Vancouver

Like some golden-age luxury liner, the Commodore Ballroom floats one storey above the strange currents of Granville Street. Many generations of Vancouverites trace their brightest concert experiences back to its decks. Since 1929, the gilded venue has welcomed everyone from Duke Ellington and Ray Charles to the Bay City Rollers and R.E.M. Last October, Tom Waits played a dreamlike show there – the smallest joint he’s played in 20 years. My own memories of the Commodore involve loud, jagged performances by the Fall and Public Image Ltd., when the art deco room, with its elaborate ornamental columns and raised tables lining the dance floor, seemed a serene foil for chaos, as if it were a set from The Shining. Over the decades, those same atmospheric charms remain. And it is still the best place in town to witness local music history – and your own – being made.

– Brian Lynch