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Torontoist is ending the year by naming our Heroes and Villains of 2007––the people, places, and things that we've either fallen head over heels in love with or developed uncontrollable rage towards over the past twelve months. Get your dose, starting Boxing Day and running into the new year, three times a day––sunrise, noon, and sunset.
When New York club king (read: mafioso) Peter Gatien got banned from his city, he decided to come to ours to rebuild his empire. Because apparently what downtown Toronto really, really needed was a hottt new destination for SUVs full of trashy, faux-trendy suburbanites with pockets full of their parents' money to burn. That, and a home for robots.
Yes, robots. 'Cause see, according to Gatien, CiRCA isn't just another one of those Clubland clubs. It's artsy! And avant-garde! And, like, crazy diverse! There are nine-oh-fivers and nu-ravers! They totally share cocaine in the ballroom booths!
In a word: ugh.
Housed at the intersection of all that is unfortunate about our city—Richmond and John Streets—this day-glo nightmare of a scene is revolting on so many levels (pun intended). There are the bouncers, all hopped up on 'roids and ego, barking at inebriated clubgoers and innocent passersby alike to GET OFF THE SIDEWALK (a sidewalk that, last we checked, was still property of the city and its citizens, not a nightclub and its NYC-reject "impresario"). There are the tacky, gratuitous displays of what we'll call fetish art, for lack of a worse term. There's the labyrinthian layout and the inexplicable lack of cell phone service, combining to give you the eerie feeling that you're on the set of a straight-to-DVD horror flick. (Have you really lost your friends? Or are they just all waiting for you in a secret torture room at the top of the next staircase? The fluorescent chamber of death awaits!) Oh, and then there's a migraine-inducing sound system from which there is no escape. Seriously. At most dance-y places, when the beats are beating you down, you can flee to the bathroom to rest your aching heels and pulse points. At CiRCA, THERE ARE DJS IN THE BATHROOM. The whole place revels in being too much, too loud, too big, too too.
And all that would be totally fine... anywhere but here. Toronto is a place for arts, culture, multi-culture, a city of patchworked neighborhoods jostling for a place in the modern pantheon of important cities. CiRCA, meanwhile, is better suited to the Vegas strip than any remotely sophisticated New World cosmopolis. Wait, no. We hear Vegas is classing it up these days. Atlantic City? Yeah, sounds about right. Pack up the circus and move 'er to Jersey, dude.
Peter Gatien dummy from Skelecore.
| CORRECTION: JANUARY 3, 2008
This article originally claimed that Gatien was banned from New York "for drug trafficking"––that is untrue; while Gatien was arrested in 1998 on federal drug-conspiracy charges, he was acquitted. It was his guilty plea in 1999 for state sales-tax evasion that eventually led to his being ordered out of the country. New York Magazine has an excellent article about Gatien that provides a lot of interesting breadth to that aspect (among many others) of his story. Torontoist sincerely apologizes for the error. |
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interesting to see such harshness, given that this blog has pretty much given nothing but praise to circa; or maybe it's not so much this blog as it is one of the contributors.
really? i thought toronto was an urban area for people to live in, work in, and be entertained in. it's got its fair share of arts and junk, but that statement is a tad bit nave. maybe it's your wet dream that toronto is a place for arts, culture, et cetera, but how the hell does that make a super club like circa inappropriate here? just because your idea of circa is "It's artsy! And avant-garde! And, like, crazy diverse!" doesn't mean it can't be the illusion of art for the less smug "nine-oh-fivers and nu-ravers!"
whoops, "a tad bit naive"
people like Circa because it gives you the feeling of being "in" with the artists and hipsters and new music-ers, without actually having to interact or build relationships with those performers and promoters and people.
democratic and un-snobbish, on one hand, but totally alienating and not all all about building community or creating dialogue--and wasn't that Gatien's original intent?
Got to side with nib on this one; It would be have been interesting to see Bracken take on this post.
Why is CiRCA such a bad thing anyway? Ok, so it's loud and big. So there are some 905'ers (isn't this snobby attitude getting a little tired?)
I'd argue that Toronto needs more places like CiRCA. Maybe not quite as big, but it has an atmosphere, a character, and something unique to offer. I can't say the same for the other dozen or so sleazy clubs in that area.
Not to nitpick, but the toy is actually a "dunny" - but perhaps the typo was intentional? :)
typo intentional. snobby attitude, also intentional.
agreed re: bracken. that would have been cool. the great thing about torontoist--and collaborative blogging in general--is that nothing is unanimous. the editorial "we" is a convention only.
Wow, I couldn't disagree more. I'm neither a club kid nor a nu-raver nor a 905-er nor a a fruity art snob, but I think Circa is a great addition to this city and I hope it does well.
For the record:
- I bet you would praise ANYTHING else that's "artsy," "diverse" and/or "avant-garde" if it didn't happen to have this clubby flavour that seems to raise your hackles.
- The bouncers at Circa are no worse than at any other club. From my experience the staff there are far more helpful, friendly and polite than at just about any other nightclub I've been to in T.O. in the last 10 years, no exaggeration.
- The sound system at Circa is fantastic. And the levels were perfect, from my experience...not too loud at all. If you want shitty sound, you can go to just about any other club in the city, because very few of them have bothered to install a proper one.
I think Toronto DOES need something like Circa...a proper, flashy, spacious, well-designed, big-time nightclub like you have in every other major city from NYC to Berlin to Dubai.
Toronto has enough tiny-ass art galleries, coffee shops and fringe theatres. A cool, centralized clubbing destination is nothing to be ashamed of, your distaste for young revellers who don't happen to live in the Annex notwithstanding.
