Hamilton venues: Music on the move

The ever-changing landscape of Hamilton’s music clubs has seen mainstays replaced with an eclectic mix of smaller venues, and shows staged in some interesting spaces.  

Hamilton’s music club venues are in a constant state of flux. Just as the city’s thriving restaurant scene features a regular and rapid turnover of businesses coming, going, and changing, so too does our city’s roster of smaller spaces that feature live music.

These venues are crucial to the health of Hamilton’s music community, and this sector of the live-music industry continues to face major challenges. Opening and operating a small music venue is certainly never a licence to print money, but a dedicated core of both established and new entrepreneurs continue to fight valiantly for a crucial cause.

In recent years, Hamilton has lost multiple vitally important club venues that featured live music on a regular basis. Among them, the beloved and much-missed This Ain’t Hollywood closed its doors in 2020, with The Casbah following suit in January 2025. Its operators and owners, Lou Molinaro and Brodie Schwendiman, respectively, continue to actively book shows in a variety of local venues, but to date none of the newer spaces in town have reached the level of importance of TAH and The Casbah.

Thankfully, new venues have come onto the scene to offset the losses of others.

A highly promising new addition to the downtown music venue community is The Gate, in the heart of the James Street North strip (next to popular bar The Brain). Many HAMILTON CITY Magazine readers will recall the popular Gate of India. It has recently been reconfigured as The Gate, billing itself as an “Indian kitchen and art bar.” After extensive renovations, it definitely has the look of the latter, with black and brick walls and, at the time of writing, an exhibit of paintings by local singer-songwriter and artist Martin Verrall.

HCM recently dropped by to catch a performance in the space by Verrall and his ace band MVP. We were impressed by the sound in the room, and the general vibe, well-priced drinks, and a menu built around Indian street food.

Live music will be a key component of The Gate, which has a licensed capacity of about 50, says general manager Jefferson Wilde.

“It’s an intimate room by design, which allows audiences to feel connected to the artists and helps create a great listening environment. We’ve put a lot of effort into improving the room acoustically. We’re continuing to make upgrades and our goal is to create one of the best-sounding small music rooms in Hamilton.”

The venue is open Wednesday through Sunday, with live-music programming focused on evenings and weekends. Veteran music promoter Molinaro is involved with the booking.

“As demand grows, we’ll continue to expand our programming,” says Wilde. “Our vision is for The Gate to be a neighbourhood gathering place first and foremost, an Indian kitchen, art bar, and live music venue all under one roof.”

Expect an eclectic selection of live music. “We want the venue to reflect the diversity and creativity of Hamilton’s music community,” says Wilde. “You’ll see everything from singer-songwriters and folk artists to punk, indie rock, experimental, jazz, roots, and beyond. We’re less interested in genre and more interested in authenticity and quality. The goal is to create a space that feels accessible to both emerging and established performers.”

One notable upcoming show (on July 30) will be a double bill of two cult heroes, Edgar Breau, leader of Simply Saucer, and Bob Bryden of psychedelic bands Reign Ghost and Christmas.

A significant recent casualty on the music club scene was Stonewalls. Situated on York Boulevard, the bar, restaurant, and music venue had, since opening in 2010, long been a key player, booking local, national, and occasionally international acts, in genres ranging through rock ’n’ roll, blues, country, folk, and funk. Former longtime Hamilton Spectator music critic Graham Rockingham says he first became acquainted with Stonewalls as the venue for the 2011 launch party for Arkell’s second full-length album Michigan Left, the band’s first release on big-label Universal Music Canada.

“Stonewalls had a few advantages over other live clubs in town – parking, burgers, and a raised stage. Although in its later years, it tended to cater to a lot of tribute bands, it also provided a base for such local mainstays as Tim Gibbons, and Ginger St. James, as well as being a hub for the city’s blues acts such as Trickbag and The Smokewagon Blues Band. It’ll be missed.”

Other Hamilton and area music notables who graced the Stonewalls stage included Harrison Kennedy, The Shakers, The Redhill Valleys, Steve Strongman, Dave Rave, LMT Connection, The Hell Bent Rockers, Freedom Train, and Rocket & The Renegades, plus Ontario acts String Bone, Steve Marriner, Jack DeKeyzer, Albertan country star George Bamford, and Australian blues luminary Lachy Doley.

Now occupying the Stonewalls space is Indian restaurant La Tikka, an offshoot of the original Kitchener location. La Tikka’s Sharon Patel stresses that “live music will absolutely continue to be a regular part of the experience at La Tikka Hamilton. We want to carry forward the venue’s strong connection to live entertainment while also introducing a fresh concept that blends music, dining, and nightlife,” she says.

Performances lined up include rock cover bands, DJs, Bollywood music nights, acoustic and unplugged nights, and fusion-style entertainment. “Our goal is to create a diverse music calendar that appeals to both existing Stonewalls patrons and new audiences in Hamilton. We’re very excited about bringing live entertainment back into the space in a new way and becoming part of Hamilton’s live-music scene.”

