Club Soda in Montreal submitted Description
THE LEGEND
Club Soda is a true Montreal establishment and has witnessed the evolution of show business for the last 20 years.
In the early 80’s, filmmaker André Gagnon, Martin Després and the late Guy Gosselin, had an idea to transform a reception hall located on Parc Avenue, into a new kind of cabaret. George Thurston, aka “Boule Noire”, was entrusted with the mission to officially open the hall during a week in October of 1983. In February 1984, Club Soda changed the history of Quebec’s show business for good, with the premiere of “Lundi des Ha Ha” animated by Ding et Dong.
In 1985, the producers Michel Sabourin and Rubin Fogel became owners of the cabaret with Martin Després.
Club Soda quickly became the genuine melting pot for the modern show business industry. From Ding et Dong to Daniel Lemire, from Rock et Belles Oreilles to Michel Courtemanche, from Marjo to Richard Séguin, from Daniel Bélanger to France d’Amour, from Térez Montcalm to Lhassa de Sela, from Robert Charlesbois to Michel Pagliaro, rare are the great artists of today that did not get their successful debut at Club Soda.
The respected establishment of Parc Avenue closed its doors for good on July 30th 1999.
A few months later, Club Soda was revived and given a second life with a new location designed by the renowned architect Luc Laporte. Inaugurated on March 21st 2000 by the Minister of Municipal Affairs, Louise Harel, Club Soda was converted at the cost of $ 3.5 million. The Quebec government and the city of Montreal contributed $ 1.6 million to that sum as the rest was financed by Club Soda and its partner, Le Fonds de la culture et des communications (FICC).
THE MISSION
Club Soda, the pioneer at the heart of the Quartier des Spectacles, is now in position to carry out the mission invested over the last twenty-five years: to allow young artists and producers of all styles to find an accessible first rate infrastructure that allows them to make their name in the Montreal market.
THE PERFORMANCES
The majority of well known Canadian artists that have made a place on today’s international scene appeared for the first time in Montreal at Club Soda:
The Tragically Hip, Barenaked Ladies, Blue Rodeo, Amanda Marshall, Jann Arden, Holly Cole, David Usher and many others.
Many big names from the international scene made significant performances as well:
Oasis, Fine Young Cannibals, Counting Crows, Melissa Etheridge, Jay Leno, Soundgarden, Chris Isaak, Mika, just to name a few.
THE FUTURE
By beeing established on St-Laurent Boulevard, near Ste-Catherine, Club Soda predicts that the area will recover its’ previous position as the center of Montreal’s cultural existence, and will become the undisputable show place district.
Since its’ opening and untill the move to the new location in March 2000, Club Soda has hosted 4,200 performances and entertained 1.2 million persons. Thanks to its daring programming policies oriented toward freshness and originality, Club Soda let Montrealers discover over 1,000 Quebec, Canadian and foreign artists.