Founded 40 years ago by Michel Sabourin and Rubin Fogel, the independent performance room has been sold to LABE-Box – Let Artists be – which owns Le Ministère room, which will maintain its vocation of discovering local and international artists.
Posted at 1:38pm
LABE, which has also been a record label for twenty years (Belle Grande Fille, Brigitte Saint-Aubin, Alex Nevski, etc.) and owner of the Cultural Box and studio B-12, has committed to retaining all of the current employees of Sparkling Water.
Its founding president, entrepreneur Louis-Armand Bombardier, who is Joseph-Armand Bombardier’s grandson, told La Presse that as of 2018, he began talks with Michel Sabourin, who was Club Soda’s president to date.
“After the ministry opened in 2017, it started to take shape in me. We could tell it was going well, I had a great team including some staff from the former Cabaret du Mile End. I met Michel again after winning the Félix for Performance Hall of the Year in 2018. I said to him: You know Michel, I’ve always liked your hall, I feel at home there, so if you’re thinking about a handover, think about it from me! »
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, ARCHIVE LA PRESSE
Entrepreneur Louis-Armand Bombardier is the new owner of Club Soda.
The message did not fall on deaf ears. Talks resumed towards the end of the pandemic, an extremely difficult time for independent venues. About nine months ago, the deal was as good as done. Only the preliminary check remained.
Michel Sabourin, who is also a spokesman for the Association of Independent Performance Halls of Quebec (ASSSIQ), said he was “relieved” but also “sad”.
“It’s hard for me to talk about it without emotion,” he tells us first. But we found that Louis-Armand was an interesting buyer who promised to continue Club Soda’s mission. As a Montreal company with another venue and creative studio, I like this horizontal approach that offers opportunities for artists. »
Louis-Armand Bombardier said he was honored to succeed Michel Sabourin and Rubin Fogel. “I experienced it when my parents had to dissolve the family business, it was their baby… I understand Michel and Rubin very well, it’s their baby, it’s a big gesture they’re making but we want to do things right. ‘ to honor the builders of Club Soda. »
LABE didn’t disclose the amount of the transaction, but according to Louis-Armand Bombardier, he didn’t buy her for “a couple of hot dogs.” Contrary to what you might think, it wasn’t a sale. “Obviously the pandemic has hurt everyone, but Club Soda is a business that’s doing very well,” he told us.
With the acquisition of Club Soda, LABE has an offer that complements that of the Ministry: a space for almost 250 people, used mainly for launches. “Club Soda is the smallest of the big rooms with a capacity of 900 people. We will definitely be able to produce bigger shows here. »
The fact is that Michel Sabourin has publicly expressed his concerns about the survival of independent venues like Club Soda, repeatedly mentioning the lack of manpower, lack of technicians and low attendance… How did the new buyer cope with these new challenges?
“It’s part of our recovery plan,” the 47-year-old entrepreneur tells us. From our successor plan. I am involved with ADISQ where I will be voicing my concerns about labels and venues. We have a creative incubator at the Ministry with several employees who can also work at Club Soda. We work with the Musitechnic school to train future technicians so we are ready to take on the challenges. »
Improvement work is being carried out in the longer term, but this is not currently LABE’s priority. “We are in integration and stabilization mode, we have dreamed of this for a long time,” says Louis-Armand Bombardier, our challenge at the moment is not to escape it. To carry the torch as best as possible. »
A mythical room
Michel Sabourin could not help recalling the beginnings of the performance hall, which was first located on Parc Avenue in the 1980s.
“From the beginning we established the concept of one-nighters, artists who play for one or two evenings,” Michel Sabourin tells us. In the early 1980s, Claude Meunier and Serge Thériault [Ding et Dong] launched the Mondays of Ha! Ha!. This is what made Club Soda famous. »
PHOTO OLIVIER PONTBRIAND, ARCHIVE LA PRESSE
Club Soda co-founder Michel Sabourin
Michel Sabourin formed a heated team with Rubin Fogel, who took care of the bookings for English-speaking artists. Several artists started their careers in this room.
“Club Soda was really a stepping stone for a lot of artists,” says Michel Sabourin. Daniel Bélanger, Jean Leloup and Lhasa de Sela all made Club Soda before joining Spectrum. Le Groupe Sanguin was supposed to perform for three or four nights, in the end there were 80 shows! »
The room’s move in 2000 to a former cinema on Boulevard Saint-Laurent – its current location – gave the owners access to an even larger room in an area that wasn’t always well frequented…
“My biggest achievement has been staying true to our mission of showcasing Quebec artists,” says Michel Sabourin. We hosted the shows Francos and Francoouvertes and gave rap a chance. But my greatest pride is to be part of a small group of arts entrepreneurs and to have proposed the creation of a Quartier des spectacles at the Montreal Economic Summit in 2001. A neighborhood where Club Soda was at the heart of the action. »