Although I have only been to make.shift a few times, I really enjoyed both experiences. The first was during the summer, and I only got to see a small part of their gallery, because they were putting on a festival outside, but I knew I wanted to go to shows there. I liked how it was set up, with an art gallery on top showcasing mostly young, local artists, and a performance space in the basement, which I thought was interesting and different. My friend showed me around the lower level even though there was nothing going on, and I liked how half of it was an art studio/storage space for projects, with other offices and a room off to the side, separate from the stage area to hang out in- I had never seen a venue with an underground performance space and extra rooms like that before, and it stood out to me. The second few times I went were for a two-day festival around Valentine's day. The theme was "pop punk, or 'bands you listened to in high school'", which meant we had a bunch of kids in their late teens and 20's playing Weezer and Fall Out Boy songs- and a huge crowd of people of the same age completely losing it over these cover bands, which was funny to see and take part in myself. As far as music goes, most of the bands were very good, one of them playing half of Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation album and getting every note right, it seemed. The over-all atmosphere was friendly, and I appreciated how one of the volunteers brought it to attention when someone started smoking inside, instead of ignoring it and letting it happen, even though they easily could have. Having the place split between the gallery and other quieter room aside from the venue space made it a lot nicer than other small independent venues I've been to, because if you need a break, or don't like a particular band that's on, you have other places to go and other places to hang out, instead of having to stay in the same room as the music. Other venues usually have one room, and less options. Because of this setup, it was also easier to make conversation and meet new people. When you have to stay in one dark room, you can't talk to anyone else as easily, even if you want to. I hope that I can go to more shows and exhibits here the next time I'm up north! read more