Underage Halifax musicians have limited venue options

Any night of the week, Haligonians can watch live musical performances at venues across the city — as long as they’re old enough to get in. 

Under the Liquor Control Act, minors can “provide entertainment” in a bar until 10 p.m. if they are with a legal guardian at all times. 

Because of these restrictions, RadStorm, a non-profit event space, is the hub for bands made up of underage musicians, like local alt-rock band Dogpile. 

“RadStorm’s the only one where you can go and really get the full show experience,” says Remy Pettipas, an 18-year-old first-year Dalhousie University mechanical engineering student and Dogpile’s guitarist. 

This leaves RadStorm as the only consistent venue in Halifax where minors can watch and perform music past 10 p.m. without parental supervision. 

Two years ago RadStorm’s capacity was lowered from 100 to 60 due to fire-hazard regulations, according to Beck Smith, a RadStorm volunteer. 

“Getting the repairs done so we can be up to code, so we can up the capacity a bit would be really nice, but we have to be able to afford those,” says Smith.

Dogpile’s vocalist, Ciera Messom, a first-year psychology student at Saint Mary’s University, says the band is feeling the impact of the lack of all-ages venues in Halifax.

“It’s way harder to reach a wider audience, especially when the maximum capacity is so small,” says Messom.

Phoenix Fost, the band’s drummer and a first-year student at the University of King’s College, says the lower capacity has discouraged people from attending shows, leading to fewer people performing.

“If less people want to go, less people want to play, and if less people want to play, there are less shows happening,” she says. 

Are there enough options in Halifax?

The Pavilion Youth Association is another organization that runs all-ages shows that do not require minors to be accompanied by a guardian.

RadStorm and the Pavilion are non-profit organizations. RadStorm owns its own space and runs one to three shows a week, while the Pavilion has to pay for every show they put on. 

Formerly its own venue, the Pavilion was a hot spot in the all-ages scene until the building was demolished in 2022, according to the Pavilion’s president, C.J. Hill.

 In the past, the Pavilion had to stop doing shows because of a rent increase. 

“Then I got some friends together, and we formed a little organization to raise some money, and then we gave it to the Pavilion,” says Hill.

The first event back after the Pavilion lost its building was Battle of the Bands at the Light House Arts Centre. Hill says it was amazing to get youth back on the stage.

The Pavilion then moved to the Bus Stop Theatre Co-op, and tried to host shows at different venues across the city. Hill says it was unsuccessful until the group found the Army Navy Air Force Club on Maynard Street, where it now hosts shows once a month.

“We operate at a loss, so all of our funding comes from our fundraiser shows,” says Hill. “In order to make sure the bands get paid, we take a loss on every single show we do.”

Parker Babineau, a showrunner for the Pavilion, says he’s struggled to find younger bands to open performances.

“We try to platform bands that are younger or at least attract a younger crowd,” Babineau says. “That being said, it’s been harder and harder to find newer, younger bands recently”

Like the members of Dogpile, Babineau attributes the decline to RadStorm’s lowered capacity. 

“Because of that, I feel like I kind of lost touch a little bit with that sort of scene,” says Babineau. “I feel like less younger people started playing shows, because they really only knew RadStorm as the spot to go.”

RadStorm needs many people to work the doors, do sound, and set up the gear. A lot of coordination goes into putting on a show, says Babineau.

Hill said that the all-ages scene is going strong.

“There’s so many bands, so many talented people,” he said. 

While old liquor laws required bars, underage musicians and their guardians to file paperwork with the provincial government, the updated Liquor Control Act only requires establishments to keep their own records. This has made it easier for Hill, also the manager of Gus’ Pub & Grill, to give young musicians opportunities to play.

Hill says before he became the pub’s manager, the bar didn’t want underage performers because people didn’t know about the process.   

“When I got here — because I was like the youth music guy — I was like, ‘Let’s change that. I’ll handle all that stuff.’ We made that work again.”

Hill encourages young musicians to keep working on their craft despite the limited performance options.

“Use the resources that are available to you and make friends, team up with the other bands,” he says. “Don’t be scared, do what you love, always.”