As premier music venue the Railway Club closes its doors for the last time, Vancouver music fans are asking how to fill the void. Fortunately, we might already have the answer.

Spanning 237 cities worldwide, Sofar Sounds is a global network that connects musicians with attentive audiences, established in 2009 in London, England. A typical Sofar show features three to five artists playing stripped-down sets in a pop-up location. Anybody can apply online for a free spot on the guest list, with Sofar releasing the mystery address to attendees just before the show. Alongside local bands, secret artists like Bastille, Dry the River, and (bizarrely) Robert Pattinson have all performed Sofar shows in people’s living rooms.

Vancouver offers a unique take on this model. Hampered by tight curfews and bylaws, Lotusland’s Sofar branch has set up shop not only in private houses but also office spaces, and even a leather-shoe workshop, in its quest to showcase the city’s best bands. Audiences are typically between 60 and 100 people. Never the same twice, the makeshift locations are redefining Vancouver’s live-music scene.

“In Canada and the U.S., performance venues aren’t as ingrained in the culture,” Catherine Hodgson, director of Sofar Vancouver, says by phone. “We don’t have a network of locations like somewhere in Europe, for example. Shifting concerts into private and outdoor settings is the logical step for Vancouver’s musical landscape. We’ve done shows from bar patios to the city’s Bitcoin headquarters. It’s not just a movement that’s happening in basements and garages here; it’s a really far-reaching community.”

Vancouver has proven perfect for Sofar’s model. Priding itself on intimacy, the volunteer-staffed organization has a no-cellphone policy and asks guests not to talk during the show. Scheduling the order of performance by chance rather than calibre, Sofar insists that the audience arrive on time and stay for the duration of the evening. By opening up a new way to engage with music, each event creates a distinctly welcoming environment.

“It’s really important to connect with the artist, to see the performers’ faces,” Hodgson says. “Having a smaller amount of people in the room guarantees an experience. That’s something we really encourage. With Sofar, you’re going to have the chance to talk to the artists after the show, and the musicians jump at the chance to interact with the guests, too.”

Sofar’s philosophy doesn’t end there. Every performer is offered the chance to have a professional video made of his or her set, and more than 65 local musicians have, Hodgson proudly says, had their tracks viewed internationally on Sofar’s YouTube channel. Broadcasting Vancouver’s intimate shows to over 159,000 followers worldwide, the city’s Sofar team is helping artists go global.

“A good example is Jon Bryant,” Hodgson recalls. “Our video of his show has well over 5,000 YouTube views, and counting. He’s featured on the front page of the ‘Best of Sofar Sounds’ list, which reaches a huge community internationally. Now he’s in early talks about performing in L.A. and Seattle, and it’s all because of the night he played here in Vancouver.”

It’s clear that Hodgson and her team of volunteers are committed to the Sofar ethos. Through its staffers’ dedication, Sofar Vancouver has snowballed from humble beginnings in July 2014 to scheduling a slick event every two weeks. Now one of only 16 cities to organize a bimonthly show, Vancouver is surging.

But with its success come potential pitfalls. As a larger pool of bands plays more frequent gigs, concerns are mounting that Sofar’s premium mix of artist and location may suffer a drop in quality. Tackling these worries, the ever-positive Hodgson sees the increase in shows as a chance to apply Sofar’s model to more eclectic musical venues and genres.

“We really engage with what’s new and interesting,” Hodgson says. “If I was out on a normal Friday, I’d never think to myself, ‘Man, I really want to go see an electronic clarinetist. Where do I go for that?’ In a way, we’re in the business of giving people what they didn’t know they wanted. It might crash and burn sometimes, but most of the time we get a pretty good response.”

And as for quality control, Hodgson has that covered too.

“We are quite stringent about who we book,” she continues. “We use a voting spreadsheet. There’s two tabs: one for people that have requested to play for us, and one for bands that our team members have put forward. We vote democratically on each of them. If you get the go-ahead, you’re in the Sofar family.”

Under Hodgson’s guidance, Sofar Vancouver is fast becoming one of the most vibrant events in the franchise. Spreading the global model across every neighbourhood in the city, Sofar’s gigs offer a fresh live-music experience at a time when many established Vancouver venues are struggling.

“When we first started putting on these shows, Sofar’s global founder [Rafe Offer] made a joke that he thought our city would be a really hard one to break,” Hodgson recalls. “I think we’ve proved him wrong. There’s this great resurgence to reclaim live music right now in Vancouver. And Sofar is one of the innovative ways it’s happening.”

Sofar next takes place on April 20, at a secret location in Grandview Woodlands to be revealed. Watch www.sofarsounds.com/vancouver/ for details.