Across Canada, independent venues are disappearing. Sneaky Dee’s in Toronto is fighting for its life to not be turned into condos, Vancouver venues are facing the same fate and now smaller cities like Kelowna are faced with rising costs, lack of infrastructure and experiencing closures, like Aesthetics Lab. When faced with declining DIY spaces, grassroots movements within music communities tend to get louder and more resourceful.
U-Haul shows are nothing new. One of the most infamous examples came in 2013, when Houston hardcore band Live Without played a show inside a Denny’s restaurant, creating the legendary WTF is Up Denny’s? moment that became part of hardcore folklore. More than a decade later, the idea remains the same: if there isn’t a stage, build one.
While WTF Is Up Kelowna? was inspired by a similar U-Haul show that happened in Vancouver – one that famously featured a city councillor crowd surfing – the spirit behind it goes back much further. Hardcore and punk communities have long embraced the idea that if traditional venues aren’t available, new ones can be created almost anywhere.
The concept is simple: rent a U-Haul, make a flyer, load in some gear, drive to a parking lot and have bands play out of the back of it for an hour – or until you get shut down. People show up, 2-step (respectfully of course) and connect with each other. That’s exactly what happened one hot pre-summer night in Kelowna.
Down The Lees, Lakeside Amusement Park and Suburban Alienation took turns blasting tunes as it reverberated off the unfinished condos rising around the site (poetic really), while a packed crowd gathered in the parking lot of the Kelowna Event Centre.
As I was speaking to the crowd while standing in the back of that U-Haul, it became clear that this was something that had been brewing for a long time. The excitement was, well, exciting! They came from all over, Penticton, Vernon and even Calgary (WTF).
“What struck me about this show is just how many people pulled up for the message of it: pressures from city bylaw and other factors may regularly drive venue owners to shut down their vital community spaces, but they cannot stomp out the grassroots demand for these communities, nor can they stop people from creating their own spaces. This is the spirit of DIY.” says Jade of Lakeside Amusement Park.
The real problem is infrastructure. Not lack of bands, not lack of audience, but a lack of safe space to give to youth, queer youth, young & emerging bands to learn, exist and connect.
“When the world feels bleak, louder, more aggressive music tends to rise because it gives people somewhere to put their fear, anger, grief, and refusal,” says Acadia Bromke, Editor in Chief of Braze Magazine.
“Right now, the kids are coming up in a world shaped by climate anxiety, economic instability, AI, automation, and the collapse of the traditional life paths they were told would protect them. So in response, they are turning toward subculture, DIY music, and alternative forms of creativity, because those spaces offer something the mainstream often does not: agency, identity, and real community.”
“It was awesome playing this show, seeing great venues shut down in the Okanagan is painful, and fighting back against city officials who are fuelling this struggle is near mandatory. This scene is so important to us, and playing an event like this felt pretty special for us,” says Teagan of Suburban Alienation.
Even venue promoters who already provide space for all types of music came out to support. “It has saddened me over the years to watch amazing live music venues that offer a safe place for every genre of music close down because of greedy landlords and corporate takeovers,” says Matt Ellis, longtime venue manager and booker of Fernando’s Pub (RIP) and currently the downtown location of Dunnenzies Pizza.
“It seems that the powers that be clearly don’t understand that these places offer kids and adults alike a place to enjoy music and energy that binds us all together in unity under the same roof! Music takes us to magical places, past and present, and for some of these bands…most of these bands…it’s their only chance to take the stage and express themselves raw and unfiltered.”
“As someone who works in venue operations and event production every day, I’ve seen firsthand how challenging it can be to create community-focused events. Rising costs, limited resources, and operational hurdles can make it difficult for organizers to get ideas off the ground.
What stood out to me about this event was the willingness of people to work together to make something happen. Community isn’t built by a single venue, promoter, artist, or organization – it’s built when everyone contributes what they can,” says Chelsea Boan of the Kelowna Event Centre.
As a member of Down The Lees, co-founder of Girls to the Front Fest, and someone who has spent decades organizing shows and supporting DIY music initiatives, including fundraisers for spaces like BBDB’s (RIP) in Vernon, I have watched independent venues become increasingly difficult to sustain and support in the arts decline.
Every closure leaves fewer places for artists to develop, connect, and build community. It also leaves no place for alternative youth to be seen. I felt it was important to do more than just talk about the problem. For one night, we wanted to create the kind of space we keep being told doesn’t exist.
The success of WTF Is Up Kelowna? highlights a growing reality facing communities across Canada. While independent venues continue to disappear, the appetite for DIY culture and all-ages spaces still remain. If there is a lesson to be learned from one hour in a parking lot, it is that people are still looking for places to belong. The question is not whether the community exists. The question is whether cities, venue owners, organizations, and community leaders are willing to create space for it.
We need DIY spaces. We need safe spaces for queer youth and more alternative spaces where young people can connect. People kept asking when the next WTF Is Up Kelowna? would be. The answer is: don’t wait for us. Do your own!
The best punk ideas are open-source.
Laura Lee Schultz fronts Kelowna noise rock trio Down The Lees, runs Off White House Records, and co-founded Girls to the Front Fest, a Western Canada festival putting female, femme, non-binary, and 2SLGBTQIA+ artists on the front of the stage. She came up in the 90s Vancouver scene playing in Queazy, New Years Resolution, and Skinjobs, spent years in Ghent’s noise rock circuit, recorded “Bury The Sun” with Steve Albini at Electrical Audio, and has shared stages with Brutus, METZ, KEN mode, Sparta, and Dead Bob. She writes about the Okanagan underground for IDIOTEQ.
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