The closure of the Brass Monkey in Nepean may be an ominous sign for Ottawa’s live music industry but one popular venue owner is sounding an optimistic note.
“The music scene, I would say, is strong,” said Stacie Sivyer, owner The Rainbow Bistro, a live music venue in the ByWard Market for the last 41 years. “The musicians and the community who care, put in the work.”
But the business conditions have become very challenging.
“Unfortunately, with the price and cost of electricity, rent, hydro, lemons, limes and the fact it is hard to get some of your people’s favorite alcohol with trade wars right now, it is not so much that the music scene is the problem,” said Sivyer.
The Rainbow has been a hub for blues and rock since its beginning when Sivyer’s father, Danny, opened the bar with his friends in 1984. Growing up around the music scene, Sivyer, has an extensive catalog of memories from the venue, from packed blues shows, to closed doors during COVID-19 times to the resurgence of customers and fans post-pandemic.
She says there is a great group of a couple hundred musicians in the Ottawa area who support each other and come to each other’s shows.
“They take turns headlining and opening for each other, and that’s something that’s pretty magical.”
As an example Sivyer points to Noise Hotel, a four-piece indie rock band that formed in Ottawa in 2022. The band’s guitarist Matt Scharfe says the closing of the Brass Monkey is unfortunate but is also an opportunity for some consolidation in live music venues.
“Losing stuff like Brass Monkey means it will increasingly move more towards having all the live music being sort of centralized around the downtown core. There’s not really a lot of other viable places outside of downtown for Ottawa to be gigging,” said Scharfe.
“It just means there’s going to be more people coming to shows downtown,” said bassist Christian Strong.
Still, the band members agree the loss of medium sized venues is a drawback that hurts local artists growth.
“It goes from like Bronson Centre, pretty much to right immediate jump to the Canadian Tire Centre,” said Noise Hotel singer/guitarist Eric Montpool.
“I think there’s a very clear understanding that Ottawa needs more small- and mid-sized venues.”
The Bronson Centre has a capacity of 900, while the Canadian Tire Centre seats at least 17,000.
The City concluded that in 2019, Ottawa’s nightlife economy accounted for more than $1.5 billion in spending. And in 2023 the city developed a Nightlife Economic Action plan, including creating a Nightlife Commissioner position.
But the city’s nightlife faces headwinds. The Brass Monkey joins the list of once prominent stages such as Mavericks, Café Dekcuf and Barrymore’s, which have shut down in the past five years.
And Algonquin College’s Music Industry Arts program, which trains students to become technicians, production managers, sound engineers, promoters, and coordinators, is in danger of cancelation.
Mélanie Brulée, executive director of the Ottawa Music Industry Coalition (MIC), has helped create a community-led advocacy group called, #MIAmatters, which is pushing for the program to continue.
“They have a 92 per cent employment rate and have exceeded enrolment projections for the 16 years it’s been running,” said Brulée.
“It matters because this is one of the few local pathways that prepares people for real, job-ready work in the music and events sector. Without it, Ottawa risks losing the workforce that supports venues, festivals, and cultural tourism, forcing businesses to look outside the city for talent at a time when the City of Ottawa and Ottawa Tourism are investing heavily in cultural events as a revitalization tool,” she said.
But Sivyer insists Ottawa local music is thriving in Ottawa and that it’s diverse.
“The Ottawa music scene is not specifically one genre. It’s definitely got offshoots and all sorts of different tangents,” she said.
“There are musicians who’ve been playing for as long as I’ve been alive. … And there is a whole new crop of young kids coming out of high school and university, where they’ve just graduated, and they really blossom,” said Sivyer.
Strong shares this view of the state of live music in Ottawa.
“Vibrant, so vibrant. Everyone wants to have a good time when they’re out,” he said. “People come for the bands. In Toronto, a lot of people kind of just like go out and there happens to be live music, but I find in Ottawa, there’s much more of an intentionality behind where you end up and where you’re going, because you want to see a certain artist.”
While venues closing is a disheartening sight for music fans and workers, there are hopeful signs, such as the development of the mid-sized venue History, scheduled to open in the ByWard Market in the summer 2026.
Brulée says that the future of Ottawa’s live music is at a crossroads.
“With the right support, Ottawa can grow into a stronger music city, attracting visitors, retaining talent, and supporting a vibrant nightlife and cultural economy,” she said.
“Without investment in venues, education, and workforce development, the risk is continued closures, talent drain to other cities, and fewer opportunities for artists and music workers to stay and build careers here.”
