floor. It is easy to find a bar in this venue. There are two main bars and several small ones located throughout. This is another venue that fails from inconsistency of enforcement of policies and various other things. You never quite know which door will be used as entry for the main event, as the building is divided into a few smaller venues that may or may not be open, or may or may not be hosting a different event on the same night. The policy on re-entry can be quite lenient, or quite strict. Some shows you are allowed re-entry, allowing for merchandise to be dropped off at a car in the parking lot and easy access to the sidewalk for smokers or those looking to grab some fresh air. Fresh air is in short supply in this venue, as there does not seem to be any system for proper ventilation and the temperature inside often rises to sickening levels. During shows in which there is a no re-entrance policy in effect, smokers are funneled down a narrow set of stairs (which also lead to the washrooms), and into a tiny, fenced in alley, creating a backlog of annoyed patrons. While I can not comment on the state of the men’s washrooms in this building, the women’s washrooms offer the feeling of a slight death-trap with doors that don’t always close and toilets that seem to have been broken for years. There used to be several security guards in this venue who let power go to their heads and seemed to enjoy making people miserable, but lately the security has been pretty reasonable. Just be aware that depending on the night, you never know what you’re going to get in terms of policies regarding re-entry, smoking areas and cameras.
Overall, the Starlite Room gets 3.5 out of 5.
The Pawnshop
The Pawnshop is located on Whyte Avenue, which is a hinderance in some ways and fantastic in others. Mostly fantastic if you are the type of person who enjoys being able to hop to another bar after the show, but a hinderance if you don’t particularly enjoy large crowds of young, very drunk, party-going types. That being said, attending a show at The Pawnshop on a weeknight is totally different from attending a show on a weekend, due to the sheer concentration of bars and clubs of every type along Whyte Avenue. Free, street parking is often difficult to find and public transit access is not that great, reliant on un-reliable busses that run limited routes in the evenings. There is a parking lot located a block away that offers cheap parking in the evenings. The Pawnshop is a small venue, located in the upstairs area of a building. The security guards here have always been friendly, reasonable and able to do their jobs properly when trouble arises. The venue is L-shaped, which allows for an area to stay hidden away from the stage with booths and tables, and an area directly in front of the stage that has a few long tables and stools to sit on at the back. While the floor area in front of the stage is quite small, this setup seems to work well for this venue. If you like being in close proximity to the stage, this is offered as you can literally stand right against it, close enough to have the performing musicians step on your fingers if you’re not careful. There is reasonable ventilation in the building, so unless you’re at the very front of the floor, you might not even feel the need to remove a jacket or hoodie. While the washrooms could use a little bit of fixing, this is my only real complaint about the Pawnshop. It seems to have become the premier venue for lesser-known metal bands (and other acts as well), hosting numerous shows each month in an intimate setting. It’s easy to meet band members both outside and mingling with the crowd and generally has a good atmosphere.
Overall, The Pawnshop gets a 4.5 out of 5.
Rendezvous Pub
Located on Stony Plain Road, the Rendezvous Pub is a small venue, located out of the way, that hosts a number of local metal shows. The charm of this bar is that some of the staff, and I believe one of the owners, are metal-heads themselves. It’s small and a bit of a dive, but a reasonable place to see smaller, local acts. The stage is small, but it allows for an intimate, pub atmosphere. Even during shows, one side of the bar seems to be taken up by neighborhood regulars, but they do not seem to mind that a metal act takes over for the night. Drinks are reasonably priced and there is a small parking lot out front. There are several tables available for those who would rather not be part of a pit, or who would rather have a conversation with friends. This is more of a place for metal-heads to hang out with acquaintances while catching a local show than anything else, but it works for what it is. Be aware that this venue is not in the greatest area of the city, evidenced by the number of adult-oriented stores mere blocks away. With the closure of a few other similar small venues in the city, it isn’t a bad option to see a local show.
Overall, the Rendezvous Pub gets a 3.5 out of 5.
Avenue Theatre
While the Avenue Theatre’s website advertises it as being located in the ‘arts driven’ community along 118th Avenue, this seems like a stretch for those of us who remember 118th Ave before the city took massive steps to re-brand the area. In all honesty, this is still one of the worst areas of the city, and not a place that most people feel comfortable in after dark. There is no dedicated parking area for the venue, making street parking in the surrounding blocks the only real option. (And leaving some to wonder if they will come back to an intact vehicle). The entrance area to the venue is one big, confused, crowded mess with limited space in which to display merchandise, let patrons in and out, perform security checks and have bars set up. Located in a huge room that began life as a movie theatre in the 1950’s, it seems impossible that the stage and floor area can feel so crowded and unwelcoming. Cement floors are always somewhat scary in a venue, due to how slippery they become when covered in spilled alcohol and inevitable bruises they cause if one gets knocked down in the pit. Whether it was the neighbourhood, or the venue’s past as the Avenue Skatepark, I found the patrons to be some of the rudest, sketchiest people I have personally ever encountered at a metal show. Security is non-existent when they need to be, which is somewhat understandable when the security staff seem to be a crowd of volunteers without any real training. Perhaps it is saying something to the crowd and the venue itself when the ‘best’ beer offered for sale is Pabst Blue Ribbon. Unless a metal band plays here that I absolutely have to see, this is a venue that I am not likely to visit again. The layout just did not work for what they tried to set up at the show I attended. While there is merit in trying to create a good venue in an awful neighbourhood and draw good shows, the Avenue Theatre still has lot of work to do.
Overall, the Avenue Theatre gets a 1.5 out of 5.
For those of you in the local scene that may have read this and visited any of these venues, do you agree? Do you disagree? Anything pressingly urgent that has been left out?
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| Image from the Pawn Shop's website. |
