>>PREVIEW
CODY THE CATCH, DRAGON FLI EMPIRE, LOST CULTURE AND STRING BRIDGES
Saturday, November 4
Cat’s Eye Vintage
The storefront is cozy, verging on crowded. Fur coats mingle with military jackets, bookshelves and bins of weather-appropriate fuzzy toques. From first impressions, you’d assume that Cat’s Eye is a regular vintage clothing store, albeit one run by someone with a better eye for quality than most.
So people tend to be thrown when they find out the shop is also one of Calgary’s newest venues. Of course, they’re only thrown until they wander into the back room, a space roughly the size of the old MacEwan Hall Ballroom. The clothing has overflowed its way back here too, but with some clever Tetris-ing skills and a little grunt-work, it’s easy to imagine everything from acoustic jams to all-out raves.
To be sure, it is an unorthodox venue. Since it’s not a bar, each show is considered a private party for friends of Cat’s Eye. Of course, store-owner Cat Tkach and her son Cody are friendly people, and anyone with a fondness for classic clothing is more than welcome to ask about upcoming events.
The next show, a hip hop showcase featuring Vancouver’s Lost Culture along with local heroes Dragon Fli Empire and String Bridges is particularly exciting for Cody. And not just because he’ll be joining the musicians onstage. It’s his way of trying to give exposure to a style of music that’s underexposed in Calgary.
"I know a million people in Calgary that love hip hop," says Cody, who performs under the name Cody The Catch. "But the people that own the bars and clubs, I don’t think they want to hear it. I’ve gone to endless bars and venues and tried to make an outlet, and I don’t think they want to showcase it."
Now that he’s found his space, Cody wants Cat’s Eye to keep evolving. He plans to use a section of it as a recording studio, to increase the frequency of shows, and to make it something of a refuge for the underexposed.
"This won’t only be a hip-hop outlet," Cody says of his vision for the store. "It’ll be a music outlet for the city. A place where people can feel comfortable about doing what they do and not worry about stereotypes or serving the right audience or the right crowd."
Cat’s Eye still has a few hoops to jump through before it reaches that point. It’ll be a while before it becomes the refuge he intends, but until it becomes a surprisingly fashionable venue, it’ll still be a surprisingly musical store. |
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