Best Live Music Club in Canada

So CBC Radio 3 is doing a big, fancy, link-bait-y poll called Best Live Music Club in Canada. Ordinarily I wouldn’t post about something like this, but my pal Tom’s bar, Phog, made the top 20, which is terrific. Phog is a great venue, both to play and to see a show.

I could encourage you to vote for Phog. I could go on and on, extolling the virtues of this tiny, 60-capacity club in Windsor. I could tell you about the incredible amount of passion that Tom puts into finding, booking, and bringing indie bands and arts events to Windsor. But I won’t. Instead, I offer these two simple exchanges that I hope illustrate why I’ve been voting for Phog.

When I first moved to Windsor, I didn’t know anyone, and I walked into Phog one night. Tom was working the door.

Me: “So what is there to do in this city?”

Tom: “You’re standing in it.”

The second exchange was with co-owner Frank, shortly before I left the bar late one night:

Me (drunk): “I think I have to go home now.”

Frank: “You are home.”

Cheesy? Yes. Sentimental? Yes. But both sure made me feel that I was a really special place. You can vote daily for the Best Live Music Club in Canada, and I encourage you to. It’s going to mean a lot to the club that wins.