1 minute read
THE ALL NEW ELMOCAMBO!
from LAPSOFLUX - 001
by LapsofLux
First Time
“So one of the more interesting things is though I asked to play the El Mocambo numerous times and they always refused me because I wasn’t good, so I finally played the El Mocambo. The only thing is I had to buy it first. So, there you go. So on the day I closed it, I had my mom and family and it was a free ticket and free beer for everyone. Paulie showed up”.
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Who is Michael Wekerle?
WEK: I grew up in Toronto, Yonge & Sheppard. I’m a man of the sixties, born in 1963. I’ve started off my career in the finance world by working on the Toronto Stock Exchange at the age of 18. I ran my own firm at the age of 30 called Griffiths McBurney & Partners later known as GMP. I left GMP in 2010 roughly, even though, probably, I didn’t formally resign until 2011. I moved into very significant way into US real estate when the market crashed in 2008 to 2010, with the majority of purchases coming in 2000 limited, very well exiting in 2014 and deploying that capital into two areas or three areas. One was Difference Capital, a merchant bank, which eventually was sold to Mogul, a FinTech company. Which now occupies my time as lead director and moving into Waterloo Real Estate, across the University of Waterloo previously operated by Research In Motion, and finally trying to buy a sign of a very famous nightclub called the El Mocambo in turn buying the whole building, and then putting $35 million into to creating a world class facility that people still think I’m crazy, to create a $35 million facility that has a capacity of 800 people on two floors. El Mocambo is apart of history & i’m proud to keep that alive.
y passion is now Music. Guitars, artwork and anything that relates to music. It’s come from being involved in the El Mocambo and always being a Toronto guy and having the passion for music. I tell people all the time, I’ve always wanted to be a musician.
A.
Growing up I would go to the Elmocambo, which started in 1948 and the legendary Rolling Stones played there, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Blondie. The Ramones. U2 played their first show ever in North America, on March 9th of 1980 at the El Mocambo. That was their first show, at $3,50 a ticket and it was only 75% sold out and look what they became.
