Rickshaw Theatre is an independent live music venue at 254 East Hastings Street in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, British Columbia. Opened as a concert venue in 2009, it has a capacity of around 600 people and presents rock, metal, punk, alternative, indie, hip-hop and other genres. Metal and punk have been especially prominent throughout its modern history, giving the venue strong ties to Vancouver’s underground music scene.
The building was constructed in 1971 as the Shaw Theatre, part of the cinema empire of Hong Kong film producers Sir Run Run Shaw and Runme Shaw. It also served as the West Coast centre for the Shaw Brothers’ North American distribution operation. The approximately 10,000-square-foot auditorium specialised in Hong Kong cinema, including the martial-arts films for which Shaw Brothers became internationally known. The cinema closed during the mid-1980s and remained largely unused for more than two decades.
Vancouver entrepreneur David Duprey later rediscovered the former theatre and converted it into a live music venue, reopening it as the Rickshaw Theatre in 2009. Mo Tarmohamed took over the business in July 2011 and has remained its owner and operator. The old cinema layout gives the room particularly good sightlines towards the stage, while later upgrades introduced modern sound, lighting and production facilities without completely removing the character of the former theatre.
Heavy music has become a major part of the Rickshaw’s identity. International bands appearing there have included Kreator, Accept, Napalm Death, Electric Wizard, High on Fire, Kvelertak, Sepultura and Mayhem, while Vancouver and British Columbia artists such as 3 Inches of Blood, Anciients, Bison and Unleash the Archers have also played the stage. Death, black, doom, thrash and traditional heavy metal continue to appear regularly, with the 2026 programme including Kataklysm and Six Feet Under, Iron Kingdom, Tribunal and Japanese black/thrash metal band Sabbat.
Punk has been equally important to the venue’s history, with acts such as Misfits, Dead Kennedys, D.R.I., D.O.A. and NoMeansNo appearing alongside indie, electronic, hip-hop and experimental artists. The combination of a former Hong Kong cinema, independent ownership and a long-running commitment to both touring bands and Vancouver’s local underground has given the Rickshaw a distinctive place in the city’s live music scene.
ADDRESS:
254 E Hastings St, Vancouver, BC V6A 1P1, Canada
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