Gastown Happenings: Renovated Lamplighter Pub re-opens
created on Thu, 2008-01-10 16:16
Welcome to Gastown Happenings, a new category I spontaneously decided to create :P We love our office here at 1 Alexander, looking out over the Port of Vancouver, the Seabus, and Canada Place on one side, and over the end of Gastown and the Gassy Jack statue out the other side. This corner of Vancouver is becoming a great center of art, design, and food, along with lots of interesting tech / digital media companies that are setting up shop.
I went to check out the Lamplighter Pub -- it's been totally renovated from top to bottom, and I was there checking it out as a venue for LaunchParty Vancouver (LPV 3 coming up on Jan. 25th).
I didn't make it there for lunch today, but I plan to check it out in the future -- today was the first day they were open for lunch. It's quite a large place, which is excellent considering it's often tough to fit a Drupal User Group or DemoCamp Vancouver crowd into the excellent but tiny Six Acres or the always busy Irish Heather.
It used to be very much a pitchers of beer and bottles of Canadian kind of place, but they've got a decent set of beer on tap, and I was impressed by the wine menu, which was small but had a good selection of BC and California wines.
That's it from Gastown for today. Expect to check out the Lamplighter in the coming weeks if you happen to drop by the Raincity offices for any of the upcoming events.
The Lamplighter, Dominion Hotel and Evictions
I won't be going to this place for the simple fact that this new Lamplighter is the death of a local music venue and made a bunch of people homeless. I really don't consider this ethical to promote something. I'll be boycotting any event that happens here, and I encourage other people to do the same.
http://onlymagazine.ca/News/evictions-at-the-dominion
BTW, you made Morning Brew
http://www.beyondrobson.com/news/2008/01/morning_brew_january_11th/
Thanks
I didn't know the backstory here. I had been to the Lamplighter several times before and was treated rudely a couple of times, so I didn't have much connection to the "old" Lamplighter.
Re: the death of a local music venue. This is unfortunate, but you have to consider that the owners had a reason to sell. There is no special protection for any business. I know that I've made a decision to go to more live shows this year -- so direct support of venues is what is needed.
Re: homeless -- this is the toughest part. I wrestle with this just being in Gastown. I hope to cover all sides of Gastown in some of my upcoming posts in this category. I support more initiatives to help the homeless in Vancouver, but the status quo isn't really an option either (much like my previous point). I think highlighting the issues and raising their profile is a more effective tool.
chill out man
Joe, you are so fucking dramatic.
I was there last night and asked about the music, they are having live music 4 nights a week starting next month when the renos are done and the kitchen is in.
And dood, people make themselves homeless. And, after working in the Gastown area for the past decade I welcome the restoration of historic buildings and the eviction of cracked out zombie junkie waste cases.
Homelessness is a shame and it is a problem in the east side. No doubt. However the problem is NOT going to be solved by private company who runs fucking bars and nor should it be. Its a social issue that should be addressed by gov't.
Jazzzzz !
Last time I went there, it was just before the closing, at the Jazz festival in Gastown. There was a great ambiance, and I can only hope that this ambiance will still be there after renovating the place !
That's sad about the evictions though.
broken link
looks like the LPV link is broken. here it is again:
http://www.launchpartyhq.com/news/2008/01/11/check-it-launch-party-vanco...
Thanks
fixed!
Used to have great shows
in an earlier age as the Town Pump. I'm probably showing my age :)
I remember seeing Art Bergman, Colin James, No Means No, Richard Thompson, Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers, ...
Looks like they painted over all of the 8ft tall exterior Oak paneling and trim that was such an architectural feature of the building. Guess it was beyond salvaging, too bad.
boo. but such is life in an urban centre
I was choked to see this magical, dirty, grungy, grimy, epic music hotspot get turfed.
It's been a theme to ask the local musicians on ThisCityRocks about the lack of music venues in this town (good ones, that is), and this place was always on the top of the radar. boo.
That all said, I suppose I could be looking forward to the new space... the owners have a few places around town, so at least we can *hope* they get some things right? aka - get some stellar live music and make it a point to feature local bands!! ...Looks like they have Guinness on tap, so they at least have that going for them. :P
And Izzie Egan is opening her art gallery in this building as well in Feb... but that's for another "Gastown Happenings" post!
There will be live entertainment...
...when Boris chugs a few and shows us his Guitar Hero skillz oh yeah...
Great blog category, anything that promos Vancouver is great in my blook-slash-blog