The seventh in a series of short videos exploring some of Fredericton’s former all-ages venues. This episode looks at The Elks Club. The only long running all-ages venue that ran a canteen during shows and also had a bar in the basement.
Matt Carter
This entire video series grew from an article I wrote in 2017 entitled Gone But Not Forgotten – 10 famous Fredericton all-ages venues from years past. However, if we want to get overly literal on the whole concept of “gone”, The Elks Club takes the cake. It is indeed, gone. It is the only former venue included in this series that is no longer standing. The building was torn down somewhere around 2018 and replaced with a condo unit. But while it stood, it was home to many an all-ages show, spanning generations of bands and musicians.
The best document capturing the building’s history as a music venue would have to be the 2003 episode of Much Music’s Going Coastal which was filmed at The Elk’s Club and includes conversations and cameos with several musicians and scensters from that era. You may recognise as few familiar faces.
My experience seeing live music here was limited. I mention just about everything I know about the space in the above video, so I’ll keep this post brief. That said, I’d love to hear any memories you have about shows at The Elks Club. Please drop them in the comments on Facebook or Instagram beneath this post.
Related: The Magical Memorable Venue Tour EP:1 – St. Charbel’s Hall
Retaled: The Magical Memorable Venue Tour EP:2 – The I.O.O.F. Hall
Related: The Magical Memorable Venue Tour EP:3 – The Pyramid Warehouse
Related: The Magical Memorable Venue Tour EP:4 – Kinsmen Community Centre
Related: The Magical Memorable Venue Tour EP: 5 – Gallery Connexion
Related: The Magical Memorable Venue Tour EP:6 – The Megaspot
