Up in Arms
Renaissance activist takes it to the streets
BY Jo Snyder
Winnipeg’s Royal Albert Arms, the prairie version of New York’s CBGB, will change hands this January after being sold to a developer—leaving the icon’s future as a music venue uncertain.
The decades-old punk-rock mainstay has launched the careers of local artists such as Propagandhi, and hosted just about every band that has dared to come through town.
New owner Daren Jorgenson says he is “committed to keeping the punk and metal live music,” but with spas and condos opening all around it, many fear the gritty old Albert will soon be courting a martini-sipping crowd. Jorgenson plans to turn the top two floors into a boutique hotel, upgrading the restaurant and adding a rooftop lounge.
But Doug McLean, of the Winnipeg bands the Bonaduces and the Paperbacks, warns that the Albert’s transformation shouldn’t be taken as cause for alarm. “It’s been a cool place to play and I really appreciated it,” he says, “but I don’t want people to think this is the end of the scene.”
