Collective Action Can Make Vancouver’s Music Scene More Safe

Harassment is an unfortunate and far-too-common reality of nightlife in Vancouver. Despite measures taken in efforts to prevent it—such as the creation of the Good Night Out Campaign, which aims to “end harassment in venues, pubs, bars and clubs across the world”—it continues to occur in the local music scene. 

Showrunners, venue staff, performers, and audience members alike may be exposed to this kind of harmful behaviour while they’re at a live event, and some may not know how to respond.

“I doubted myself, that it really happened, and didn’t speak up right away,” says Farya Zephyra, a recent high school graduate who has frequented local music shows for the past few years. “At an event at 333, during a mosh pit for one of the songs, a taller guy came up behind me and fully groped my entire torso.”

The harassment didn’t end there, she says. After the show, Zephyra was approached by the man, who appeared to be in his early twenties. 

“He proceeded to ask me and my two girlfriends to spend the night with him and his guy friends,” she says. “When we said no, [they] called us bitches or bitchy from what I can remember.”

After this incident, Zephyra told one of the event managers and “was informed that [she] wasn’t the only girl who had been harassed that night.” Even though “no one assisted right away,” the perpetrator was eventually told to leave.

Still, she feels that more could have been done.

“I think it’s important for an event manager to let everyone know before a show begins that they have a zero tolerance policy in place, and that they are there to support any harassment claims,” she says. “It’s a small action that I think could help.”

Kylie Van Slyke, known more commonly in the music scene as artist Kylie V, says that while they don’t have much firsthand experience with harassment, they have “heard a lot of rough stories from [their] older friends who have been in the music scene for way longer.”

“I think the safe space policy signs are helpful but not entirely so, ‘cause some people just aren’t going to read them,” says Van Slyke. “The music scene is improving, but there are obviously still improvements to be made.”

Phoenix Robson, a staff member and volunteer at the venue Red Gate Arts Society, says she has “had to deal with harassment” while on the job.

“If you’re working at any kind of event space, whether it’s somewhere on the Granville Strip or a Donnelly Group bar, or a DIY venue, you’re open to the public, and you’re going to have all sorts of people come through,” she says.

Over the two years that Robson has worked in the live music scene, she has noticed a general improvement in harassment awareness, and cites movements like “Me Too” as contributing factors to that progress.

“It’s definitely getting better, but things still happen, and people still need to do the work to try to make spaces safe and fun,” she says. 

“It’s important to listen to people, and to have conversations. I’ve witnessed security guards at bigger venues … just dismiss abusive behaviour as, ‘They’re just drunk.’ That’s not an excuse.”

In terms of the best ways to keep venues safe, Robson says that “hiring groups like Good Night Out or the Buddy System” is the way to go. 

“They’ll have people come to parties and be super visible that anyone can go to if they have a question or have a problem, and they’ll be able to help,” she says, adding that Red Gate has “done a couple workshops” with Good Night Out and plans to organize more.

At these events, Red Gate volunteers “learn how to be conscious bystanders” and collaborate on developing more comprehensive support-centric policies.

Tim Clapp, a long-time Vancouver event producer and owner of Kingfisher Bluez records, says that “a lot of people throwing local shows” likely can’t afford to pay for extra security at the venues they book. Many can’t even afford to pay themselves, he explains.

“I just throw shows that I actually want to see, or for my friends, so I try to keep everyone as safe as possible,” he says. “Usually the staff at most venues has experience helping people if anyone makes someone feel uncomfortable.”

Clapp acknowledges that, a lot of the time, people are too nervous to seek help if they are being harassed in public. 

“We just need everyone to know they’re not doing something wrong by telling someone,” he says. “I’m in a position of privilege where the only time harassment is usually going to affect me is when I hear about it from others. I have no problem kicking people out. I usually just say, ‘Hey, so I’ve been told you made someone feel uncomfortable [and] I’m gonna have to ask you to leave.’”

By that point, Clapp says, they’re usually “embarrassed enough” to go without protest. 

“I’ve been fortunate so far that it’s never been that hard to get someone out the door,” he adds.

One of the main problems with this relatively simple solution is that “people aren’t given enough consequences,” according to Zephyra. She worries that a lack of “ongoing accountability” demanded of those who harass others means that “abusers continue to harm people—more specifically, young girls who are by themselves.”

What could make venues more safe, Zephyra says, is blacklisting offenders. While Robson supports this in theory, she also knows that it could be difficult to enforce.

“There are people we have asked to not return to the venue, but it’s hard for a lot of these DIY spaces to have the resources [to maintain a blacklist],” she says.

This is partially because many event spaces are rented by several groups and temporary volunteers who likely would not recognize abusers’ names or faces immediately enough to turn them away.

Making an announcement about the promoter or venue’s safer spaces policy is one step that Robson thinks Red Gate should take, however.

“I think making a policy announcement at our shows is a great idea,” she says. “At our big events like Halloween and New Year’s, we’ve had people announce that we have ‘safety buddies’ that people can go to with any problems or questions. I also like to post [the policy] on our Facebook event pages before a show, and every time someone books an event, I send them our code of conduct at the time of the booking.”