Townsite will be celebrating Victoria, BC’s punk rock history this weekend with a documentary film screening and live music event.
Directed by Victoria resident Paulina Ortlieb and featuring influential bands such as Nomeansno, Neos and Infamous Scientists, Somewhere to Go: Punk Victoria is a historic and socially conscious look at a music scene unlike any other in North America.
Including Victoria punk transplants who now live in the Powell River area, such as Nomeansno’s John Wright and Tom Holliston, the film has only had two other screenings since its Victoria premiere in March.
“We're so excited to be screening Somewhere to Go in Powell River,” says Ortlieb. “Not only do we get to screen it at the renowned Patricia Theatre, we will be able to watch it with some of the members of the Victoria punk scene who appear in the film and now live in Powell River.”
Besides the 9:30 pm Saturday screening at the theatre, the weekend will kick off on Friday night at McKinney’s Pub with a Nomeansno tribute band, featuring members of Victoria’s current punk scene. Saturday’s film screening will also feature a pre-party at McKinney’s, starting at 7:30 pm, and a post-party after the screening.
The weekend is a chance for Powell River residents to learn more about a punk scene that birthed the likes of Base Camp owner Colin MacRae and Wright, who recently became co-owner of Red Lion Pub in Wildwood.
Always musically eclectic and politically minded, Victoria punk bands carved their own identity in a music genre that was often shrugged off as juvenile or inept. Somewhere to Go: Punk Victoria highlights the talented, intelligent people from Victoria’s punk scene who make music on their own terms.
“The bands featured in the film began at a time when punk was still so new to Victoria and the rest of the world, when youth were overdue for something different and exciting,” says Ortlieb. “Punk opened the floodgates to all kinds of experimentation and expression.”
Victoria’s island location enabled the city’s punk bands to develop their own sound in a tightly knit music scene that encouraged collaboration, says Ortlieb.
“Living on an island, somewhat cut off from the rest of the world, forced them to generate their own impetus, and a lot of great musicianship and diverse styles were the result,” she says. “The conditions were just right for producing great bands.”
Somewhere to Go: Punk Victoria screening
When: 9:30 pm, Saturday, May 27
Where: The Patricia Theatre
Price: $10
Info: 604.483.9345
