West End Cultural Centre unveils season-pass program

Theatre companies rely on them. Dance companies offer them. Opera companies promote them.

Season passes are ubiquitous across the performing arts spectrum, yet the bulk ticketing option has been unavailable for local concertgoers.

Until now.

Earlier this week, the West End Cultural Centre unveiled a new season-pass program for its fall slate of concerts.

“One of the things we’ve lost in the pandemic — and I can tell you this as both a music listener and as a performer with a really weird band — is discoverability,” says WECC artistic director and Mariachi Ghost frontman Jorge Requena Ramos.

“People used to have the capacity to take a risk on a show. One of those risks is economic: if you’re spending $35 (on a ticket), you want the show to be great, so you’re only going to spend money on the shows that are tried and true.

“Discoverability is one of the most important things to develop a tangible and sustainable music scene.”

Ninety-five season passes are available for $320 apiece, which provide access to 25 concerts at the Ellice Avenue venue between September and December. Passholders will be paying $12.80 per show for a fall lineup that includes local and touring acts, such as Winnipeg children’s entertainer Al Simmons, Edmonton garage-rock duo Miesha and the Spanks, Toronto roots performer Julian Taylor, local singer-songwriter Madeleine Roger and drag pop star Queen Priyanka.

The concept was inspired by folk clubs in other cities, which see fans pool their resources to support a local concert series. There was a lot of workshopping, math and communication required to make a subscription program work at the WECC.

“The budgeting of these things and the level of admin you have to do to create a season pass is really heavy, but once you do it the first time, it’s done,” Requena Ramos says.

Staff brought in a new ticketing tool and consulted the annual budget to figure out exactly how many passes they could release without affecting the bottom line of artists. They settled on 95 tickets — 25 per cent of the venue’s total capacity — as the magic number.

“We give the great majority of ticket money to the musicians, so we still need to charge full price for a majority of the tickets,” he says, adding the reaction from artists has been largely positive.

It’s unlikely every season-pass holder will be able to attend every show on the docket. To avoid empty seats, pass holders will be required to claim their tickets to individual shows two weeks ahead of time. Unclaimed tickets will be put back into the general admission pool.

Subscribers will also have the option to transfer tickets to friends and family, but are barred from reselling.

If the WECC sells out of passes, the venue is poised to bring in more than $30,000 in advance ticket sales. The influx of cash will add to the financial stability of the venue and allow -Requena Ramos more freedom to book lesser-known and underrepresented acts by freeing up more resources to cover the upfront costs of a show regardless of ticket sales — such as hiring a sound tech and house manager.

“It allows us to continue with our anti-racism and anti-oppression strategic mandate. We can present people of the diaspora and Indigenous musicians and be able to offer those spots without there being a giant (financial) risk for the facility,” he says.

This WECC plans to offer a season pass for its full year of programming in 2025. Passholders will gain early access to tickets for shows outside the scope of the season and comes with a yet-to-be-announced piece of swag.

An instalment payment plan is available.

Visit wecc.ca for more information.

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X: @evawasney