A new venue, LIVE! on Elgin, is set to hit Ottawa’s downtown music scene above Dunn’s Diner at 220 Elgin St.
After a survey co-owner Jon Evenchick and his father Lawrence conducted in 2013, Evenchick said 130 members of the Ottawa arts community helped decide what kind of venue the city needed most.
“Not only are we providing a desperately needed affordable venue for grassroots organizations but [we’re] also bringing more live entertainment to a street that sorely misses it,” Evenchick said.
LIVE! on Elgin aims to target members of the arts community and everyone surrounding it including “musicians, painters, theatre performers, their friends and family, lovers of the arts, and more,” Evenchick explained.
“It will be a cabaret-style seating arrangement with local art on the walls, local beer on the taps, and local musicians on stage,” he said.
It opens on June 5 with free performances from Ottawa alumni band The Balconies and FEVERS.
Mabel Wonnacott, a student of the University of Ottawa’s vocal performance program, said she’s seen The Balconies play before and is excited to see them open for the new venue. She said she is also happy to have the new site so accessible and close to her school.
“It’s about community building,” Wonnacott said. “Part of the reason Ottawa is considered not to be a music city is because it hasn’t been fostered in the way a city like Toronto has been. [LIVE! on Elgin] sounds like it’s going to connect artists in a venue that is more inclusive.”
Evenchick said his childhood was filled with musical theatre, his adolescence consumed with band practice, and his college days spent starting a non-profit company to promote and support local musicians.
Evenchick said he and his father have both been paving the road for a while to open their own music venue.
“We have such a thriving arts community here and it only needs to be nurtured and supported in order to grow,” he said.
When a parking bylaw put the project on hold, the Evenchicks said they found themselves sitting before the City of Ottawa Committee of Adjustment, listening to the committee’s comments and concerns.
“Thanks to all of the support from members of the community they chose to grant us an exemption to the bylaws that allows us to begin construction,” he said.
Danielle Allard, a Carleton graduate and musician scheduled to perform during LIVE! on Elgin’s opening months, said she loves performing in Ottawa because of its small-town vibe.
“There are so many people doing great things for the community,” she said. “I love that music is a way for me to make that initial connection.”
