1977 was a good year for the Vancouver-based rock band Prism. The band not only received their first number one album, but also played arena shows at the Pacific Coliseum and Maple Leaf Gardens.
The band credits Vancouver's nightclub scene for kicking it all off.
"We cut our teeth by playing live locally," says member Al Harlow.
"You could work six nights a week, as long as you were good enough it was yours for the refusal."
But the lights have dimmed on live venues, and local bands say they have it tough.
"There isn't a vibrant nightlife," says Whitlfield member Jobie.
Frank Weipert has been booking and managing musicians for 30 years.
"I think it's gotten more challenging for everybody," he says.
"Sometimes you're looking out your club, there's 200 chairs and maybe 20 bodies."
Weipert says live music stopped paying off for a number of reasons, including the rise in digital music.
"It's much easier, and cheaper, for clubs to plug in a DJ," he says.
There's also bureaucracy. Club owners say they have a lot more paperwork to fill out and they have to deal with greater scrutiny from the city and police when it comes to bar licenses.
Plus, rents are on the rise.
"Geez, the amount of money you'll see on most evenings from the door will barely cover costs of staging a show," says Weipert.
Many new bands now just use the internet as a marketing tool.
"To me, young bands starting out you're going to spend more time on Twitter and Facebook," says Harlow.
"Now it seems clubs are dropping like flies, insane," says Jobie.
Whitfield can play venues like the Cobalt and Astoria, but they are too small and located on Vancouver's notorious downtown eastside -- which makes it tough to draw a crowd.
The guys in Whitfield say playing live is key to making it big.
"You just kind of hold onto a dream and hope," says Jobie.
But the veterans say things will never be the same.
"That great club scene that once reined supreme...all gone," says Harlow.
With a report by CTV British Columbia's Renu Bakshi
