Author Archives: Feisal Merali

What Can We Do to Save Vancouver’s Nightlife?

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If you’ve been around Vancouver’s nightlife for any amount of time, then you know that the downtown nightlife is on life support, to say the least.

Ever since the pandemic, it feels like the bar and nightclub scene downtown has been shrinking by the day, both in terms of attendance and in terms of actual places to go that seem like fun to go to. Some places have closed due to lacking business and other places have literally burned down.

It also doesn’t help that the prices at some of these places are outrageous and hard to quantify or justify especially when you could get a bottle of the same drink for less at your local BC Liquor Store. This is unfortunate because there are a lot of really nice places to go to downtown. There’s the Commadore Ball Room, ENZO, Harbor Event Centre, the Roxy, and more.

Studio Lounge & Nightclub

Studio Nightclub Sign on Granville (Credit: Thomas Hawk via Flickr)

Before the pandemic, Gastown was also a lot different. Now if you go late at night, you don’t always feel super safe. There’s a lot more open use of illegal substances, and the popular places that were there are no longer there.

What can we do to fix that though? There are lots of local performances that happen, and lots of local DJs that play every night, but it feels like they don’t always get the attention that big artists do, or the same amount of promotion. Sometimes just spreading by word of mouth isn’t enough, and spreading more through social media is needed, as well as from local promoters and writers as well.

What we can do as regular every day people is get the word out more. Spread the word about local artists doing shows, or events around certain themed events. Like if you were born in 2000 and want to experience a 2010’s night, it’s hard to find out about it unless you know someone that knows about all the events more often.

If there’s a way to spread the word about it, do it. Help increase the knowledge of our local music scene, a scene that has given birth to artists like Bryan Adams, Michael Bublé, and more. Who knows what will come out of our city next, but we won’t know until we give those artists the time of day.

For now, spread the word about local performances, bring your friends to local shows, and support local artists.

Justin Kripps Inducted into BC Sports Hall Of Fame

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One of Canada’s most decorated bobsleigh athletes has made it into the BC Sports Hall of Fame.

Justin Kripps spent a lot of time with the national bobsleigh team. He is the first and only Canadian to date that has won Olympic medals in both the two and four-man bobsleigh events. The two medals came in Pyeongchang, in 2018, where he won gold in the two man event, and in 2022 he and the rest of Canada’s four-man bobsleigh team won bronze in Beijing.

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Outside of medaling, he has represented Canada at multiple Olympic games. He was at Vancouver in 2010, Sochi in 2014, Pyeongchang in 2018, and Beijing in 2022. He has also competed at the IBSF World Cup Tour, winning two Large Crystal Globes and eight runner-up Crystal Globes, due to him finishing second and third in the tour four times each.

During the IBSF World Cup, he won a total of 44 medals from tour events. This includes seven gold, fourteen silver, and twenty-three bronze medals. He also won five career IBSF world championship medals. Two silver medals, one in 2017 in Konigssee and one in 2019 in Whistler, and three bronze medals, 2012 in Lake Placid, 2015 in Winterberg and 2019 in Whistler.

After retiring, he hasn’t stepped away from the sport either. At the highest level, he was most recently in Milano-Cortina for the 2026 Olympic Games as a coach for Canada’s bobsleigh team.

The interesting part is that Justin was not born in Canada, instead he was born in Na’alehu, Hawaii. He moved to Canada at a young age, moving to Summerland in the Okanagan. From there he joined the athletics team at Simon Fraser University, where he competed in the 4×100 relay, with teammates Neal Hurtubise, Rob Drapala, and Brett Roinson.

With that team he won All-American honors, and a school record at the 2005 NAIA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. After his career in athletics, he decided to give bobsleigh a chance, due to it feeling like a mix of track and field, and race car driving.

Though later in his career he would be known as a driver, he initially started as a breakman. It wasn’t until after the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver that he decided to switch to driver, and since then, the rest is history.

You can expect to see Justin inducted into the BC Sports Hall Of Fame later this year in the fall, with the rest of the 2026 class.

