I was visiting UBC recently and was reminded of all the awesome gigs I saw there. The sub ballroom has some good memories, and is probably the most identifiable UBC venue. But for me the best place to see a show was the Thunderbird ice arena. In 1986 I saw the Cramps play the there, and it was one of the best shows I have ever seen.
I had Bad Music for Bad People on repeat in my Walkman and when I heard the Cramps were playing an all ages show, I saved up my money and bought a ticket at Glass Onion record shop in Richmond. I also bought The Cramps Totally Destroy Seattle, which I recently saw selling at Dandelion Records for $600!
We had no way of getting there being only 13 so like the punk rockers we were we had to have my friends parents drop us off right in front of the building. What I liked about the venue was it was a very clean and suburban location crawling with people in mohawks and Braineater t-shirts. I had no idea Vancouver had such a Discharge type punk population. Everywhere you looked there was teenage anarchy and I loved it.
I remember buying a Cramps full colour zine, a sticker, people drinking booze out of fake binoculars and being amazed by Lux and Poison. The Ice arena is a rad venue years later I saw Fugazi at a North Van arena and that was cool as well, as you could stand on the floor or sit just about anywhere in the stands. The Thunderbird arena is still there and has been updated into a great hockey venue, and they still play gigs there, so go out to UBC make some memories.
