It’s impossible to sum up 30 years of music at one venue.
Whether you knew it as The Bronx, The Rev, Lush, or now as Starlite Room, the stalwart old building that once housed the old Citadel Theatre has seen a dizzying range of acts, many of which have gone on to much bigger venues. The young Nirvana and Green Day first played Edmonton on that stage, as did Marianas Trench, Avenged Sevenfold, Questlove and Gwar.
While almost everyone picks the Nirvana concert (with its small turnout) as the missed opportunity of a lifetime, often the most indelible shows were the ones that went under the radar: black metal legends Watain and Mayhem, local heroes The Smalls, Chicago noise rockers The Jesus Lizard.
We asked several musicians playing the 30th anniversary of the venue on Saturday about their favourite memories of the space:
Mad Bomber Society, featuring singer/guitarist Rich Liukko (left), will perform at the Starlite Room’s 30th anniversary Saturday.
Angie Anderson /
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Richard Liukko, Mad Bomber Society: Bill Merrick at the soundboard turned to me and said: “Rich what are you doing?” I replied: “I’m doing lights for SNFU.” He said: “No one does lights for SNFU.” I said: “Trust me.” He did. The band started off with a low bass drone courtesy Curtis Creager, accompanied by a rumbling rolling floor tom from Jon Card, best punk drummer in the west. Next came Belke’s guitars chugging away on the low E. The crowd was getting antsier. I kept the lights low and the band silhouetted from behind. Artsier. There was a motion at the side of the stage. The figure of Chi Pig popped up onstage and started: “There’s a fire at the end of the block…”.
A microsecond pause before, in one swift move, I hit all the lights to full bright and flew out of the sound booth and into the pit. It was 1992 and SNFU was back in action. The pit went from the front of the stage to the end of the floor. Five or six hundred hardcore fans rejuvenated by the reunion of our favourite band. I didn’t touch the light board again and at the end of the night Bill turned to me and said: “Great job, Rich, you do know how to do lights for SNFU.” Sweat, energy, electricity, volume, and positivity. A favourite memory of the Bronx amongst the dozens of inspirational moments.
Alan Levesque of Voice Industrie, performing at the Starlite Room’s 30th anniversary on Saturday.
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Alan Levesque, Voice Industrie: The most memorable show for me in that old building was no doubt our first show ever as Voice Industrie at the Bronx in 1992. Then keyboardists Alex Brodsky, Lance White, and drummer Richard Abbass and I prepared and rehearsed for about three years to suss out any potential issues that the computers and normally studio-homed electronic gear might throw at us in the harsh live environment. Although we were quite prepared and confident at show time and the set started off well, the computer and samplers began to behave erratically and our third song data failed to load.
Despite everything we’d done to prepare, the one thing we never factored in was stage fog. Lots of it! The choking fog was coating the surfaces of the removable drives and floppy diskettes! After a short technical delay, we were somehow miraculously able to finish our set. As for my favourite performance at the Starlite, it would have to be Voice Industrie opening for KMFDM in 2005. KMFDM, I mean come on! Who doesn’t want to do that all day long?
Scott Lingley, Paul James Coutts & Cowls: There’s no way that I can single out a show from the three decades I’ve been going to the venue variously known as the Bronx/Rev/Starlite Room, but one does come readily to mind: Chicago noise weirdos The Jesus Lizard at the Rev in 1997. The Lizard was notoriously fronted by David Yow, whose vocal delivery and demeanour recalled that of an erratic and volatile street person.
As the band grinded out its abrasive alt-rock, Yow yowled and stalked, crawled and writhed, tossed lit cigarettes into the crowd and, in a fit of spontaneity, sought out the opening band’s guitarist in the audience, pulled down his pants and sang into his penis. Yow’s aggressive crowd-crawling and exertions finally proved too much for his own tattered trousers, which had split completely up the back and fell off his body as the final chords of the last song rang out.
Tavis Edwards, L.A.M.S: The Bronx was more than a bar or a clubhouse, it was a home. I had a million good times that I remember, and a million that I don’t. Many of my lifelong friendships were formed within that space. The kind of place that, even though you worked there, your days off were spent there too. I rarely got a cheque because on my days off my money went right back into the never-ending party.
Oh… and all the shows I’ve been lucky enough to play in that venue. The most memorable evening for me at the Bronx was when I was having a bummer night until I was introduced to a really cute lady. We got to talking, then laughing, then a ton of China White shooters; our daughter is at university now.
Shout Out Out Out Out will perform at the Starlite Room’s 30th anniversary Saturday.
Levi Menchak /
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PREVIEW
The Starlite Room Celebrates 30 Years
With: Shout Out Out Out Out, Mad Bomber Society, Voice Industrie, Chixdiggit, L.A.M.S, Paul James Coutts & Cowls
When: Saturday at 7 p.m.
Where: Starlite Room, 10030 102 St.
Tickets: $25, available at the door or in advance from the Starlite website