If you want to learn more about the BC Sports Hall Of Fame, as well as the incoming class, you can click here.

Silvana Burtini Inducted Into BC Sports Hall Of Fame

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One of Canada’s best female soccer players, if not greatest players period, will inducted into the BC Sports Hall Of Fame this fall.

Born in Williams Lake, Silvana Burtini spent seventeen years with the Canadian Women’s national team, from 1987 till 2003. During her time with the national team and during her time with two different clubs, she had a long and successful career.

During her time with the national team, she let the team to the 1998 CONCACAF Women’s championship. She led the team to three other CONCACAF medal finishes as well. Silver in 1994 and 2002, and bronze in 1993. During the 1998 tournament, she scored eight goals, won the golden boot as the tournament’s leading scorer, and also named the MVP of the entire tournament.

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She also represented Canada at the FIFA Women’s World cup, appearing on the team in 1995, 1999, and 2003. In those four appearances with the team, she helped lead them to their best finish yet for the national women’s team, a fourth place finish in 2003.

For her entire international career, she earned 77 caps, and scored 38 goals. Those goals still stand as the fourth all-time ranked among Canadian Women. She also twice set the Canadian national goal record for a single game, once in 1994 against Mexico, and then broke that record in 1998 when she scored 8 goals against Puerto Rico.

During her club career, she helped the Raleigh Wings win the 1999 USL W-League championship, and was also drafted to the Carolina Courage for the inaugural WUSA season in 2001, where she scored four goals in 17 matches.

This is also not her first time being inducted into a Hall of Fame, or high personal accolades after retirement. She was named to the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame in 2010, the BC Soccer Hall of Fame in 2012, The Canada Soccer’s Women’s Player of the Year in 1998, and was also named to one of Canada Soccer’s Top 30 Players of the Past Century in 2012.

After retiring, she became a police officer with the Vancouver Police Department. She has received the British Columbia Police Award of Valor for saving a life in 2004, and also an award from The Governor General of Canada, receiving the Police Exemplary Service Medal on August 26th, 2022.

Silvana, and the rest of the 2026 BC Sports Hall of Fame will be inducted later this year in the fall, after all of the FIFA World Cup festivities of the summer die down. To find out more about the BC Sports Hall of Fame, you can click here.

Doug Brown Inducted Into BC Sports Hall Of Fame

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The BC Sports Hall Of Fame has revealed it’s new class of 2026 on April 15th, and among the members that have been inducted, CFL lineman Doug Brown.

Doug Brown spent his time in the CFL with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, and played from 2001 till 2011. He appeared in 188 regular season games, recorded 426 tackles and 52 sacks during the course of his career, the latter of which is the third most in Blue Bombers history.

Alongside his individual stats, he won quite a few accolades as well. He was the FVL’s Most Outstanding Canadian Player in 2001, and would also finish as a finalist for the CFL’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player twice. He led the Blue Bombers the Grey Cup finals three times, in 2001, 2007 and finally in 2011.

He also won quite a few club awards as well. He was named the Blue Bomber’s Most Outstanding Player once, Most Outstanding Canadian eight times, and the Most Outstanding Defensive Player three times.

However, he wasn’t always a football player. Prior to his decision to swap to playing football as a senior in high school, instead he was a competitive swimmer and was one of the top ranked rugby players in the entirety of Canada. He also credits his track and field coach for helping him develop his running style that carried him into his professional career.

For his university career, he didn’t go to a big name university in the USA, instead he decided to stay closer to home and go to Simon Frasier University instead. Once he graduated from Simon Frasier University, he was the first graduate to actually sign with an NFL team.

He started his career with the Buffalo Bills, but never started a game, instead spending his rookie season on the sideline before joining the Washington Redskins. There he played for two seasons with the team, appearing in 20 games, and recording 22 tackles. He didn’t appear in the 2000 season with the team due to a broken foot that kept him sidelined all year.

Even though he wasn’t on a BC team for his professional career, he was born in New Westminster, and raised in Port Moody. His college career was also spent at Simon Frasier University, so that is how he qualifies for this honour.

