20 years from now, how do you think we’ll look back on 2020? What is the new normal going to look like? To be honest, I don’t think I want any part of it. The whole city’s running at half capacity, bars are shutting down at 10 pm, and everything is cancelled. I don’t know how many more fucking walks I can take.
Through a life packed with turmoil and personal strife, it’s not the painful minutiae that stick with me—it’s the key moments and memories that carry emotion like a time capsule. For example, my hair still stands on end when I picture myself in the passenger seat next to my grandfather as we drove through the tornado that destroyed much of Edmonton’s east side way back in 1987. It was moments like this that formed the man I am today, and that connect me to the world I live in.
Don’t get me wrong: I’m not downplaying the impacts of the COVID-19 virus, but once we move past the immediate dangers, it won’t be the virus that affects our day-to-day lives.
So much has happened over the past year; it will take years to unpack and try to make sense of it all. There have been countless life-changing events over the past eight months, but one in particular hits incredibly close to home for me personally. On Tuesday, October 27, Logan’s Pub announced that, due to the ongoing government restrictions on live music, they would be closing their doors permanently.
For 23 years, Logan’s served as home to Victoria’s counterculture. On any given Friday you could walk in and hear live punk, metal, alt-country, comedy, or pretty much anything else that didn’t fit into top-40 constraints.
That all came to an unofficial end on Saturday, March 14. Nobody knew it at the time, but the sets of Danny Echo, Daisy Stranglers, The Mags, and The Hex made up Logan’s final show.
The Hex vocalist/guitarist David Chenery says that Logan’s closing is a huge loss to our community.
“It’s been a rough year. When I heard [Logan’s was closing], I was mad, but we’re all in the same boat, so what do we do?” says Chenery.
Since moving to Victoria back in 1999, Chenery frequented the venue as both a fan and a performer. He says that Logan’s was more than just a pub, because it had been helping to shape our musical community for decades.
“I moved from the Okanagan, and I can still remember my first time sitting in there,” says Chenery. “Every pub I’d been to before was playing the same kind of music. You’d walk in and they’d be playing the Tragically Hip or something else that I wasn’t into. I remember sitting down and they were playing Tom Waits, who everyone listens to now, but back then, considering where I came from, that was left field. It was great because I found like-minded people, so I started going to shows at Logan’s.”
Chenery started out playing in small towns in the Okanagan, so he says that community was the most important thing to him.
“When I moved here, I didn’t know anybody, so becoming a part of the Logan’s community, and all the bands, many of whom were amazing writers, I learned so much as a musician and a writer, and I’ve been able to do so much because of that community,” he says. “That wasn’t lost on me, and the fact that now it’s gone is just really sad.”
So what made Logan’s such a great spot? Chenery says that Logan’s gave us a place where everyone could mix.
“It was a central hub, and for so many different genres,” says Chenery. “The bizarre alt-country thing, and then the punk thing, and back in the early 2000s there was an amazing death metal scene. I played weird country with punk bands all the time. Good music is good music. I don’t stick to one genre, so why should that be expected of the audience? To be able to mix with all of these different groups of people was just something I loved being a part of. We were all super lucky to be a part of that.”
Because they catered to such a broad audience, you never knew what you were getting into when you walked into a show at Logan’s. As long as he can remember, Chenery says it was always hit and miss.
“There’d be nights where you’d play to nobody, but there were a lot of nights where the place was just packed,” says Chenery. “When I first started playing there I was doing a Johnny Cash tribute show, before the cops started cracking down on [pubs], and it was so packed that people were standing on tables. I remember having so much stage fright that I smoked a whole pack of cigarettes between sets.”
Oftentimes when I had nothing to do I would just head to Logan’s with no idea who was on stage. Some nights it didn’t fit my mood and I’d be in and out, but on countless occasions I went with no expectations and saw absolutely mind-blowing shows.
Logan’s had a great sound system, which made it the best stage in town for two generations of local musicians to hone their craft on, but the pub also played host to some amazing touring acts. Off the top of my head, Dayglo Abortions, Elliott Brood, and Death Cab for Cutie come to mind as some of the best shows I saw there, but if I had to pick a favourite, it was probably Geoff Berner.
Chenery says that he saw too many great shows to name.
“Frog Eyes shows were always a lesson on how to put on a memorable concert,” says Chenery. “They were amazing. I remember a Constantines show that was insane. I’ll approach strangers and tell them that I opened for The Sadies at Logan’s. Jesus Christ, I saw Dick Dale there.”
To be honest, I don’t know what happens next. It feels like everything is cancelled except work. What’s worse is that there is no end in sight.
Chenery says that he is just trying to stay positive.
“I hope that the importance of music is recognized and it is built back up again,” says Chenery. “I’m hoping that somehow things will change, and like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the all-ages scene will become a bigger thing.”
It’s taken a little time to sink in, but it’s absolutely devastating. Logan’s wasn’t just a part of our music scene. For more than two decades, that stage helped shape our community; that stage was one of the drivers that pushed cultural limits and made our city unique.
It will never be forgotten.