Northwest Dance & Music Venues
Garden Auditorium - Vancouver - Photo Courtesy of Chris Wolfe
Garden Auditorium
Corner of Hastings and Renfrew
Vancouver, British Columbia

Some of the bands that rocked this place during those great years of NW music were:


Alice Cooper
Badfinger
The Beachboys
Black Oak Arkansas
 Blue Oyster Cult
The Centaurs
Chicago Transit Authority
Chuck Berry
Janice Joplin with Big Brother and
the Holding Company
Black Snake
Blondie
Bobby "Blue" Bland
James Brown
Canned Heat
Chilliwack
The Collectors
The Clash
David Bowie
Devo
Django
DOA
Bill Dogget
Fats Domino
Jason Hoover & The Epics
The Fabulous Poodles
Fleetwood Mac
Gene Vincent
Greadful Dead
Don & The Goodtimes
The Imperials
Ian Thomas
James Cotton Blues Band
Jeff Beck Group w/Rod Stewart
John Little John
Kentish Steele & The Shantelles
BB King
The Orbits
Joy of Cooking
Junior Parker
Long John Baldry
Lou Reed
Meat Loaf 
Montrose
Mother Tucker's Yellow Duck
Motherhood
Ricky Nelson
Northwest Company
Papa Bears Medicine Show
Paul Revere & The Raiders
Pink Floyd
Poppy Family
Prism
Quicksilver Messenger Service
The Rascals
Ray Charles
Richie Havens
Little Richard
Walter Rossi
Max Webster and Rush
Savoy Brown
Seeds of Time
Del Shannon
Silver Bullet Band
Sly and the Family Stone
The Sonics
The Specials
Spring
Stallion Thumbrock
The Stampeders
Streetheart
Styx
Sweeny Todd
Ten Years After
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Taj Mahal
Triumph
Conway Twitty
United Empire Loyalists
Vancouver Playboys
Vancouver Shades
Vanilla Fudge
The Wailers
Wilson Picket
Zingo

Others ?



Garden Auditorium - Vancouver - Photo Courtesy of Chris Wolfe

One of the best shows at the Gardens was Vanilla Fudge with Pink Floyd as an opening act.  Later, Floyd came back as a headliners and brought one of the first surround sound systems.  They closed with " Set The Controls" and the gong behind the band rose up and exploded.  The lights came up and a guy in the section to us was wearing a gorilla suit.

Brian Shields, May 2007

When I saw Streatheart at The Gardens, they were backing up RUSH.

Gary Johnson, March 2008

I recall (somewhat) an excellent concert held the winter of '68 that had the incredible line-up of Jason Hoover & The Epics, Spring, Mother Tucker's Yellow Duck, The Seeds Of Time, and The Collectors. All in one night!! I believe the light show was Ectoplasmic Assault. What an incredible concert!

John Stevenson, January 2009

Kentish Steele and the Shantelles played here in 1968 as the warmup for Wilson Pickett.

 Brian Pulham, October 2010

The Specials supported The Police there in 1979 and wiped the floor with them.  They were immediately offered a headline spot at the Commodore the next day if I recall correctly.  It was an unexpected ska explosion!

Mark Mushet, July 2011

I saw Max Webster open up for Rush in 1977.  One of the best shows I ever saw there was when Ian Thomas opened for The Stampeders. For their encore the Ian Thomas band came out and did a Beach Boys set that was just killer.

I also recall a Sunday afternoon concert that featured about 4or 5 local groups including Zingo & Sweeny Todd.

Steve Sukert, July 2011




The Centaurs - Photo Courtesy of John Gedak
The Centaurs

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Last Update:  23 January 2015

Credits:  Chris Wolfe, Terry Coan, Steve Jensen, Jim Wilson, Greg Windwick, Rick Hill, John Gedak, Dale Gerrard-Peck, Dennis MacFadden, Gary Johnson, Gregory Melle, Brian Shields, Roger Stomperud, Basil Watson,  Wendy Malesku, Brian Pullham, Harry Doupe, Mark Mushet, Steve Sukert, Steve Cartmell