These days Doug Brown is retired from professional play, and spends his time in Manitoba doing colour casting for the Blue Bombers broadcast and living with his family.

He and the rest of the 2026 class will be inducted into the BC Sports Hall Of Fame later this year in the fall, after the FIFA World Cup comes to town.

Theatre Under The Stars Returns for 2026

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Theatre Under The Stars returns for their 2026 season with two different shows running this summer. For the months of July and August, you can see both Sister Act and Disney’s The Little Mermaid live at the Malkin Bowl in Stanley Park.

For those who have not seen Sister Act, it is a Broadway musical with lots of laughs, twists and turns. Set in the late 1970s, it follows an aspiring disco diva Deloris Van Cartier. She stumbles across a shooting involving her boyfriend, who also happens to be part of a gang. She ends up in witness protection, leading to an adventure full of soulful gospel music, hijinks, and a story of sisterhood.

For the few people that haven’t seen Disney’s The Little Mermaid, it follows the story of a young mermaid named Ariel. She dreams about being able to go above the see and the world she has no experience with. After saving a prince from a dangerous shipwreck, she makes a dangerous deal to have the chance to walk on the land above the sea. It’s a story full of music, adventure, romance, and more.

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If you haven’t been to a Theatre Under The Stars show in Stanley Park before, then you are missing out. Set to happen during the summer under the cool night sky, you can watch local actors put on off Broadway shows.

These shows have been going on since 1940, where they originally put on musicals and opperettas. Since then, with weather and local government permitting, they have been putting on shows at the Malkin Bowl in Stanley Park. The modern version where they put on more plays and musicals started in 1969, when they did Carousel at Dunbar Mountain.

Personally, I can say that the shows are worth it, either as a family trip or if you are a fan of musicals and want to support local talent. The shows to run late due to the fact that they are put on at night, and start at 8 PM. It should also be said that some of the shows do have content warnings, such as this year for Sister Act.

If you want to find out more about the Theatre Under The Stars, the schedule for this year’s shows, or about either show that is being produced this year, you can find that all at the Theatre Under The Stars website that you can find here.

Prince and Michael Jackson Tribute Coming Up Soon!

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Have you ever heard of Michael Jackson, or the artist formerly known as Prince? These two icons defined pop music during the 20th century, and on June 18th, some of Vancouver’s best local musicians will be joining to celebrate the music of the two icons.

The event is called, “Infidels Jazz Presents: A celebration of Prince & Michael Jackson”. The event is going to take place at Hero’s Welcome, the exact address is 3917 Main St in Downtown Vancouver, and will take place from 8:30 PM till 10:30 PM.

The event will showcase the talents of David Ward on vocals, Jonny Tobin on keyboards, Alvin Brendan on guitar, JeanSe Le Doujet on bass, and Johnny Andrews on the drums. There is a price for tickets for this event, but compared to other events that happen downtown, the price is not bad at all. It is only $20.00.

If, somehow, you haven’t heard of either the artist formerly known as Prince, or Michael Jackson, you’re missing out. These two defined a generation and were the largest musicians on the planet for a large period of time. For Michael Jackson, it has even proceeded past his death in 2009.

If you want some of the largest songs from Michael Jackson, you can’t go wrong with any of them. To name a few that do stand out above the rest would be songs like Billie Jean, Smooth Criminal, Bad, and Beat it.

For Prince, it is fair to say that his music doesn’t have the same impact in the modern day that Michael Jackson does, but the songs are still amazing if you take the time to listen to them, especially with the vocals from Prince. Some of the standout songs from Prince would be Raspberry Beret, Purple Rain, I Wanna Be Your Lover, and I Would Die 4 U.

The local artists that are taking part in the tribute have been around for a while and are accomplished in their own right as well. For example, David Ward has songs on Spotify, one of which has over 100,000 streams on it. Jonny Tobin has been nominated for Juno awards, as well as his collaboration with D.Smoke garnered a Grammy award nomination as well.

