Calgary bar steals ‘Sidetrack’ mojo – Edmontonians irked
Sidetrack Café as sound tech and later talent buyer during the last half the 1990s. “They’re trying to cash in on something, to get some cachet from the expired name. It’s exploitive.”
Local lawyer Gordon Collins is “not happy,” either. He says that most of the live shows he saw back in the day were at the Sidetrack Café, and memories remain strong. However, the law says that the Shamrock Hotel is perfectly within its right to use the name. “Sidetrack Café Ltd.” is incorporated, but the company name has since been removed from the Alberta corporate registry, and so, “yeah, they are allowed,” says Collins. “If it’s struck off the list because it’s inactive, that’s it. The company doesn’t exist. Someone would have to pay money to get it back in good standing. My guess is that it’s not going to happen.”
Brent Oliver, now the event coordinator at the Alberta Legislature, was one of last group of owners of the Sidetrack Café. After 25 years as a top local venue, it was moved from its original location to make way for condos in 2006, and subsequently went out of business a year later. There is still a dispute over a number of matters, including who owns the name.
k.d lang: One of the many stars who performed at the Sidetrack Cafe – in Edmonton!
Oliver says, “I don’t really have a claim to the Sidetrack Café name. The people I think have a claim are 26 years of fans who went to the Sidetrack in Edmonton and have a lot of fond memories of the place, and I think that’s what the Shamrock is trying to cash in on. It just doesn’t sit well with me.”
Not everyone agrees. “It’s another city. Who cares?” says Andrew White, another Edmonton music guy who was an entertainment booker for the ‘Track in the early 2000s. Calgary music critic Lisa Wilton says, “I suppose it would be weird if an Edmonton bar called itself The Night Gallery, since it’s such a beloved part of Calgary’s music scene history. That said, there’s a Night Gallery in Los Angeles and Sidetrack Cafes all over the place. No one owns that name, so you can’t really get your panties in too
CONTINUED…
