Mile End venue closes; owners fear for music scene
City’s intimate concert halls depend on live crowds, beer sales to stay afloat
It’s the second Montreal concert venue to close in as many weeks, and Mauro Pezzente and Kiva Stimac fear there may be more.
“Everybody is in jeopardy,” Pezzente said. “Some other venues are having a harder time than we are.”
Last week, it was Montreal’s storied House of Jazz. This week, it’s La Vitrola, one of three Mile End venues owned by Pezzente and Stimac, who also run Casa del Popolo and La Sala Rossa — intimate concert halls that have been mainstays of Montreal’s thriving indie music scene over the past two decades.
The future of the latter two venues is also in question; Pezzente and Stimac have been forced to rethink their entire business plan in light of the pandemic.
The problem is simple enough. “We can’t pay our rent, because we’re not open,” Stimac said. “I think a lot of people don’t understand that for small venues like us, the only way we stay afloat is by selling beer. We’re always working on staying afloat — all 20 years we’ve been around. So the minute the income stops coming in, we can’t pay anybody.”
The Quebec government recently allowed bars to reopen with up to 50 customers at a time, but even that number is not realistic once you incorporate social distancing rules into concert halls, which for rock shows are often packed with people, shoulder to shoulder.
“It would be unsafe and irresponsible for small venues to open — all those people, in a tiny room together,” Stimac said. “With social distancing, we could have four or five people to watch a show.
“And we’re basically not allowed to sell alcohol, the way the government has it set up. People are only allowed to walk in, sit down and watch the show, and walk out.”
“We’re not saying we don’t want social distancing,” Pezzente said. “But the way things have to be now, it’s not economically viable.”
Pezzente is also a member of revered Montreal post-rock band Godspeed You! Black Emperor, which has seen its 2020 tour schedule evaporate.
With concerts out of the question and La Vitrola gone, Pezzente and Stimac are reimagining their other two venues in a desperate bid to get some income coming in.
The stage is being dismounted at Casa del Popolo, which was previously divided into a concert space and a bar-restaurant area serving vegetarian fare. The live-show side is being transformed into a shop selling hundreds of concert posters Stimac has designed over the years, as well as stationery, cards and wares by local artisans.
They are constructing a few enclosed booths on the restaurant side, and are awaiting a permit to install a large terrasse out front — in addition to one in the back — for people to eat and drink safely.
La Sala Rossa is available to rent to music acts or others for rehearsals or live-streamed events.
“We have the equipment to do live streaming and recording,” Pezzente said, “and there are grants for live recording and to do shows virtually.”
Whether bands will take them up on the offer is anybody’s guess. But Pezzente and Stimac don’t have many options: the government isn’t offering assistance to small concert venue operators.
“Theatre gets grants to survive without alcohol sales,” Pezzente said, “yet we’re not allowed. We’re not seen as the same kind of culture.”
“We’re both extremely anxious,” Stimac said. “People are reopening because of economics — woohoo. For me, it’s a giant responsibility, especially to our staff. I feel very anxious about opening the bar side (of Casa del Popolo), but we have no choice. We have to start making money. The landlord wants to be paid.”