Anyone have tips for underage music fans?

[Justin Marks]

As a student musician and huge music fan, i am often disappointed when i am restricted from catching a show because i am underage. I am still only 17, so it will be a good year and a half before these restrictions are lifted on me. A great tenor player, Karl Denson, is coming here on Dec. 10, playin at the wettbar. I am pretty sure it is not all ages, obviously not a big concern because how many kids are they expecting really? But i was wondering if anyone had an idea on how i could catch the show. i do not have a fake id made up nor do i know anyone that can do that at the moment. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanx!

[M. Childs]

Justin,

As a guy who has snuck into/played in my fair share of bars in order to see some great music, I have to say that there is not much you can do when you're talking about the bigger bars/dance clubs in town like Wettbar. You're right, the show will not be all ages, and you WILL have some big bouncer hassling you for your ID if you go to the front door. There are ways around it though. Do you know anyone in the band? That got me into the Mo-Funk festival at the UBC pit pub last year. Do you know anyone at the club? Try to hook up a backdoor entry kinda thing. Stand around outside the back of the club early afternoon on the day of the show and talk to the band. Offer to help set up/shclep gear in return for some one cool sneaking you in the back for the show. Other than that, good luck and my best advice for underage musicians/fans wanting to catch live shows is to go to the Cellar lots. Contrary to popular belief (including my own untill this year) the Cellar is a restaurant, not a bar. All the shows are all-ages, and the best stuff in town happens there. Prime example, Brian Lynch from New York is there tonight! I'm going, I'll let you know how it was....

[Justin Marks]

Yeah man the cellar is great. I go there whenever i can, cause driving out from white rock is pretty tough at times, considering i don't have a car and gas is at a premium. But thanks for the tips on the bars and i'll see what i can do, it would be a crime to miss the show. Denson is one of the funkiest hippest tenor players around. Used to play with Greyboy allstars now has his own band. Done some work with dave holland, jack dejohnette, ray brown, and herb ellis as well

[shayne]

I know exactly how you feel. I can think of a few venues that pay off despite the effort. Moscow Idaho holds the Lionel Hampton Jazz festival every year, and you can catch endless concerts, seminars, and the like there. The Du Maurrier is another large festival a little closer to home. There are various cafe's like the Cellar as mentioned before. Also check out the Orpheum and UBC. They both hold a lot of concerts, and I think Doc Severnson is playing at the Orpheum.

[Justin Marks]

Mainly its just clubs like the commodore and such that i miss out on concerts at. I go to all the other venues all the time, whenever i have the money. Believe i've caught my share of orpheum and vogue shows for being just 18. But thanks for the help!