It should be noted that there is a dress code of black clothing, white clothing, or purple clothing for the event. If you want to find out more about the event, and where to buy tickets, you can find out all the information needed at the link here.

Charlie Puth Coming To Vancouver

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Multi-award winning musician Charlie Puth is coming to Vancouver! The exact date is on May 5th and will be at the Dough Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre on the UBC campus.

The New Jersey born artist is coming as a part of his Whatever’s Clever World Tour, as a part of his new album release by the same name. The album includes songs that have features from artists like Kenny G, Kenny Loggins, and personalities like Jeff Goldblum.

The singer, known for his songs We Don’t Talk Anymore, One Call Away, and See You Again, will be joined by Daniel Seavey and Ally Salort as part of the Vancouver stop on the tour.

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Charlie Puth Live  (Credit: Walt Disney Television via Flickr)

Daniel Seavey is an artist from Portland, Oregon, mainly has music that is a fusion of pop, pop-rock, and alternative rock, but can include electronic and indie references as well. Some of his most well known songs include Cold in LA, What Am I, Trust Fund Baby, and 8 Letters.

The other artist, Ally Salort, is also joining in on this concert at UBC. Her style of music is closer to alternative pop and indie pop. The songs are more heartfelt and emotional instead of party songs, or songs that would be played at night clubs. Some of her most popular songs are Dreamliner, Late Night Talking, and Stranger Things.

For Charlie Puth, this isn’t his first time in Vancouver. He’s had two previous headline concerts. One was back on July 8th, 2017 as a part of his Illuminate tour, and later on July 3rd, 2023 as part of his “Charlie” Live Experience.

This is also the case for Daniel Seavey, who has played in Vancouver before. The last time he was in Vancouver as a solo artist was on March 31st, 2025 at the Vogue Theatre as a part of the release of his debut album.

For Ally Salort, she has performed in Vancouver as well in the past. Her last performance was at the Fox Cabaret on June 3rd, 2025. The venue in Mt. Pleasant is an independent venue that hosts a lot of live bands and artists, but doesn’t seem to host a lot of raves or EDM nights.

If you want to find out more about Daniel Seavey, you can find his Spotify here, For Ally Salort, you can find her Spotify here, and for more details on the concert at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre here as well.

NHL Playoffs Guide for Canucks Fans

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The NHL playoffs are right around the corner, and as Canucks fans we’ve known for a while that the Canucks are not going to be part of the fight for the Stanley Cup this year, so what should we be watching for instead?

There are a couple of options for fans to cheer for this year in the upcoming playoffs, but which one to choose first is always a hard decision to make. One option is to cheer for the Canadian teams that are in the playoffs, or for former players that are now on other teams.

The Canadian teams that have made it into the playoffs this year are the Edmonton Oilers, the Ottawa Senators, and the Montréal Canadiens. Form those teams, I’m probably going to be cheering for the Canadiens the most. I’m not a fan of the Oilers, for obvious reasons, and I’m not a fan of the players on the Senators, so the remaining team is an obvious pick.

Another option that was listed above is cheering for former players, and one comes to mind right away, and that is Quinn Hughes and the Minnesota Wild. After being traded to the Minnesota Wild, he has appeared in seventy-four games over the season, with seven goals, sixty-nine assists, and seventy-six assists.

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When he was traded earlier in the season, that was when I realized that the season was already over, especially when they traded such a beloved player to the fan base. Even though the Canucks got close during the 2023 season to the Stanley Cup, the team fell short against the Edmonton Oilers. Now with a new team, hopefully he can make it to the finals and lift the trophy, with a similar feeling to when Roberto Luongo lifted the trophy with the Florida Panthers.

If those story lines don’t interest you, there’s always the possibility of a team winning their first Stanley Cup in franchise history, and this year there’s a handful of teams. Those teams are the Minnesota Wild, the Buffalo Sabres, the Ottawa Senators, and the Utah Mammoth.

Having a first Stanley Cup for a team is always special, and since we haven’t been able to have that feeling as an organization yet for Vancouver, and sometimes we question if we ever will be able to have that feeling as fans, it would be nice to see it for one of the other teams that haven’t won a cup yet to win one as well.

