Vancouver’s clampdown on rock n’ roll

Wendy Thirteen, manager of punk venue the Cobalt in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, speaks to a crowd one last time before her venue is shut down by the city, in this scene from No Fun City. Photo courtesy Melissa James.

No Fun City
Directed by Melissa James and Kate Kroll, 2010
85 Minutes
Plays at The Lo Pub Oct. 10 at 9:30 p.m.


There’s a reason why Canada’s third largest city has been officially dubbed the “No Fun City.”

Vancouver’s independent music scene is in a state of crisis: venues are shutting down as fast as they are popping up, local bands are being stifled because of a thin selection of venues to play in and critics argue that local government seems content to let the city’s independent music scene fall by the wayside.

Melissa James and Kate Kroll’s documentary No Fun City explores just how Vancouver got its unbecoming moniker, and how municipal politics, gentrification and NIMBY-ism continue to obliterate the vibrant cultural scene in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. (It’s worth mentioning this area continues to be called “Canada’s poorest area code”).

James and Kroll explore this decay through the eyes of some of the area’s biggest movers and shakers: Wendy Thirteen, manager of the punk-metal venue the Cobalt, Malice Liveit, an independent promoter, and David Duprey, a developer/entrepreneur.

And it seems none of them can catch a break.

Liveit tried to open a legitimate skateshop and performance venue, signing much of his life away on a 10-year lease, only to be kicked out by the city little more than a year later. His landlord is now suing him for close to a $1-million for the rest of his lease.

Thirteen, whose venue is practically the last refuge for the punk and alternative scene in the city, falls victim to gentrification and multi-million dollar condo projects turning a poverty-stricken area along Vancouver’s waterfront into an upper-class fortress. They don’t like punk rock and they don’t like her venue.

And Duprey, well he keeps getting spun around in bureaucratic red tape trying to redevelop and revitalize dilapidated buildings into art hubs. In Vancouver, apparently one needs a permit to dance.

They’re trying to find a way to make it work, but the city just wont listen, forcing them, and others, to resort to a DIY subculture, organizing illegal shows in parkades and underground warehouses.

No Fun City is a heartbreaking display of bureaucracy burying the passion of people whose life revolves around music and the community it creates.

Still, it’s rewarding to see that the passion even exists, and that though they’re the little guys getting stepped on by The Man, their resilience and determination continue to ring out long after they’re forced to unplug their speakers.

For more information, visit www.nofuncity.org.

Trailer:

No Fun City - Trailer 2010 from melissa on Vimeo.