Yardbird Suite

Last night was my 3^rd visit to The Yardbid Suite.
I had forgotten that they they only take cash at the bar. The closest ATM is across the street at Steel Wheels.
Buy your tickets online. You must come at least 30 minutes before the performance. We barely got a place to sit. We shared a guy’s table after his 2 companions could not buy tickets at the box office because it was a sold out show.
It seems they got the sound system fixed since my last visit.
Last night was spectacular. Al Muirhead, Tommy Banks and P.J.Perry. Watch the masters go at it for a couple hours and you will be in awe.
The volunteer staff does the best they can, but I feel like they are judging you. Deciding if you are worthy of attending their concert. They are a very dedicated bunch. It’s been operating like this since 1957 when it used to be on Whyte Ave.. (Since 1984 in this current location).
I used to have a membership, but the flyers for the concerts would always arrive by snail mail way too late and I’d always miss a show. The small savings that membership offers is not really worth it to me. Just check online when you are in the mood, and you’ll find something great to see.

I’ve decided to review local Edmonton businesses and institutions as they are for Fringe venues because I’m a Fringe and Unilocaler nerd like that. So keeping that in mind this review is for the Yardbird Suite as a venue for The Edmonton International Fringe Festival. This is not a review for Yardbird Suite as a regular music venue. This is also not a review of any shows I’ve seen here. Let’s go.
The Yardbird Suite is one of the main venues of the Fringe and it is definitely one of my favourite for several reasons. Why?
1. It’s not right at the main site, but it’s really close (just across the street).
2. There’s parking nearby at the Farmer’s Market lot. Of course at the Fringe (especially on Saturdays) this lot fills up, so you might need to park a little ways away and walk over.
3. There’s a satellite box office right by the venue. Just give yourself enough time to get tickets and stand in line.
4. Since it’s close to the main Fringe site (but not right at the site) it’s easy to find. It’s just next door to the Farmer’s Market parking lot.
5. The venue has a washroom inside (yes).
6. While there is seating (foldout chairs) on the floor (meaning an obstructed view if someone taller than you is sitting in front of you) there is also elevate seats on the side. If you get an aisle seat on the side seating area then you get an obstructed view. Bonus these seats are pretty comfortable.
7. There are sometimes drinks available at this venue, depending on the show. I’ve been to shows here where you can get a drink, and some where you can’t. I think it just depends.
8. The venue it’s huge, but it’s nice to see a show at a more intimate venue.
One bad thing about this venue, particular the seating on the side, is there is a load-​bearing column in the area, which can be a little bit of a pain to get around, but considering once your inside the theatre (and you can’t leave during the show) then it’s not a huge factor.
This venue is right next to C103, so just be sure you’re standing in the right line up for the show you’re going to see. As a Fringer I’m always happy when I get to see a show here. One day I’ll actually see a Jazz concert at the Yardbird.

A friend who volunteers at the Yardbird Suite gave me a couple of free tickets. Although I am not a huge fan of jazz, I decided to check the place out on a Saturday night for the first time ever. The place is really quaint. It reminded me of a jazz venue one would see in a movie where such a location is featured. There was an okay selection of bottled and tap beers and other drinks, as well as a small selection of snacks and fresh popcorn. But the main reason people come here is for the music, and I quickly learned why: the sound here is fantastic. I felt like I was living every note. The atmosphere was very classy. No one talks during the music, and the place is run pretty much by volunteers. I hope to return in the future and maybe I just will become a jazz fan after all!

Disclaimer: I am a music lover, and while I have a fondness for big band-​era jazz, I am no jazz aficionado. This was my first visit ever to a jazz-​specific music establishment, so maybe there are strange customs with which I am totally unfamiliar. With that said, we had some bizarre interactions with the staff (volunteers?) of the Yardbird Suite last night.
My friend had won tickets to last night’s event, a concert put on by Grant Mac’s jazz faculty. Misjudging the bus schedule, we arrived about twenty minutes after the first set had begun. Before my friend could state our business, we were told we couldn’t enter until intermission (though we were later told this was because the tickets would’ve been half price at that point, not that we actually couldn’t enter). Another staffer entered the box office and said, «They can’t come in. There are no seats.» When it came out that tickets had already been obtained, the tune changed, and we were told there were but two seats left, and that we couldn’t sit together. OK …
We entered the packed music hall. She said one seat was at a tall two-​top table, completely unoccupied, right by the door. I watched with surprise as she plonked herself down in one of the two tall chairs at the table and waved at an open seat at the end of a row of chairs. Wouldn’t it just make sense to let us have the table? Clearly, this was HER seat. I took the low chair across the room.
We sidled up to the bar at intermission and ordered a beer and a vodka tonic. When I told the bartender we’d also like some popcorn, she said curtly, «You write your name on a sheet of paper and they leave it on the bar for you,» and motioned to a pen and paper caddy. She was everything but pleasant.
She poured my drink, an iceless highball (was I supposed to order it on the rocks?), and as I was gathering up my things, she said, «Take the can of tonic water with you.» I could tell she was getting very short with me when I paused to squeeze a lime slice (not on the rim of my glass, but in a dish on the bar), and when she found the two toonies I’d left as a tip, she asked, «What’s this for?» I replied it was a tip, and without so much as a thanks, she tossed it in a jar labelled «Renovation Fund.»
To top it off, my friend’s beer was warm. They had ice (which I later spied in a water jug), and they had beer coolers, so what the hell