By Seana Stevenson
Photography by Seana Stevenson

It’s been around two weeks since the Waldorf Productions officially closed their doors. Now under the name Working Title, the team is currently seeking a new home, while we all search for another venue to fill the sudden cultural void.  

Public Records had their beta launch party at the Waldorf back in August 2011, holding the venue dear to our hearts. To help keep the memories alive we have assembled stories from some of our favourite local artists, who all agree, it’s a historic place we’re going to miss.

“I played there with Great Aunt Ida a year or two ago. I really liked the sort of mini theatre/cabaret sort of feeling of the stage. It felt more special than just some bar show.”
- Jonathan Anderson, Founder of Buena Vista Audio

“As Faust drummer Werner Diermaier droned away with his precise tom-heavy blows, bassist and krautrock-pioneer Jean-Hérve Péron, leapt off stage during “Sunshine Girl,” grabbed his angle grinder, and proceeded to chip away at the sides of a rotating cement mixer, sending brilliant streams of hot white light through the air and over the heads of the enamored crowd. I’d never seen anything like this at any venue before, nor could I have imagined that I’d be seeing such an incredible, historically significant band play in Vancouver, at such a cool location, for so cheap. It was definitely an unforgettable experience that I’m endlessly grateful to the Waldorf for making possible.”
-Jensen Gifford, We Are Phantoms Again and Googly Eyes Collective

“I saw In Medias Res. My favourite thing about the night was seeing guitarist Ash Poon shred in real life. That guy is a genius. “
- Reagan Cole Mclean, Boreal Sons

 “I have to say it’s one of my favourite venues that I’ve been to in Vancouver. Very intimate and introduced me to one of my favourite bands of 2012 – Snowblink. I wish there was a venue like this in Calgary.”  
- Josh Daignault, Wake Owl and Jordan Klassen

“It’s too bad about the Waldorf. Unfortunately the older baby-boomer generations are more interested in selling each other cheap condos to make marginal profits rather than ensure future generations have a culture or creative outlets. I think my favourite time there was the Music Waste band-o-rama that went on last June. Watching the B-Lines closing out the night was a beautifully chaotic sight.”
- Joel McDonald, Crystal Swells

“Whenever I think of the Waldorf I always think of the New Pornographers video for ‘Sing Me Spanish Techno.’ That Tiki bar is a far cry from the glass condos that one might associate with a video ‘shot in Vancouver.’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDUHJNVjpS0
- Chris Kelly, Analog Bell Service and CBC Radio

“The thing that was so unique about the Waldorf was the ‘open floor plan’ concept, that is, you paid your cover and then had the choice of which party you wanted to attend. In one room you would have your upper middle class martini sipping minglers having compelling conversations about Danish furniture, and down the hall you’d have a full-gloom full-makeup full-vinyl gothic themed night (a.k.a. bad haircut night).
It wasn’t unusual for some adventurous partygoers to make the bold choice to become a tourist. One weekend my band was opening for this pagan-folk band from Brooklyn who had a reputation for having a very aggressive stage presence. I remember saying to my band mate, ‘some tourist is going to get an ear-full tonight.’ Wasn’t I right! But not from the headliners as expected but from the opener, a five-foot nothing blonde with a cacophonous noise machine and a voice like a bedridden Linda Blair. Two women, wearing expensive shoes and holding expensive handbags, had wandered in from another event and were having a great time snickering at this ‘awful little thing,’ screaming over what sounded like the soundtrack to revelations. Everyone in the room knew what was coming before it even happened. Instantly the performer spotted these whispering snickering creatures and latched onto them like a hyena on rotten meat. Oh what a treat to see a couple of dilettantes get the old nose to nose vitriol treatment and then scurry away, mortified, knowing that this time they were the outsiders not we!!”
- Phillip Intile, Mode Moderne