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The show goes on, for three more months

Boot Pub will close April 30

Whistler will lose another piece of history this spring.

Cressey Development officials announced the Boot Pub will close its doors April 30 to make way for a residential development. With the closure, a living history of memories and music will begin to fade.

Some might sum up the closure as one less local watering whole in Whistler. But the Boot Pub, which was built in 1966 by David and Irene Andrews on a 10-acre parcel of land they purchased for $10,000, is more than a cheap night out and even more than a gathering place of locals. The rickety shed, lovingly dubbed the Locals’ Living Room, spearheads Whistler’s live music scene for touring and local bands alike.

Monday Madness funnels through everything from the bizarre to the sublime. Rock ’n’ roll, blues, maritime, country and everything in between; leading and yet-undiscovered jewels in the rough from all over North America have found a stage to hone their music during a one-night stand at the Boot.

Whistler’s ultimate anti-club event, Punk Night, blasts out mainstream radio play with music rebels every Sunday. Sometimes as many as three bands pack an evening playbill, opening ears to a largely underground scene.

A church of music to many, how will the closure of Whistler’s biggest concert host change the face of Whistler’s live music scene?

"When the Boot does close, I hope other bars in town will consider the absolute need for live entertainment to continue," said Paul McNaught , Boot Pub manager.

"There have been many class acts in some of these fine establishments. Some I remember. Some I forget. This town needs to feel the jive every night."

For more than 13 years McNaught has worked his way around the Boot: first as a bartender, then Gaitors Grill manager and finally as Whistler’s own music man.

"It was my goal to continue what other managers had done in the past: (providing) top quality live music for the community," he said. "It has been an incredible experience being in contact with all sorts of music acts, some crazier than others. I guess my toughest, but most enjoyable battle was putting the Tragically Hip shows on for two nights….

"I think people have returned over and over because of the music. The Boot, through many changes, was built for acoustics. The sound quality is by far top shelf through the help of Pip and Scott from esound."

He also mentioned pub patrons and hotel, pub and restaurant staff, particularly Lindsay Shedden who resurrected Punk Night.

"With passion like (the Shedden team), the town looks healthy for that niche of music. I pray some bar out there realizes this and grabs them – but not until I’m done with them," McNaught joked.

Punkhead prayers may be answered, with Michael Hofbauer of Garfinkel’s stepping in.

"There is so much history in the bands that roll through that we welcome (Punk Night) with open arms and will do our very best to keep the same experience: the only difference being that it is a shorter walk for some," Hofbauer said.

Shedden – who started working as a shooter girl at the Boot three and a half years ago so she could start booking bands – is grateful to Garf’s for the new venue but wonders if the music is enough to keep people coming out.

"I don’t know if people came to the Boot for the Boot or for the show," she said. "I am so biased to the place, so it is hard to tell…. My roots go so deep there. I feel different about the bar than most people do. They like it because of the smaller room, the old feeling and that you can go crazy and not hurt anything in the bar, like it’s indestructible. It’s got that homey feeling when you walk in…. It’s not going to be the same anywhere else."

Punk music with an even more punk pub, décor and genre went hand in hand attracting the music hooligans of the world, including the likes of Big Wig, Death By Stereo, Nomeansno, Choke, Dayglow Abortions and DOA, along with last call performances from the now defunct The Smalls and SNFU.

Reunion shows may be in the future, as there are bands eager to close out a big piece of Whistler history. Sunday, April 23 and Thursday, April 27 mark the last two Punk Nights at the Boot.

So where does that leave the trail of off-the-beaten-track bands who make the start of the week something to look forward to?

"I think there will be certainly more opportunity to do more," said The Reverend Mike Varrin of the Garibaldi Lift Company (GLC), a bar that hosts live shows regularly during the peak season. "The challenge is the cost of producing quality live entertainment. A lot of times shows don’t make money. There is real balance between the profitably of a business and the quality of experience. I would hope that other people step up."

One of the ways bars are overcoming the costs of travel, housing and hosting a band is by sharing performance dates. Last month, the GLC shared shows such as blues legend John Lee Hooker and AC/DC-tribute band BC/DC with Bill’s and Moe Joe’s.

"Hopefully more of that stuff will happen because our venues are so small," Varrin said. "The Boot had a real commitment to live music. It wasn’t always about the bottom line, but the experience."

"We are losing half of our music scene," Hofbauer said of the Boot closure. "It’s unfortunate, we will do our best to pick up the slack, but not all of it, because they do a lot of shows….

"Club nights are a social hangout. For the Boot, it’s about music," Hofbauer continued. "You go to the Boot for Monday live night or Punk Night and it’s not about hanging out. People are there to rock it out and enjoy the music. There needs to be a strong live music presence in town."

The Boot’s presence carries on until the end of April. This week Punk Night brings the Small Man Records Tour with Ghosts of Modern Man, Sylvie and Mothra. Monday Madness hosts Transylvanian Polka. A ladies-only male review makes a guest appearance Saturday, Feb. 4, with the Boot Ballet continuing Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday nights. Where the exotic ladies will end up is anyone’s guess.