On August 22, after the Biltmore Cabaret was closed by the city for a week, owner Zak Pashak posted an open letter on his Facebook page to Vancouver city councillors, stating that the club, at 395 Kingsway, was receiving “excessive and punitive” treatment. “The amount of heat being put on us is completely out of scale,” he wrote. “We are a well run, well intending bar that wants to do good things here in Vancouver, and we are following the rules.”

Festival season isn’t over quite yet. Jammin’ 4 Jay is an annual one-day event held in the five-acre Fort Langley back yard of Surrey Fire Service Captain Greg Drew, in memory of Drew’s son Jayson. Jayson Drew was killed in a car accident at age 17 in 2003, and profits from the event go to the Jammin’ 4 Jay Charitable Society, which promotes “safe driving practices and education for young drivers”.  

It started out as a student film, but Shake, Rattle & Roll has travelled far and wide since filmmaker Melissa James completed the 23-minute movie in 2007. The BCIT graduate recently returned from L.A. after screening the award-winning documentary at the fifth annual Don’t Knock the Rock Film and Music Festival, which is curated by filmmaker and Quentin Tarantino pal Allison Anders.  

After more than two decades of faithfully giving Vancouver the blues from its location at the foot of the Granville Street Bridge, the Yale is moving. But it’s only temporary, Yale marketing manager Stella Panagiotidis assured the Straight.  

After hosting countless nights of screamed vocals, speedy tunes, and Vancouver’s sickest mosh pits, all-ages venue La Casa del Artista (150 East 3rd Avenue) is shutting its doors to hardcore punk rock. A meeting with the owners left Shaun Cowan of No Sense Productions unable to book gigs at the venue due to recent property damage inside the club.

Five employees of the downtown music venue Pub 340 (340 Cambie Street) suddenly found themselves out of work after bar owner Avtar Samara fired them on July 28. Speaking on behalf of Samara, Pub 340’s general manager, Sharon White, told the Straight, “The people who were fired were fired because of misconduct on the job according to the terms of the B.C.

Music B.C. thinks you’d better sign up early for its next SchMusic B.C. party. The next edition of the popular networking event has been moved to the Biltmore Cabaret (395 Kingsway). Savry Bou, the organization’s membership coordinator, is urging people to register in advance: “It’s gonna get really packed in there.”

True to form, Nardwuar the Human Serviette managed to outrun the rest of the media by scoring the one and only interview with Jay-Z at Pemberton Festival.

Vancouver’s Festival Distribution, closing shop after 15 years of supporting independent roots and world music, is holding a liquidation sale Monday to Saturday (August 4 to 9), at 1351 Grant Street. President Jack Schuller told the Straight that Festival will be going digital “within six weeks”, with a new enterprise, which can be found at therecordtent.com/.  

Tommy Milburn, drummer of Vancouver post-hardcore band the SSRIs, died on July 1, two days after falling through the skylight of a Main Street restaurant. A statement on the band’s MySpace and Facebook pages reads, in part, “We loved him so much and he was loved by anyone who was ever lucky enough to have met him. We send our love and condolences to all of his family and friends, and hope everyone is doing their best to cope with this horrible loss.

Described by its founder, Nathan Holiday, as “punk opera” by “techno-anarchist slackers”, Tunnel Canary was an uncompromising experimental project whose role in Vancouver’s early punk scene has been largely overlooked.

While Fake Shark–Real Zombie! is ecstatic to be heading back into the studio this summer to record its second album of ready-for-the-Ritalin genre mashups, the electro-punk act is especially thrilled to have local legend Dave Ogilvie signed on as producer.

Live music has come to the Beaumont Studios for the summer months—and maybe beyond if things continue to go well for Vancouver City Limits. Producers Bruce Gerrish, Colin Speir, and John Pippus launched the Monday-night concert series at the Mount Pleasant theatre and artist space in early June.

Eagle-eyed Tegan and Sara fans may have noticed a dedication on the duo’s 2007 album The Con to Burt Harris.

Congratulations are in order for JACK FM’s Larry Hennessey and Willy Percy. Friday (July 11) marks 20 years in Vancouver for the veteran jocks, who are perennial readers’ choice winners in the Straight’s Best of Vancouver issue for Best Morning DJs.