The saddest part about Clark Hall Pub’s indefinite closure on June 29 is the sudden loss of one of the few on-campus venues for musicians to play, said Andrew Pasco, Sci ’06 and Clark’s former marketing and entertainment director.
“When I first started at Clark, it was really big with campus bands and a few of the town bands,” Pasco said. “It’s a good opportunity for bands starting out. We usually open it up for any campus bands that want to play. If they contact us and want a venue and tell us they’ll bring a few friends out, we’ll usually give them a date.”
Pasco said campus bands such as Fat Robot, Jack Kerouac Knapsack Band, the Radical Dudez and Bedouin Soundclash all got their start on Clark’s stage. In some ways, the pub’s closure seems like the end of an already diminishing music scene.
Former mangers and staff of Clark Hall Pub aren’t the only ones left high and dry. Pasco said that, after initial EngSoc e-mail dismissing staff, he could no longer access the Clark e-mail account and was therefore unable to contact bands and artists who he’d set up shows with.
Although EngSoc’s vice president (operations) Rob MacNamara told Pasco he sent out a mass e-mail to all of the contacts on the pub’s e-mail account in early August, Pasco isn’t convinced.
“There’s no way I know that there are bands that don’t know that they won’t be playing,” he said. “Last year we had some really, really high-calibre musicians playing here, and we feel like that’s been lost, especially since we weren’t able to tell them personally that it’s closed.”
MacNamara told the he had emailed all of the bands whose contacts were available on the email account.
“We’ve contacted all the bands we were able to get a hold of,” he said. “To my knowledge, we talked to all the bands we were able to contact.” As of yesterday, musician Craig Cardiff’s website and Myspace page had an upcoming show at Clark Hall on Oct. 11.
Cardiff’s publicist, Tanya Springer, who is also a Kingston resident, said Cardiff received an e-mail yesterday afternoon telling him the pub was closed.
“The person who was in charge of doing the booking at Clark Hall Pub failed to get in touch with use to let us know that it is no longer functioning,” she said. “It seemed pretty unprofessional. […] It kind of left us in a bit of a lurch, and I was really looking forward to it.” Springer said she’s still looking to book a date for Cardiff in the city that night, and she’s meeting with TAPS and QEA today to discuss setting up a show at another on-campus venue.
Pasco, who was a DJ and sound technician for the pub for two years prior to joining management staff, said even in the event of a re-opening, cancelling so many shows—with the possibility of some cancelled at the last minute—will tarnish Clark’s reputation among musicians and their managers.
“I think it sets everything back a bit. Staff always had a really great relationship with the bands and they always felt welcome to come,” he said. “If they reopen and they go about interacting the same with the bands, it’ll still be a step back but we’ll be able to regain it. I’d estimate that it’ll set us back three years, probably, just with the bands.”
Derek Zwiep, Sci ’07 and Devs ’08, has spent a lot of time at Clark over the last four years. He’s been a DJ on staff, played with the Queen’s Player’s band, and last year, his band, The Cowboys, corralled Monday night Clark-goers with their unique brand of musical humour.
“I pretty much lived there, to be honest,” Zwiep said.“As someone who is passionate about that scene, being so involved—more so than school sometimes—it’s pretty disappointing,” While Zwiep said there had been “issues” in the past, he was given no reason to expect the pub’s closure. In fact, the Cowboys were booked for Monday night again for the coming school year.
“We had no indication things were at a point of closure, especially with two months off, where most problems could have been fixed,” he said. “I just knew we were booked for Monday night’s slot.” Zwiep said the closure will directly impact any new campus bands looking to get their beginning at Queen’s. “I think about incoming musicians, first-year students who are musicians,” he said. “It’s such an opportunity. You need a place that’s low pressure, where you can get up there and have your first shows.” In order to combat the possibility of damage to the campus music scene, Zwiep, Pasco and last year’s marketing and entertainment manager, Matt MacLellan, have teamed up with the hopes of booking live entertainment on other locations on campus. Finding another location has been problematic. Zwiep said Alfie’s was an option, but their attempt to set up a discussion with TAPS management hasn’t received a response. “There’s been a real lack of enthusiasm coming from TAPS,” he said. “I emailed the head manager and the entertainment manager to get a discussion going about getting some of the bands booked at Alfie’s, and I’ve had no response.” Zwiep said he expects the closure of such a vibrant venue will push campus bands off-campus.
As for his own band, The Cowboys are still looking to book shows, but will sorely feel the loss of a regular, weekly gig.
“We’re raring to go. Tonight, the first Monday of the year, it’s pretty sad for us sitting around and not playing a show,” he said. “It was growing toward the end of last year and now we’re stuck playing with whatever we can get.” Pasco has also been personally disappointed by the pub’s closing. More than just a year-long part-time job, Pasco was counting on his position to give him the experience he needs to go on in a marketing and entertainment career.
“I was really looking forward to this job and I was really excited about it,” he said. “I’m really upset that it’s not happening any more.”
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