I can’t believe it’s been 5 years.  Wow, time flies when you’re going to see a lot of live music.  The Habitat has been a mainstay in the Kelowna live music scene for 5 years.  Back in the spring of 2005, a few months before Habitat open their doors on Leon Ave, I was blogging about shows at the Mission Hall, Knights of the Columbus hall and even The Warehouse.  Sure, there were some great shows in town, and Miss T Promotion was bringing some cool artists to the Blue Gator.  However, the shows were few and far between.  The consistency wasn’t there.  That is something Habitat has been bringing since day one – consistent top-notch local, Canadian and International artists.

I wrote a review of the Duotone Arts festival on August 3^rd, 2005 where Ladyhawk and Black Mountain performed (days before they toured with Coldplay).  It’s no coincidence that the newly opened Habitat was going to provide a venue for these bands, and approximately 600 other bands in the years to come.  From Polaris Prize nominees, Juno Award winners, and I’m sure a few future Grammy nominees have all graced the stage at Habitat.

My first blog post about the Habitat was on August 30^th, 2005 for an upcoming Underoath show.  Within a few months many more shows were starting to happen at the Habitat.  So I keep track of all the shows I’ve seen over the last 10 years, and with many of them being in Kelowna and many of them happening in the last 5 years, it’s no wonder Habitat has been the most commonly visited venue for live music for me and my fellow music-loving friends.  Some of the earliest performance from Alphababy (now known as Yukon Blonde and signed with Bumstead Records) took place at Habitat.  Several other up-and-coming Canadian artist that played several shows, before gaining nationwide attention included In-Flight Safety, Dan Mangan, Hey Rosetta, Pride Tiger, Tokyo Police Club, The Novaks, The Most Serene Republic, Library Voices, Rah Rah, Plants & Animals, Matthew Barber,  Pack AD, Said the Whale, illScarlett, Mother Mother, You Said Party, We Say Die and the Sadies to name just a few.  Then there was the classic Joel Plaskett performance in May of 2009 where the lucky people in attendance at this sold out show got to hear Joel tell the real story behind “Love This Town”.

Supporting local artist
Along with Yukon Blonde, there’s been no shortage of great Kelowna bands that have been playing at Habitat, maybe 3^rd on the bill with a 25 minute open set, only to return 6 months later to be headlining their own show.  Bend Sinister, Kingdom Cloud, Treelines, Windborn to name just a few.  Kelowna’s We Are the City won top honours in the Peak Performance Project in 2009, a province-wide talent search sponsored by 100.5 the Peak FM.

So a big Happy Anniversary goes out to Quinn and Katrina at the Habitat, all the great staff over the years and to all the music lovers in the community who keep coming out to support live music in Kelowna!

Voted ‘Top 20 Venues in Canada‘ CBC Radio 3 Searchlight Contest
Winner ‘Best Venue Supporting Live Music‘ BC Interior Music Awards
Winner ‘Best Venue‘ Off-Centre 2006-2009

Feat. live music by Familia and Ange Alero
$10 – Limited number of tickets available – Buy yours here!
Media meet and greet: 4pm-6pm
Doors open to the public at 6pm, live music at 8pm