Are we fun yet?
Makers of the documentary No Fun City want to know if Vancouver has shed its bad reputation
Vancouver circa 2009: Throngs of punks and metal heads cram into the Cobalt on Main Street, attending a pre- emptive wake for the hardcore music venue on the verge of shutting down.
A few blocks away, Rickshaw Theatre owner David Duprey vents his frustration at the municipal and provincial bureaucracies poised to derail his plans to revive the historic East Hastings Street theatre to host live music.
And in basements, parking garages and derelict industrial spaces all over the city, sweaty 20- somethings pack into underground venues, searching for a place to stay out late, play their music loud and avoid detection by police.
It’s No Fun City at its apex, captured on camera by filmmakers Melissa James and Kate Kroll in their 2010 documentary exploring Vancouver’s underground music culture and the struggle to establish legitimate venues.
Named for the bad- rep alias that’s dogged Vancouver for decades, No Fun City has screened at festivals around the world, striking a particular chord with audiences in London, England, and New York, which both lost iconic venues in the Hammersmith Palais and CBGB, says James.
“Surprisingly, people really engaged,” she says of the international response.
“I think the term No Fun City is one we’ve heard ad nauseam and it’s something we identify with here in Vancouver, but when you strip the title off, what the film is really about is the lack of spaces for young musicians or loud bands or whomever to play and to be heard ... and it affects cities around the world.”
The thrust of the film is so universal, James notes, a woman in Korea is translating it so it can be shown there.
Closer to home, things are looking up since No Fun City’s release — the
We’re More Fun City, I wouldn’t say No Fun City is dead. It’s like what Churchill said: it’s not the beginning of the end but it’s the end of the beginning.
DAVID DUPREY RICKSHAW THEATRE OWNER
Cobalt lives on under new management, the Rickshaw gained a permanent liquor licence, and a review of city bylaws is underway. With that in mind, James and Kroll decided it was time to check up on the issues that inspired the film with a screening and panel discussion at the Waldorf this Sunday. Part of the Waldorf’s Theatre Church series, curated by Kroll, No Fun City: Where Are We Now asks how far Vancouver has come in shedding its dour reputation. Panelists include the Rickshaw’s Duprey, former Cobalt manager Wendy Thirteen and park board commissioner Sarah Blyth.
There’s still work to be done. Asked what he’ll bring to the panel, Duprey half- jokes: “My tears.”
While recent victories include liquor licences granted to the Rickshaw and Rio theatres and a commitment from city hall to assess venues on a case- bycase basis, Duprey says he still looks at less- regulated cities, such as Portland, Seattle and Toronto, with envy.
“We’re More Fun City, I wouldn’t say No Fun City is dead,” he says. “It’s like what Churchill said: it’s not the beginning of the end but it’s the end of the beginning.”
Duprey notes the city seems to have stalled on efforts to officially change the raft of outdated regulations, which govern everything from venue capacity to liquor consumption to dancing. Some older bars have found new life, such as the American Hotel re- emerging as the Electric Owl and the Waldorf’s revamp, he says, but zoning bylaws still prevent new venues from cropping up in industrial areas, where proponents argue music- lovers could congregate without disturbing the neighbours.
“Until we can do a lot of the stuff they do in Portland or Toronto — you know, where an entrepreneur has an idea and ... they can do it with the blessing of the city, and they can pay their taxes and be legitimate — until that happens, we’re going to always be in the same situation,” he says.
“Meanwhile, there’s a billion 21- yearolds that want to have some experimental theatre somewhere.”
If they can’t find it here, Duprey says, they’ll leave.
For the city’s part, Coun. Heather Deal, liaison to the city’s arts and culture policy council, maintains staff are working on toning down regulations that prohibit organic expansion of cultural spaces, but, like everything in bureaucracy, it’s going to take time.
“There are a lot of moving pieces,” she said. The city must work with the province around liquor licensing while industrial spaces are protected at the regional level for jobs. The city has made some steps forward, such as allotting 10,000 sq. ft of artists’ spaces and placing arts and culture programming in vacant field houses.
However, Deal couldn’t say where the city is on its timeline of its regulatory review of cultural spaces, the third phase of which is scheduled to go to council in 2013.
“I do know that staff have been working very hard on this and they’re feeling they’re going to have something for us in the not- too- distant future, but I don’t have any details at this time,” she said.
For filmmaker James, she’s curious to see what people have to say about Vancouver’s progress on Sunday, noting a previous attempt to hold the event at the Rio Theatre was cancelled when it temporarily lost the right to show films while negotiating with the province around its liquor licence. Still, she’s optimistic the city is on the right path.
“I don’t have the same feeling any more when I’m here. It seems like it’s more lively.”