The Aviary — Local services in Avenue District

Saw Henchman, Oborio-skai, and SunUp SunDown there, most recently. It was a great show!

Love what Philip and the gang have done with the Aviary. The room has a stage that accommodates your typical four piece band, and more, great sound, a dance floor that easily holds 30 people, nice seating for about 30, and excellent sightlines. Craft beers, at fair prices, really friendly staff, good merch (sometimes including stuff from the Anarchist book fair), decent bathrooms, an ATM, and local artists' work on the walls all make for a space that really works.

It's across the street from Bikeworks North, which makes it easy to find. The only concern is late night bike parking. Be advised you'll need to double lock and don't leave anything detachable. There are no city-installed Q-ring lockups, (probably because the sidewalk is too narrow?) so it's signposts, none very close...

This place is so awesome I had to write a poem about it.

The Aviary

An underdog of a bar On a bad block You’d never know it was there Walk past and you’d miss it But if you listen On the right night Music echos through its wooden bones

Art lines the walls An owl headed gunslinger stares you down Like one of Hunter S. Thompson’s High powered mutants Too rare to live too cool not to buy

It’s burned once But it still stands Thursday night They’ll test your brains might King Quizzard and the scoreboard wizard Laying down the questions

Liqueur and classical books reside on the shelves The proprietors can tell you And sell you Hemingway’s favourite cocktail

The word hip may come to mind But that would be selling it short Theres an authenticity to it And to the people...

Attending a concert at The Aviary was nothing short of a nightmare. Hosting a full crowd with no air conditioning whatsoever is not just poor planning — it’s dangerous and completely unacceptable. I measured the temperature inside at 53°C. That’s not “hot”; that’s unsafe and inhumane.

Offering free water doesn’t make up for leaving patrons to bake in an oven-like environment. The fact that the artist had to rent an industrial AC, which wasn’t even set up properly, shows utter incompetence on the venue’s part. This is bad business, plain and simple.

I will never step foot in this venue again, and anyone who values their safety and comfort should avoid it...