Mel Warner

Mel Warner was born in St. Kitts in the Caribbean and immigrated with his family to Vancouver in 1964. For over 30 years as a concert promoter, Mel Warner has pioneered the way for reggae, ska, Latin and world music to Vancouver stages. Warner can arguable be single-handedly credited for widening the musical tastes of the city, introducing new sounds and musical tastes by taking chances on booking what might be largely unknown acts that had no local audience. Night by night, Mel Warner produced shows that not only answered the growing thirsts for local Caribbean music audiences in the 80’s but introduced folk, rock, punk and jazz audiences to music that widened and matured the tastes of Vancouver concert audiences. Warner’s early successful reggae shows in Vancouver in the 80’s caught the attention of Commodore Ballroom’s impresario Drew Burns who then offered the ballroom as a venue for Melo Productions.