Sneaky suspicions

by: Kate Carraway

June 10, 2009 9:00 AM

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One of the best (or just least contentious) small music venues in the city is Sneaky Dee’s, a long-time mainstay for local indie-rock gigs, dance parties, Wavelength, riskier concept nights like Trampoline Hall and excellent nachos. The College Street club's booker, Shaun Bowring, was a similar kind of standout: in an industry infested with self-interested opportunists, his decency and quality programming had earned the respect of the promoters, bands and frequent show-goers who have come to count on Sneak’s for reliably fun nights out. So, when Bowring announced his departure from booking the venue on the Toronto forum of message board Stillepost.ca, the typically slanted-and-disenchanted posters expressed genuine regret.

Though Bowring declined an interview to explain the sudden turn of events, he did send EYE WEEKLY an email saying “Toronto has and will continue to have a great music scene. I am proud and very thankful to be involved. I'll let everyone know what I'm up to in the very near future.”

The new booker (or rather “talent buyer/promoter”) is Travis Porter, who also runs WEGOTTHEMOVEMENT, an independent concert company that specializes in aggressive music (mostly metal and punk) shows. Previously, Porter ran High Voltage Concerts, which had broadened its punk purview to include jazz-festival bookings and tour management.

“I don’t plan on messing with the [Sneaky Dee's] formula too much," Porter tells EYE WEEKLY. "There is a really solid foundation that was left for me to build on.” He adds that more international touring bands will be playing the venue; it’s also likely that more of a punk/metal ethos will play into the booking, but Porter recognizes what the venue means to the local indie-rock community.

“Sneaky Dee’s is one of the top five live venues in the city… it really has been at the frontline of developing [the] current wave of indie bands that are big today, like Broken Social Scene, Tokyo Police Club, Arcade Fire and Wintersleep. I hope to continue this while instituting some new programming initiatives that will put it at the forefront of being a concert venue as well, and keep it bumping seven nights a week.”

What that means, specifically, will likely remain unclear until the new programming takes effect. In the meantime, some shows have been cancelled or shuffled, and the fate of Sunday night institution Wavelength — the indie music series that’s been held at Sneaky Dee’s since 2002 — isn’t totally certain. Wavelength kingpin Jonny Dovercourt says via Gmail chat with EYE WEEKLY that “Shaun will be missed; he has really helped make Sneaky’s a truly inclusive venue with an open booking policy. We hope that things stay as positive as they have for the last seven years with Travis taking over as club booker. And we hope that the Wavelength series is allowed to run as interference-free as it always has.”

Wavelength co-founder Duncan MacDonell adds, “We’re a lot less concerned than people who put on shows on a weeknight, because we’re probably one of the only Sunday nights in town that makes a bit of money for the venue.”

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Sneaky suspicions

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