By Kaila Krayewski
It is summer in the mid-1980s and the Rainbow Bistro is packed during one of its first big acts. Blues musician Albert Collins is playing and the patrons are going nuts.
Suddenly, Collins is gone. Everyone is craning their necks trying to figure out where he is.
Finally, he is spotted in the middle of the street beneath the second-floor bistro, located in Ottawa’s Byward Market, blocking the traffic. He is playing his guitar, with ten or twelve prostitutes who used to work the area dancing around him.
Electric guitarist Coco Montoya, a famed blues musician known for his intricate guitar skills, was performing with Collins at the time, but did not appear at the Rainbow that night.
In fact, it wasn’t until Nov. 1, 2004 that patrons were able to experience Montoya’s loud and full-bodied voice at the Rainbow Bistro. The special occasion? The Rainbow is celebrating its 20th anniversary month with parties all throughout November, with performers from the Ottawa area and all across North America.
The focal point of the celebrations is Nov. 24, exactly 20 years after the Rainbow Bistro was born. The evening will be a mix of music from the 80s, 90s, and today, and will feature many musicians who have contributed to the Rainbow’s success over the years.
Regulars often describe the place as “one big family.” Jacques Pruneau has been coming to the bar since it opened. He says there’s no other bar like it. “It’s like a drug,” he says.
Pruneau has arrived early to the Montoya performance to chat with his longtime friends over a glass or two of red wine. He describes the Rainbow as a melting pot where young and old can come together.
“It’s a monument,” he says, “and it’s here to stay.”
Dusty, yellow, tulip-shaped lamps give the place an authentically antique feel.
The Mardi Gras ambiance permeates throughout the bistro, with plants in every cranny; while vines and white lights are strung across the walls.
Wooden stools and tables are scattered throughout the bar, providing patrons with a place to sit when they need a break from dancing.
Facing the street there are four large floor-to-ceiling windows, where passers-by can catch a glimpse of one of the Rainbow’s 13 weekly live performances.
The stage is an abundance of New Orleans-esque colours, highlighted by a brght orange drum set.
The only things more interesting than the bistro’s décor are the stories, ranging from marriages to heart attacks, hidden within its walls.
Stacie Sivyer, the owner’s daughter, remembers when big name acts like k.d. lang, The Tragically Hip, and Amanda Marshall used to play at the Rainbow.
Amanda Marshall used to host the Tuesday night jams at the bar. That was, until the Greycup.
“She refused to go on until people turned the Greycup game off,” says Stacie, explaining that Marshall was offended that the patrons were paying attention to the game instead of to her.”
“People were like, ‘well you can wait until the game is over,” Stacie recalls.
That laid-back, no-one-is-better-than-anyone-else attitude is one of the things that keeps bringing people back to the Rainbow Bistro.
Rory McKinnon is a longtime friend of the Rainbow’s owner. He says that while he doesn’t come back for the seating, the music draws him in.
“They always bring it back to me,” says McKinnon of his beloved blues and jazz music.
“It was kind of rough in the beginning keeping the crowd in here,” adds McKinnon, who’s watched the Rainbow evolve since its establishment.
Owner Danny Sivyer couldn’t agree more.
Sivyer jokes that in the 20 years since the Rainbow began, the biggest challenge has been “staying open.”
He says it’s taken a lot of planning, but quality live music is what brings in the crowds.
“We built it to be a very comfortable place, where the staff is friendly and it’s a nice place to be,” says Sivyer.
One of the best compliments Sivyer says he’s received is that single women tell him they feel comfortable coming to his bar alone.
“You can come in here, once you get to know the staff, a good-looking girl could walk in here and feel safe,” Sivyer says. “They may hit on you, but we’ll save you.”