30 years of Counterculture...

The Starlite Room is a private live entertainment venue founded in 2004 which operates exclusively for members and their guests. The Starlite Room is open to all genres and walks of life and follows the rich musical history led by previous incarnations in the same building such as the Bronx, the Rev, and Lush. The building was designed by Herbert Magoon and George Heath MacDonald, two of Edmonton’s most prolific architects and was constructed in 1925 by the Salvation Army.

The history of the The Starlite Room began as The Old Citadel built in Downtown Edmonton one block south of Jasper Avenue, the main artery of the city. The brick building was originally formed as a "citadel" (church or place of worship) for the Salvation Army. By 1965 it was converted into the first venue of the Citadel Theatre company, with the company taking its name from the name of the building. After the company moved to a new purpose-built theatre building on Churchill Square in 1978, the building was converted into a concert hall named The BRONX. It hosted a variety of concerts including then unknown American bands Nirvana and Green Day. In 1993 the Bronx changed to the Rev Cabaret and Lush, and in 2003 the Rev closed and was reopened as The Starlite Room in 2004.

The venue has been home to thousands of iconic performances from Questlove, to Against Me!, Run The Jewels, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, Feist, Mastodon, MGMT, Amon Amarth, Avenged Sevenfold, Death From Above 1979, The Dillinger Escape Plan Marianas Trench, Metric, Nightwish, Propagandhi, The Smalls, GWAR & so many more. The Starlite Room has become an Edmonton mainstay to which many local concert goers have a long history and fond memories with.

Previous owner Oliver Friedman had the following to say “One thing I am most proud of regarding the years spanning 1989 to 2003, is that we were able to realize our biggest goal of creating a social gathering space for alternative subculture. This was a place where all the freaks, geeks, punks and weirdos who never fit into their school or suburban existence were able to find a sense of community amongst others who shared their influences in music, style and outlook. To this day people still come up to me and tell me that they found 'their people' at the club and as a result, a strengthened sense of identity and self confidence; a sense of being a part of something for the first time, rather than an outsider."

"Live venues and clubs come and go and come and go, it is a difficult business to say the least. Having passed the torch after thirteen years to the Starlite Room it is immensely satisfying for me to see this venue still showcasing some of the best local and live music on offer; as well as providing that all important sense of community for yet another generation of Edmonton music lovers.”

Current Starlite Room owners ConcertWorks shared the following statement “With the live music and venue business, you are always looking forward and never looking back. The fact that the building has been hosting live music for 30 years now has kind of forced us to stop and take a moment to reflect and start piecing this journey together! It’s a little overwhelming at times when you are not only connecting your own personal experiences, but also hearing from many others, and accounting the social influences that shaped a culture that deeply impacted Edmonton as a whole. The thousands of artists and performers that have passed through the doors are part of what has made the venue iconic, but having the chance to celebrate with the people from behind the scenes, the local artists that have been the foundation, and with the fans from past to present - excited is completely understating how we feel."