Remember when The Clash came to PAC? The concerts, clubs, and culture of UW in the 80s

A chapter of Kitchener-Waterloo (KW)’s history, previously hidden from much of today’s generation, was unveiled at the premiere of Rock This Town: A New Wave on Feb. 26 at Princess Twin Cinemas. The documentary, which will be screened exclusively at Princess Cinemas until March 5, tells the stories of several key figures responsible for bringing household names of the 1980s to local venues in KW.

Producer Gary Stewart, director Paul Campsall, and CKWR radio host Coral Andrews were in attendance among others involved with the film. The sold-out premiere was followed by a post-film Q&A and after-party.

Four years after the release of the first Rock This Town film, centred around the ‘60s and ‘70s, Rock This Town: A New Wave continues the story of KW’s vibrant ‘80s live music scene through firsthand accounts from the people who shaped it.

“Music drove the culture in the ’60s and ’70s. And the ’80s,” Stewart reflected, looking back on his time as entertainment programmer for the Federation of Students (now known as WUSA). “Concerts were always a bit of a badge of honour for [the] vast majority of the younger population.”

The 80s were characterized by the popularization of musical styles such as new wave, punk, hip-hop, ska, reggae, and heavy metal. Synthesizers became mainstream and a second British invasion was under way. The Clash, Iggy Pop, Echo & the Bunnymen, The Psychedelic Furs, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, Squeeze, Split Enz, The Stranglers, Simple Minds, Teenage Head, The Bangles, Joe Jackson, Blue Peter, The Spoons, The Payolas, and more all passed through KW, thanks to Stewart and other key players in the film.

Without a space on campus dedicated to entertainment, Stewart and the Federation of Students built their own. Federation Hall originated as a concert venue and quickly rose to the status of “best campus bar in the country,” according to Stewart.

“The presidents and council of Federation of Students… they’re getting patted on the back by all the other councils around the country going, ‘How’d you guys get all these cool bands? And how come you got this great bar?’” Stewart recounted. “Well, it was because there was a demand by the students on campus.”

They didn’t stop at live music though. Actor and comedian Jim Carrey did free comedy noon hours in the Campus Centre (now called the SLC). G. Gordon Liddy of the Watergate scandal gave a talk at Fed Hall. Billy Hayes showed up to promote Midnight Express, a movie portraying the true story of his escape from prison in Turkey.

Beyond campus, KW made a name for itself with its underground bar scene. Rock legends put on shows upstairs at the Kent (now Huether Hotel), the former Lulu’s Roadhouse once held the Guinness World Record for longest bar in the world, and the Back Door in the basement of the Schnitzelhaus attracted locals and people from neighbouring cities alike — or at least the lucky ones who were privy to its existence.

Andrews gives readers a glimpse into her days DJ’ing at the enclave below the Schnitzelhaus in her book The Back Door. “These places, you knew about them, or you didn’t. Especially the Back Door… you have to go around the parking lot, down a set of stairs through three doors to get into it. It was like entering a vault.”

Various incarnations of the Back Door catered to disco, punk/new wave, classic rock, jazz, comedy, Yuk Yuk’s and more, causing it to be affectionately dubbed, “Phyllis Diller, because the bar [had] had so many facelifts,” Andrews joked. “The owner was not impressed when he read that.”

Stewart described his own experiences running a nightclub, during which he booked The Cult and had Guns N’ Roses — an unknown band at the time — as the opener. “We put 2,000-2,500 people through there on a Friday and Saturday night consistently… it was a big animal to manage.”

Nevertheless, they ran a tight ship. Problematic guests were banned from repeat visits with the help of an ID scanning technology developed by a UW computer engineering graduate. As the first in town to hire female security guards, Stewart reasoned, “I’d rather have good Walmart greeters than big goon security. You want good talkers, not good fighters.”

Rock This Town: A New Wave looks back on a time when live music shaped student life and local culture, filling campus halls, underground bars, and concert venues across the region. Today, the live entertainment scene looks very different: rising costs, academic pressure, and technological influence have changed how younger generations experience music and nightlife.

The typical UW student now comes from a more rigorous academic background, arrives at university below legal drinking age, and forks out too much in tuition to go out every night. Phones and streaming platforms have reduced the cost of listening to music into nothing while concert ticket prices have skyrocketed, discouraging many from attending live shows.

UW has not held a concert since Dillon Francis in 2024, with the previous one occurring 13 years before that. “There’s a magic that exists between the audience and the artists when you’re seeing live entertainment,” Andrews said, describing it as an experience that can’t be replicated through a screen.

For those involved in the project, the film serves as both a historical documentation and celebration of a cultural era that shaped both the region’s identity and their own.

“It’s a snapshot of what was going on back then. It was wild. [Stewart] just hits the tip of the iceberg,” Andrews stated. “There [were] a lot of kids that were trying to find themselves, through music, through fashion. Some through rebellion.”

When asked what he hopes audiences take away from the film, Stewart emphasized “the importance of a shared experience.” Andrews wrapped up by saying, “Kitchener-Waterloo is a live music town. Always has been, and I think, always will be!”