Emily Carr Exhibit At Vancouver Art Gallery For Limited Time

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One of the best artists to ever come out of British Columbia, if not all of Canada, has a limited time exhibit right now at the Vancouver Art Gallery.

From February sixth till November eighth, there are over one hundred pieces from the famous Canadian artist Emily Carr. The exhibition is the largest single exhibition for the late artist in over twenty years.

Known for her landscape paintings and connections with the indigenous peoples of British Columbia, her oil canvas paintings have been called one of the pioneers of the modernist style, through paintings of the forests and trees in Haida Gwaii.

She wasn’t always a painter in Canada though, or only trained in Canada. She also went to Europe to train as well, and learn different styles before falling in love with the nature in Northern British Columbia.

She was also known as one of the members of the Group of Seven, who are known as the pioneers of Canadian landscape art. The members included Franklin Carmichael, Lawren Harris, A.Y. Jackson, Frank Johnston, and more.

 

Vancouver Art Gallery

Vancouver Art Gallery (credit: Ian Abbot via Flickr)

Some of the pieces by Emily Carr that will be present at the exhibit include Cedar, Grey, and Red Cedar. The over one hundred pieces aren’t all owned by the art museum either, but are also donated for show by private owners, as well as from the Emily Carr trust as well.

The pieces selected showcase how she was an observer of nature, making sure to be careful with what she took in and translated to the canvas. The pieces also make sure to showcase the Indigenous cultures as they are, actual cultures instead of an identification or a projection from a group of people.

As someone that has seen her art in person before, this exhibit is one that has caught my attention due to the sheer size of it. Emily Carr’s art is second to none in my opinion in terms of artistic style and historical importance to not only British Columbia, but Canada as a whole.

She influenced an entire style of art, and helped evolve it, and we can still see that inspiration in art that is made to this day. If you’re a fan of art, or a fan of Canadian history, you should definitely take the time to check this exhibit before it leaves.

If you want to find out more about the exhibit, or how to find more about it, you can click the link here to go to the Vancouver Art Gallery’s website.

BC Summer Games Comes to Kelowna in 2026

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The annual BC Summer Games is back, and this year it will be in Kelowna from July 22nd till July 26th.

Hosted every two years, the games welcomes back amateur athletes from all over BC to compete in a Summer Olympics style event. Some of the events that are going to be included are Baseball, athletics, Swimming, Golf, Triathlons, and more.

These events are not open to all ages, however. Depending on the event, there is an age limit for the competitors. For example, the Golf competition has a limit of twelve to sixteen years old, while the rowing competition is open to anyone under the age of seventeen.

The only category that has an allowance for anyone over the age of nineteen is the Special Olympics Athletics program that has an age allowance of anyone from the ages of twelve to forty.

The events will be held at a multitude of stadiums as well. This includes the Apple Bowl Stadium for athletics, H20 Adventure and the Fitness Centre and Kelowna Family YMCA for swimming events, Sarsons Beach Park for triathlons, and many more over the Kelowna area.

2018 BC Summer Games

The Summer Games Torch. (credit: Province of British Columbia via Flickr)

This is not the first time that the BC Summer Games have been held in Kelowna either, instead this is the fourth time it’s been held in the city. The city has hosted the BC Summer Games in 1980, 1994, and 2008 in the past.

Surprisingly, the city has not been host to the BC Winter Games, despite having access to Big White Ski Resort nearby, as well as Silverstar Mountain Resort and Kelowna Nordic.

For anyone in the Kelowna area that would like to help with the games, there are a lot of volunteer opportunities as well that are available. There are positions for games volunteers, being an official, a Provincial advisor, or a zone representative. Of course there are positions that are also open for those that want to help set up and tear down, and manning water stations as well.

If you want to find out more about the code of conduct for the BC Summer Games, you can find that here, if you want to find out how to volunteer for the games, you can find that link here, and if you want to find out more about the games, and the next city that is going to host the upcoming BC Winter Games, you can find out more by clicking here.