Plateau Salle de Spectacle Divan Orange Has Its Final Dance This Weekend

PLATEAU — Some three months after the news broke, Le Divan Orange, the concert spot known for hosting a myriad of local indie musicians and bands, will switch its amplifiers off for the final time this Sunday (March 18). As reported in November, the 13-year-old bar has hosted a whopping 10,000 (or so) artists in its time, but has been unable to stay financially viable (it operated as a non-profit, and periodically received grants to help it along). The situation wasn’t helped by thousands of dollars of fines generated by noise complaints — although the blame for that seems to fall on a couple who lived above the bar, who called the cops 85 times in two months at one stage. (Note to the noise-sensitive readers out there: maybe just don’t move above a music venue.)

Over at the Gazette, Cora MacDonald has a thorough eulogy for the bar, and she also looks into ways that other small music venues might manage to survive amidst rising rents, and ways in which the city might help. Le Divan Orange has shows every night until Sunday, but anybody looking to give it a farewell should note that several of them are sold out, including the grand finale.

POINTE-ST-CHARLES — Notable cocktail and pub eats spot Chez Dallaire quietly left the neighbourhood earlier this year after two and a half years in business; apparently principal Hugo Dallaire and his team are looking into other businesses and projects for the future.

DOWNTOWN — CBC Montreal is hypothesizing that construction work on Bishop Street between de Maisonneuve and Sainte-Catherine is likely to decimate the restaurant and bar scene on that stretch — the public broadcaster’s story suggests that when it’s done in 2020, only Pizza Hut and Irish pub McKibbin’s may survive; the owner of Ferrari tells CBC he’s hanging on month by month. Already out of business on the strip are Le Gourmet Burger, Mesa 14, and Craft Grilled Cheese (the CBC story notes that coffee shop Kafein has “gone under”, however, it’s still open).

MILE END — Sushi restaurant Miné (on the corner of Parc and St-Viateur) has closed up for good. There are “coming soon” signs in the window for what appears to be another restaurant, but what exactly is coming soon is a mystery.

• Iconic Plateau Bar and Music Venue to Close in Spring — And Other Shutters [EMTL]
• How can small Montreal venues avoid shutting off the lights for good? [Montreal Gazette]
• Bishop Street merchants driven to bankruptcy by 3-year marathon construction project [CBC]