So Edmonton's famous Sidetrack Cafe closed.

[Xelebes]

This venue was the one that launched k.d. lang, Sarah Maclachlan, Blue Rodeo, Captain Tractor and the Barenaked Ladies careers.

Sidetrack sidetracked (10:56 p.m.)

Famed downtown venue closes doors

Karen Kleiss, edmonton journal.com

Published: Thursday, February 15, 2007

Edmonton’s famed Sidetrack Cafe closed its doors Thursday, 26 years to the day after it opened.

Sarah MacLachlan, k.d. lang, the Barenaked Ladies and Blue Rodeo are just some of the acts launched from the ’Track’s stage.

“It was not a decision that was made lightly,” operations manager Leard Robertson said Thursday. “Everyone ... has literally given the shirt off their backs to try to make this happen.”

“Ultimately it is financial,” he said.

“The move, the renovations, the delay in opening, those are some of the factors in the decision.”

The closure is indefinite, he said. All bookings have been cancelled, according to the bar’s website.

Sidetrack staff member Cory Papirny heard the news Thursday, one day after the decision was made.

“I was told that as of Thursday, we are closed,” Papirny said.

“It is a sad day for the music community in Edmonton.”

The Sidetrack opened Feb. 15, 1981, at 10333 112th St., where it became a mecca of live

music in Edmonton.

“It had a kind of magic,” said Clare Anderson, who ran the bar for more than a decade during its heyday. It wasn’t the club du jour … . It was a gathering place where people hung out and coexisted. There was a real magical harmony between the staff and the patrons and the bands that played there.

“You don’t come across many places like that.”

The bar moved to its new location at 10238 104th Street in April 2006, a move many in the city’s entertainment community say hastened the cafe’s end.

“Even though we’ve ceased operations we would like to think that everyone enjoyed their time at the Sidetrack,” Robertson said.

“We have nothing but good memories.”

kkleiss@thejournal.canwest.com