Concert Movies at the Cube takes advantage of little-used space on college’s doorstep

By Ryan Job

Students from the School of Rock Winnipeg perform on stage at the beginning of the evening in Bijou Park on September 7, 2018./RYAN JOB

Red River College students out late in the Exchange District after school last week may have stumbled onto a lively scene last week at the Cube.

Concert Movies at the Cube, an event put on by the Exchange District BIZ, took place last Friday in Bijou Park, the cobblestone walkway right outside RRC’s Paterson GlobalFoods Institute.

Local businesses, Little Brown Jug and Bodegoes provided beer and food, and the event featured performances by students of the School of Rock Winnipeg, Winnipeg DJs Hunnicutt and Co-op, and local hip-hop act, 3PEAT.

The highlight of the night came as the sky had already darkened – a showing of the American rap group the Beastie Boys’ concert film Awesome; I…Shot That! 

The Beastie Boys gave 50 camcorders to members of the audience at a sold-out show in New York City and compiled the footage they shot to create the movie.

David Pensato, Executive Director for the BIZ, came up with the idea of showing concert movies after seeing something similar in Vancouver.

“It’s not something I’d ever heard of before we did it,” said RRC alumna and Marketing and Communications Coordinator for the Exchange District BIZ, Jen McDonald. “You might watch a concert movie at home on your TV, but to actually see it in a bit of a concert environment, I feel like is something really unique.”

The first-ever Concert Movies at the Cube was held last month on Aug. 3 and featured Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense.

Although Friday night’s event was the last of the season, the BIZ hopes to continue holding it in the future, McDonald said.

This is good news for Stacey Teetaert and Megan Chopyk, two friends who attended together Friday and said they enjoyed the evening.

“It’s a little bit more relaxed, which is something I’m looking for,” said Teetaert.

“We’re thoroughly impressed,” said Chopyk. “This should happen more often.”

McDonald said Exchange District BIZ hopes to draw more attention to the park for future events and show that “there’s other spaces you can program” besides Old Market Square.

“Bijou Park is a park that doesn’t get a lot of programming, and yet it’s a beautiful little park.”

To find out about more events in the Exchange District, visit the Exchange District official website, www.exchangedistrict.org.