For kids who want to kick out the jams, or watch their friends kick out said jams, the options in Vancouver are few. The vast majority of music venues in Vancouver serve alcohol and are only open to those 19 years and older, and what underage venues do exist are often less than legitimate.
That’s why a group of local community-minded musicians and music lovers have set out to create an all-ages music venue where budding musicians and young people could have a safe, drug- and alcohol-free environment to create and experience live music.
The Safe Amplification Society has been putting on all-ages shows at their rented Commercial and Venables location for the past year and a half, as well as workshops teaching kids how to put together their own magazine and screen print their own shirts.
The group’s directors are now hoping to find a permanent, subsidized home with the help of the City of Vancouver, and Vancouver voters.
Ryan McCormick is one of Safe Amp’s directors, and says the non-profit society is hoping the City of Vancouver considers including the group’s proposal for a permanent all-ages music and cultural centre in the city’s 2015-2018 capital plan, which will be voted on as part of the municipal election on Nov. 15.
Currently Safe Amp rents space at Astorino’s banquet hall from the Britannia Community Centre, and must pay market rental prices. As a result, the non-profit society has to rely completely on its 100-person-strong volunteer base to put on shows and run the space.
“Imagine a library, where all the librarians are volunteers, and the librarians then have to pay to market rent to keep the library open,” says McCormick. “The sheer volume of volunteer hours is really important to recognize, but you can’t rely on that forever.”
Safe Amp has put together a feasibility study for a permanent home, and it is the group’s hope the City of Vancouver will lease them one of the many city-owned buildings at well below market value.
McCormick said the ideal space would be close to secondary schools and public transit, and be in a neighbourhood where loud music would occasionally be tolerated.
Director Mark Pickersgill says having a permanent, affordable home would make the organization sustainable, giving Vancouver’s kids a safe place to experience music for years to come.
“The majority of the community see a benefit to what we do,” he says. “It’s a positive outlet.”
Volunteer coordinator Jessi Zapton says having paid staff would also allow Safe Amp to expand their workshop and after-school programming.
Inclusion in the 2015-2018 capital plan is just the first step, however. The plan will need to be approved by voters on Nov. 15.
“We have skate parks, and basketball courts, but I think an all-ages music venue is something the people of Vancouver would like to see,” says McCormick.
