smoker
- credit to shawn scallen
“5 Arlington, located at 5 Arlington Avenue in Ottawa was the best local music venue i have ever encountered. it fostered the whole Ottawa hardcore scene of the early 90s spawning the likes of Okara, Union of Uranus, Shotmaker and also hosted amazing shows with touring bands like Drive Like Jehu, Jawbox, Sparkmarker, Franklin. the PA may have been crappy and the space decrepit, but unlike all other Ottawa venues before (One Step Beyond, Club SAW, various community centres) and after (Two Steps Above, Club SAW, Liquid Monkey, various community centres) the "Five” acted as a centrepiece to build a community. as well as two to four rock shows a week, it hosted film nights, potlucks, activist meetings, had a bit of a library and provided kitchen space to food not bombs.
sure we have shows nowadays at Club SAW or Sandy Hill Community centre, and a punk/hardcore community is slowly building with punkottawa.com, the hardcore sports league and miscellaneous bowling and movie nights, but without an autonomous and dedicated space it takes a lot longer.
5 Arlington is now an antique/curio/junk store.“ - shawn scallen
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