A local ownership group led by Nick Blasko and Dimitri Demers of concert promotion company Atomique Productions has purchased the Yates Street nightclub Sugar.
Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
“It was a good offer,” said outgoing Sugar owner Damian Cownden, who has owned the club since 1999. “At the end of the day, everybody’s happy, and that’s all that matters.”
The new ownership group features members of the local music, media, and food and beverage sectors. Joining Demers and Blasko as owners are Glen Barlow, Adam Duron, Chris Hibbins, Morgan Brooker, Stephen Franke, Colin McTaggart and Dylan Willows.
During its 40-plus years as a nightclub, the venue at 858 Yates St. has operated under a range of monikers, including Wasteland, New York New York, the Cactus Club, and 94th Street Music Hall.
As Sugar, the 600-person-capacity room went on to become one of the top live music venues in the city. Performers who have appeared at Sugar include Skrillex, Metric, Modest Mouse and Buzzcocks.
Late rock icon Prince performed there in 2011, following his sold-out concert at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
“It’s a great place to see a show,” Blasko said.
Other concert promoters in Victoria, who wished to remain anonymous, expressed concern that the playing field is no longer level with the owners of Atomique Productions on board at Sugar. Atomique Productions produces multiple concerts at various venues monthly, in addition to large-scale annual festivals Rock the Shores, the Phillips Backyard Weekender and Rifflandia.
“Atomique is to going to continue to work across the city,” Demers said. “And we’re very much going to be encouraging other promoters and entities to use the room for concerts and events.”
“The notion that everything we do now goes to Sugar is not reality,” Blasko said. “Certain artists fit in certain rooms.”
If anything, having a concert promotion company at the helm of a large nightclub will help Atomique take a few more risks with its programming, Demers said. The beneficiary in that regard is the concert-going public, he said. “It provides us with an opportunity to take that room further in the right direction.”
Renovations and a rebranding at Sugar will take place after the summer.
Cownden said he will miss the environment, but a change was needed. He was happy to learn that his staff will remain under the new owners — many of whom he has worked extensively with over the years.
“Somebody else approached me throughout this process about buying it, another very capable group from Victoria, and I had the choice of who got to buy it. I very much wanted Nick and Dimitri to have the room, because I knew it would flourish in their control. I knew that would be the best for the staff, and for the room, and for Victoria. I really think they will take it to a place where it should be, and beyond where I could take it.”