Another recent loss (followed by a quick gain) for the Hamilton music venue circuit was the Gaba Gaba Gool Club, the creation of popular punk rocker and caterer Sammy Squid. He combined his two passions in the basement of the historic Theatrix building at Cannon Street East and Kensington that included both a kitchen and a music room. It operated in rather under-the-radar fashion for the past two-and-a-half years, but became a popular hangout for many prominent Hamilton rock ’n’ rollers, singer-songwriters, and scenesters.

The likes of Forgotten Rebels mainman Mickey DeSadist, Dean Fulton (Lost Soul Caravan), Pip Kummel, bluesman Big Johnny Blue, harmonica player/actor Cha Chiarelli, members of The Hell Bent Rockers, and Molinaro could frequently be spied there, enjoying Squid’s signature Italian “samwiches” and taking to the stage to jam.

As well as regular jams, the club hosted ticketed concerts, with acts ranging from area punk and garage rockers to famed Montreal roots-rocker Mack MacKenzie (Three O’Clock Train), and it occasionally featured screenings of music documentaries plus a recent panel discussion on Hamilton punk rock history. The irrepressible Squid always hosted with panache, and he even led some food classes in the kitchen, including how to make his beloved gabagool (Italian cold cuts). His exploits with The Gaba Gaba Gool Club were the subject of an entertaining Cable 14 series.

A complication with the lease forced his location to close in April, but he recently announced a new start for Gaba Gaba Gool Club at the Trinacria Club at 20 Colborne St., near James St. North.

“Awesome Basement Hall & Kitchen, another groovy vibe room. My Dad was one of the founders of the club,” Squid wrote on Facebook.

Another small performance space lost to the scene is Into The Abyss Records. At its previous King Street East location in the International Village, the well-respected record store often hosted intimate in-store performances by both local and noted Canadian artists. Into The Abyss recently moved to a new location nearby, but store owner and musician Brad Germain (Dinner Belles, Golden Feather) tells HCM that “we won’t host shows anymore. We simply don’t have the space at the new spot. It is simply too small.”

The good news is that Germain will continue to present music in the 90-seat The Back Hall at Eucharist Church on Victoria Avenue. Recent and upcoming shows include Advance Base with Nicholas Kyrgovich and Gareth Inkster, Hogtied with Cease, Public Health, and Eliza Niemi.

Germain notes that “We might do bigger shows at The Corktown when it suits us. We recently presented the Ancient Shapes there.”

Reflecting on some memorable shows at Into The Abyss, Germain says, “I loved the Crywank show, and Julie Doiron, and This is The Kit. Too many to mention really. It was a special spot and a special time for the scene.”

Making a mark since opening in early 2025 is Ooey Gooey’s on George Street in Hess Village. Run by the team behind The Ship and Amigos, it features unpretentious and fun food on the ground floor and music upstairs in an 80-capacity space.

“We built a live-music venue and community event space upstairs as a spot where anyone can book events, catch live shows, and connect with others,” says Ooey Gooey’s co-owner Leanne Dielschneider.

The room has featured a diverse array of local and regional rock, punk and metal acts and singer/songwriters, plus some notable imports. Dielschneider tells HCM that “Montreal-based The Gruesomes played a show a while back and are working out dates for a repeat this year. Peter Elkas had a residency last fall and will be starting up again. Wax Mannequin played with BA Johnston a few months ago, and Felix Cartel, Anna Sofia, and Korea Town Acid played during JUNO Fest. We love how eclectic the talent is upstairs.”

Other significant out-of-town artist bookings have included Montreal garage-rock hero Gerard Van Herk, of the famed Deja Voodoo, who played in May.

A few blocks away, at 61 Young St., Handsome Dave’s is another relatively recent arrival. Hard-working local troubadour S.G. Sinnicks has played there multiple times, and he describes it to HCM as “more a neighbourhood pub with music in the middle of the venue once or twice a week mixed with a DJ. Good food and I’d estimate the capacity at 40-50 without counting the patio. They deal with solo and duo acts primarily, with the odd stripped-down band.”

As fellow HCM writer Dylan Hudecki recently observed in these pages: “Hamilton’s DIY spirit remains strong. New bands are forming, new promoters are taking risks, and new spaces are finding ways to host live music.”

That’s illustrated by prolific local singer-songwriter Pip Kummel hosting a regular bi-monthly series at the Rathskeller Pub, the cozy basement space in the Germania Club, and by fellow performer Darryl Gould booking shows at The Lionshead, Clifford Brewing Co.,, and The Capitol. For the latter, he recently landed Andrew Cash, the acclaimed Toronto singer-songwriter turned NDP MP who now heads a music trade organization. After encountering Cash at a JUNO Week party, Gould entices him out of musical retirement for a sold-out show in June.