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It’s an extraordinarily busy week here in the Arts & Life department — September really means business when it comes to concerts, openings and other events — and time has gotten away from me this week, newsletter-wise.
But let’s just take a moment to mourn the destruction of the former Windsor Hotel, which burned to the ground on Wednesday.
Not only does it leave yet another lamentable hole in the downtown streetscape — “buildings gone missing like teeth,” as songwriter John K. Samson put it — but it’s a piece of the city’s musical legacy that can’t be replaced.
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The former Windsor Hotel was demolished overnight after the building was destroyed in a fire. (Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press)
Up to 2019, it was thriving (if endearingly divey), but the place had fallen on hard(er) times in recent years — and it was vacant, shuttered by a March public health order, at the time it burned down.
In its heyday, however, it famously played host to Charlie Chaplin, and countless local, national and international acts played its stage in more recent years. It was a frequent venue for the jazz fest, and was a hotspot when the city hosted the 2014 Juno Awards.
Up to 2020 it hosted a regular Saturday afternoon blues jam, and before that, its calendar was packed with an eclectic lineup of acts including Electric Six, Pup, Nik Turner’s Hawkwind, Merzbow, Sianspheric and SNFU.
The Windsor had grit, history and character, and will hold a special place in local music fans’ hearts.
What bygone venues do you have fond memories of?
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