When I
returned
from Europe late in the 60's after touring with The Centaurs the music
scene in Vancouver had changed big time. The dance halls we played, the
R & B bands we knew were all more or less gone.
One of the new
hot
spots was Point Roberts, WA! Pt. Roberts is a US peninsula
jutting
south of Delta, B.C. ( Tsawwassen ) only accessible from the sea
or through Canada. Its about 5 miles square. Canadians now
love to go there to buy cheaper gas and groceries and dock their boats
with easy access to the San Juan and Gulf Islands.
"The Breakers",
according
to Jim Julius who owns Julius Realty next door, started as a cannery in
the 1930's. In the early 70's it was the hot spot for live music
including such bands as: BTO ( Bachman Turner Overdrive - Jim
tells
me that BTO used this as their home address in the early years),
5
Man Cargo, and The Kingsmen
Apparently the
reason
The Breakers shut down was because the drinking age changed between
Washington
and British Columbia. Border guards were also empowered to arrest drunk
drivers.
I took the
above
photo several weeks ago and was very sad and moved because I had spent
so many memorable nights there.
John Gedak,
August
2006
There wasn't much
else
on that 5 square mile piece of land but there was a porn theatre.
I remember going there by default when the line up to get into the
Breakers
was so huge we decided to kill time and ended up seeing a double
feature
of the late ‘John Holmes’ (Mark Wahlberg’s character Dirk Diggler of
Boogie
Nights is supposed to be based on him) - impressive from the waist down
but I guess I expected more because he couldn't act his way out of the
proverbial paper bag that should have been on his head.
Meanwhile back
at
the Breakers it was rocking as usual and when ‘Loverboy’ did ‘Turn Me
Loose’
the place went wild. It had a great atmosphere and for some
reason
I remember these bubble windows as part of the decor.
Kerry
Stansfield,
September 2007
This was an A room
that bands aspired to play to, but it burnt down around 1983.
The
Reef tavern was across the road and became the only
action
there. My band, Wallstreet, used to play there from 1984 to
1986.
It got so packed in there you could not move. Then when they
opened
the bars in Vancouver on Sundays for Expo 86 it absolutley killed the
business
down there. I remember playing on Sunday nite to about 200
people,
then the next Sunday (after the Sunday openings) we played 5 hours to
the
2 bartenders, the 2 bouncers, my cousin and her boyfriend! That
was
the beginning of the end for that site. I believe the Breakers
had
re-opened for only about 2 months before this all happened. I'm
sure
it affected their business too.
Steve
Sukert,
Bassist, Wallstreet, March 2008
After the Breakers
burnt down in about 1983, the Reef in Point Roberts, was the only place
to play. Great room considering it was packed to the rafters most
weekends. I recall taking the whole 20 minute break just to get
to
the bar and back to the stage again. We would play Fri., Sat.,
and
Sundays there. Even Sundays were good up until the bars in
Vancouver
opened on Sundays for Expo 86, that killed the band/bar business in
Point
Roberts. As this piece of USA is only accesible from mainland
Canada,
the border guards and the RCMP made it difficult for patrons to access
the Point and return home after so there was no incentive to make the
trip,
despite the great ambiance of Point Roberts.
Steve
Sukert,
Bassist, Wallstreet, March 2008
I played at the
Reef in Point Roberts several times in the late 1970's. The Reef
was just steps away from the much bigger and more popular, The
Breakers. The reef did have cool T-shirts that read: "Good Grief,
It's
the Reef".
Ha det bra,
Roger
Stomperud,
May 2008
The Burke
Street
Band & Sharon Young & The Restless.
I was able to see
the artist Lawrence Gowan, a Canadian artist (now with Stix) play at
The
Breakers in November 1990. I still have the General Admission
ticket
stub.
Bob,
February
2009
I was the owner from 1969 to 1996 and
was
excited to find this site.. I took over the business in
when
my husband Harry died in 1980. I had two young sons and
worked
office hours mostly.
I was there that horrible Sunday when
drinking
started with Expo '86 in Canada! What a shock that was after
years
of Canadians flocking across the border to drink in the US on Sundays,
and The Breakers had just reopened after the fire! The wheel had
to be reinvented and I began bringing in as many "big" bands on Sat.
nights
as possible. Regulars were Colin James, April Wine, Kim Mitchell,
Trooper, Doug and the Slugs, Barney Bentall, and Long John
Baldry.
I also had Steppenwolf, Chubby Checker and The Committments.
With the popular long weekend
Sundays,
big bands, bingo and gambling, business was good again.
There has been a lot of speculation
regarding
why The Breakers closed. The big reason is that drinking and
driving
had become history. The Washington State liquor control board
were
on a mission to shut us down by continuously planting undercover agents
in the bar. It was impossible to patrol 999 customers
drinking
and know how much they had consumed before entering The Breakers.
Inhalator vans were waiting for our customers when they crossed the
border
back into Canada.
Another reason was that the Canadian
dollar
was no longer "pegged" at 85 cents in relation to the US dollar. The
Canadian
dollar became stronger and all of The Breakers expenses were US.
It was impossible to change the price of beer on a weekly basis or to
charge
exchange like everyone does today.
The Breakers was a landmark. I still
hear
the stories... great for my now adult sons to hear.
I would love to know how many couples
met
at The Breakers and married.
I sold The Breakers to Nick Kiniski
in
1996 and by 2002 it was closed.
There have been two more owners since
then
who are just holding the waterfront property with nothing particular in
mind.
Thank you for having this site.
Ingrid Johnson, January 2012
In around 1972 my mother, Minnie,
worked
at the Breakers. We lived in the apartment above the bar. I
was only 10 then but I have fond memories of that time and getting to
meet
all the bands that came there in that time period, and that used our
apartment
as their green room.”
Ray Soyars, June 2014
I found your site and found that Ingrid Johnson stated that the Breakers closed by
2000. . The Breakers closed in 2002. I was the cook running the
kitchen at that time. The last big name band to play there was KC and the Sunshine
band. The last night we were open we had these sheets that told the history of the
Breakers on them and signed one for a customer as the last meal served out of the
Breakers. It was a construction worker building the golf course. I do not remember the
exact date.
Patrick Brady, May 2007
