At Barrymore’s in Ottawa, you’re just as likely to slow dance to retro-1980s tunes as you are to raise your fists amid a soul-punk maelstrom or send flaming pieces of eight-track player soaring toward the ornate ceiling and crystal chandeliers. (At least, that’s what happened to me when I was given a baseball bat by a lounge lizard in a gold lamé suit.) Bingo Jet International’s infamous smash ’n’ burn round is but one of countless pop cultural memories imprinted in this music hall, which began its life back in 1914 as a vaudeville house and then as a cinema. After a few humiliating decades as a furniture warehouse, Barrymore’s reopened as a discotheque before morphing into the capital city’s premier rock club. It has a faded but indelible sense of class that has inspired both touring acts and local artists, including alt-country star Kathleen Edwards. In a town overrun with history-laden institutions, Barrymore’s Music Hall rocks tall.

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