Revving Up the Fun

Their hopes for a downtown party tent were dashed by the city of Edmonton, but the owners and staff of Oil City Hospitality Group refuse to let the setback ruin their Edmonton Indy fun.The company will now host four nights of Grand Prix goodness inside one of its clubs, Oil City Roadhouse - including DJ Nero on Thursday, July 21; A-Trak and Porter Robinson on Friday, July 22; and Pete Tong and Isaiah Mustafa, a.k.a. The Old Spice Guy. Tickets are available through Oil City's website and Ticketmaster.The hospitality group was hoping to host eight nights of parties in a tent erected across the street from the Roadhouse - outside another club, The Bank, located on 108th Street and Jasper Avenue. But based on six noise, litter and other nusiance complaints generated by previous tent events, the city imposed time and capacity restrictions on this year's parties.These limits - closing at 1 a.m. instead of 3 a.m., reducing the number of patrons from 860 to 600 - were not economically viable for the Oil City Hospitality Group, says a spokeswoman. The company tried to appeal the decision, but the city's subdivision and development appeal board turned it down."It's hard not to be disappointed, but we're doing our best to still contribute to the Indy festivities to the best of our abilities," says Sarah Doroshenko. "And we're holding out hope for next year."The group launched its first series of Indy-related tent parties in 2006. Similar time restrictions also quashed plans for a similar Grey Cup-related tent last year.A separate set of Indy-related gigs, Race Week Street Party, will rev into Rice Howard Way from July 20 to 23. Acts include '80s rockabilly survivor Lee Rocker from The Stray Cats, Canadian blues legend Brent Parkin, Alberta country-rocker Clayton Bellamy, and burlesque performers The World Famous Pontani Sisters. Admission is free. The festivities wrap up between 10 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. each night.Some gigs, during lunch hours and after work, are also scheduled for Beaver Hills Park. For more info, check out Race Week's website. The Edmonton Indy will run July 24 at the City Center Airport.