A Notable Punk Venue in the Latin Quarter Will Shut Down At the End of the Year

Another Montreal music venue will bite the dust soon, as punk, metal-and-more venue Les Katacombes has announced plans to close at the end of 2019.

Located in a distinctive black building on the corner of St-Laurent and Ontario in the Latin Quarter, Katacombes has been hosting bands and other events for 13 years. The space was run as a DIY co-op, and while it tended to draw heavier acts in the punk and metal sphere, it hosted a wide range of arts and culture events since its founding in 2006.

The closure was announced on Facebook, with the co-op owners not giving a precise reason for the venue’s demise, although they did hypothesize that “it’s super expensive now downtown and also that the building is falling apart and the landlord won’t do any work on it cause he’ll probably demolish it soon”.

The announcement went on to call the closure “a really sad news for the international and local underground music industry.”

Katacombes’ building is owned by a numbered corporation that appears to be linked to a real estate company named Ghattas & Associés, based on Décarie Boulevard. The co-op did not specify if it was voluntarily leaving the building, or if it was being pushed out by landlords. As radio station CHOM noted in reporting the closure, the area around Katacombes has changed drastically in recent years, and there are major condo developments going up in the area.

Katacombes will have a series of final shows before it closes its doors on December 31.

The venue is the latest of several notable departures from Montreal’s music scene in recent years — in early 2018, Plateau salle de spectacles Le Divan Orange was forced to close after being slapped with thousands of dollars of fines stemming mostly from noise complaints from one couple who lived above the bar. Mile End coffee shop and music venue Le Cagibi was forced to move in 2018, and is unable to host shows in its current location. Back in 2015, longtime St-Laurent venue and bar Les Bobards also shuttered; its location is now trendy bar Le Darling.

Despite the closures, at least two new venues have cropped up, even if they’re rather small — singer-songwriter Martha Wainwright opened Ursa in Mile End earlier this year, and on the Plateau, the Diving Bell Social Club began hosting shows and other events on St-Laurent in late 2018.

• Montreal DIY Venue Katacombes to Close By Year’s End [CHOM]
• Iconic Plateau Bar and Music Venue to Close in Spring [EMTL]
• A Grand New Music Venue Arrives on the Plateau Today [EMTL]
• Singer-Songwriter Martha Wainwright Opens Cozy Café and Cultural Space in Mile End [EMTL]
• Les Bobards Shuts Down After 25 Years on the Main [EMTL]