More than 160 free Olympic concerts in Vancouver
The Georgia Straight has updated its Olympic guide to free music in Vancouver. Our calendar now lists more than 160 free concerts between the dates of February 11 and 28.
The music is spread across five sites: LiveCity Downtown (Georgia and Beatty streets), LiveCity Yaletown (Drake Street and Pacific Boulevard), Place Francophonie de la 2010 (Granville Island), Atlantic Canada House (Granville Island), and B.C. Place (Robson and Beatty streets).
Located just a stone’s throw from GM Place and B.C. Place and only a short walk from the freshly-polished Granville Entertainment District, LiveCity Downtown will no doubt be the eye of the storm for Olympic festivities. At LiveCity Downtown, expect a mix of Canadian talent and entertainment from around the world.
LiveCity Yaletown is scheduled to play host to some of the biggest acts holding free shows for the Olympics. Look for Canadian talent such as the Sam Roberts Band and Blue Rodeo plus international acts including Wilco and Matisyahu.
Over the course of the Olympics, Granville Island will serve as a cultural melting pot for the world, with Canada putting on two of the biggest parties.
Together, the Arts Club Theatre–temporarily transformed into Atlantic Canada House–and Backstage Lounge will deliver performances by dozens of acts from New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island.
On the other side of Granville Island, Place Francophonie de la 2010 will be waiting with what its billing as more than 400 Latin flavours from a French quarter.
Finally, at B.C. Place, while most if not all of the free tickets have been spoken for, just $22 will get you a seat at the 2010 Winter Olympics’ nightly victory ceremonies and a performance by stars such as Nelly Furtado and the Barenaked Ladies.
Some venues are ticketed, some are not; attendance is limited at all events; and security is sure to be tight. To minimize waits in lines, only bring what you need. And make sure you show up early, especially for bigger name acts.
Check out the calendar.
You can follow Travis Lupick on Twitter at twitter.com/tlupick.
Comments
22 Comments
sca-babble
Feb 6, 2010 at 3:41pm
Olympics will prove to be a scam.
Dennis
Feb 6, 2010 at 9:16pm
Who is picking up the bill for the performers? You mean to say they are coming for the good of their health. What about their travel,room and board? I don't beleive for one moment that it's free. Someone is paying someplace.
chauncy
Feb 7, 2010 at 10:04am
They are not exactly free, are they? They are part of the $6B party that will be paid for by the taxpayers of B.C. for a long, long time.
Dennis
Feb 7, 2010 at 10:20am
Yes, free to get into, But I'll bet the entertainers are being paid for with tax payers money.
Cheryl
Feb 7, 2010 at 4:06pm
Oh BORING! Give people the phrase "taxpayer dollars" and they will wear it out to the point it is just whiners being self-indulgent. Yes, taxpayers are paying for a chunk of the Olympic costs... hello people, that is what hosts do! If you were to throw a dinner party, the host pays the expenses (or part of them if they are clever and can get some freebies). If a city hosts a touring theatre production, the host city pays the expenses. There are VERY FEW host cities of the Olympics, let alone host provinces/states, let alone host countries. But hosts we are, and as such, we will be gracious and cover our share of the costs. For the children who whine and say that THEY weren't asked who should be invited to the dinner party so they don't feel they should be inconvenienced... grow up! If you can't behave, then go to your rooms until you can... because the dinner party is still going to go on, and as such there will be some inconvenience to the kids for the duration of the dinner party.
The admission to the "free" Olympic concerts is FREE. I'm not sure how one can make that any clearer... but you don't need to buy a ticket. The expenses of putting on these "free" concerts is part of the expenses of putting on a World Class event... and for the ignorant, the entertainment has been endorsed by corporate sponsors!! Gee, for advertising these corporate sponsors are sinking big $$$ into the Olympics, so don't take on the woebegone look of how YOU, the poor taxpayer has to cover $6B in expenses. The government (aka the taxpayer) is only paying a portion of the bill as host city/province/country and the majority is being covered by corporate sponsors.
So get over yourselves and show the world that we are every bit as gracious hosts as anywhere in the world... and if that is just too much for you to handle, please do the rest of us a favour and stay in your rooms until the Olympics and Paralympics are over.
Freeman21
Feb 7, 2010 at 4:35pm
Free hey Travis?
Who do you think is paying for them you meathead?
Georgia Straight you are embarrassing yourself with this type of material.
tissuesanyone
Feb 7, 2010 at 4:37pm
Looks like Costco is going to need to stock more paper towels.
All of you need to quit your whining, it's getting flipping OLD. It's time some money was spent to stimulate our commerce and showcase Vancouver to the world, as we need to get some more foreign investment into this Province.
Where do you think we'd be if we didn't have the Olympics coming at this time? You figure we could've made it through the recession as well as we did? Majority of the money spent, is going to benefit us a long-time after the Olympics.
Could Olympic funds have been managed better? Most definitely, but as a whole, the Olympics should be beneficial to us. Stop being sourpusses and be a good host.
MikeH
Feb 7, 2010 at 6:00pm
Its a fact that pessimistic persons dont live as long as optimists . Ill bet that this time next year you wont hear anyone Bitch that the Olympics were held in Vancouver , Similar to when Expo was held here . The Olympics has created an incredible amount of Jobs in the last 8yrs and kept BC from falling into a deep recession like the rest of the Planet .I believe BC will see incredible amounts of interest/investment pour in , in the coming years because of the Olympics . Unless you believe money grows on trees you need to invest to create wealth/jobs and a tax base to pay for services . I believe the Olympics will pay off 10 fold . GO CANADA GO !
ryan s
Feb 8, 2010 at 9:32am
please note weakerthans will be performing at Manitoba Centreplace March 13th
T-Bag
Feb 8, 2010 at 3:27pm
I don't know why Georgia Straight bothered to post all these exciting "free concerts" when tickets can not be had. They say things like "see the Straight for more details", but NO INFO ANYWHERE about how to get the tix.
On the Olympics web site, all tickets for everything are sold out, except curling.
If someone can please post how one might procure tickets to Olympic music events, I'd appreciate it.