Nobody's forcing anyone to go to Circa. I'm sure there are dozens of clubs in Toronto I'd hate, but you know what? I wouldn't go back, and that would be the end of it.
My own villain nominee would be the spelling 'CiRCA'.
in order:
- hope you're not betting too much. yes, of course i like art and diversity and the avant-garde. what i was suggesting, through my clearly sarcastic use of exclamation points, is that circa is actually none of those things. the intent is nightclub meets art exhibit; the effect, however, is just plain old exhibitionism.
- "the bouncers at circa are no worse than at any other club". sure, i guess, and fascists in 1940s italy were no worse than those in any other country. exaggeration? perhaps--okay, totally--but i'm not the only person i know who's had horrible experiences with circa's bounce team. also, i wasn't talking about the staff as a whole. i'm sure they're lovely. in fact, i've met people who promote for the club and they're some of the coolest cats around.
- true, the sound system at circa is not nearly as bad as that of, say, the social. maybe i'm just migraine-prone? regardless, i prefer my club bathrooms without djs. (although i will admit that circa has some pretty rad spinners. even--and some nights, especially--in the bathroom.)
oh, and i am a young reveller who happens to live nowhere near the annex.
the thing about being snobby re: 905ers never getting old is that they keep coming downtown and acting like twats. So we keep being snobby about them. I'm kidding. Maybe.
Don't get me started on those 647ers, though. Who the hell do they think they are, and more importantly, where the hell are they because 647 is everywhere, and nowhere.
This would have been a much better story indeed if you had Kevin doing counterpoint with PLUR nu-rave hipsterspeak and dropping in-post ads for newmindspace™ Randomland guestlist discounts.
God Bless Peter Gatien and CiRCA.
It's a place that fills a void in Toronto between the 905er-filled Club clubs, the [no really, it's not!] pretentious hipster-only parties, and the drug-fueled queen/bathurst raves.
It's a club where everyone feels welcome from the 905ers to the kandi ravers. CiRCA is a playground where we all dance together.
If Teddy Fury isn't behind the bar pouring me a Welly as soon as he see's me, who needs the joint?
The Past
I write this from my hometown of New York, a place I suffered through for many years before I moved to Toronto in search of a better nightlife. I only got to experience one of Peter's clubs here before he was deported, but ask anybody who loved nightlife in New York and they'll tell you why it sucks now.
The war on clubs, aka the war on Peter Gatien, by Rudy Giuliani and the NYPD.
You may imagine New York as a big, dazzling, fun place to go out and dance, but you'd be wrong. The truth is, dancing is severely restricted by the law and the police, and any kind of dance music event is either confined to teensy, tiny, pretentious little bottle service bars, or is an illegal loft party in Brooklyn just waiting to be shut down. Clublife in New York is dead.
Peter and I discussed this at length in my interview with him.
The Present
Enter Peter Gatien in Toronto, October this year. Peter taps A.D/D., who've been named best promoter in the city by NOW Magazine for three years in a row. Mario J and Eva have been bringing the best in dance-punk, electro rock, house, hip-hop and techno to Toronto for all this time. If there was a big, fun party in that scene in that period, you can bet they were behind it. Also, if you've been in the city that long, perhaps you remember Industry.
Mario and Eva began to outgrow the Mod Club and thankfully they found a space that could accommodate their awesomeness. What venue would have been been better for the sold-out Justice, for example?
Toronto's nightlife at the time of CiRCA's opening was really hurting, you see. With some of the District's clubs defined by rowdy suburbanites or thug criminals, there were few places to hear good music, experience something that transcended the usual club outing, and be in a good crowd at the same time. All music scenes continued to lose venues to host events, hurting everybody and causing a great deal of competition over almost nothing.
A mistake that is often made is believing the Friday and Saturday nights are the same. I'm not gonna lie, the real gem of CiRCA is RANDOMLAND, the Friday. People who left the club scene often tell me, "The only time we used to go to a weekly was Industry Saturdays," not surprisingly the same people who are behind RANDOMLAND! From the weekly themes, adorable flyers, costumed characters, art installations, downtowners, giant toys you can draw on, a total lack of snobbiness, queer community, and general anything-goes attitude, CiRCA is an oasis in a once-desert nightlife in Toronto.
Now, however, Toronto's nightlife is coming back. People are returning to the club scene because it is actually fun again. I am no longer afraid to tell my New York friends, "Come any single weekend and there will be something amazing to do!" Any DJ from anywhere in the world who visits CiRCA instantly says, "I want to play here." We now have a true international dance magnet, and it is sitting at an intersection that is now great again.
The Future
CiRCA is not just a nightclub. It is a recording studio, a catering kitchen, a toy and clothing store, a green room, a film screening theatre, a hotel, and has been used to host everything from fashion shows to the upcoming City of Toronto-sponsored Bunch Family Dance Party for kids 2-10 and their parents. It is a centre for the arts, which is why it has received letters of recommendation from both the Four Seasons Centre and the Royal Ontario Museum.
It is a community centre, as well, totally accessible to anybody with a great idea and the motivation to get it done. Why do you think A.D/D. has allowed other promoters to come in and present parties within RANDOMLAND? Because CiRCA is a showcase for the best that Toronto has to offer, and will continue to be, hopefully, for years to come.
And so, Peter Gatien has been an accidental blessing to our city. In some ways I am glad the NYC nightlife crackdown happened, because without it, CiRCA never would have opened in my future home. I echo Elliot's comment that CiRCA is a playground, Toronto's largest indoor playground, actually, where we all dance together.
It's always amazing to me how self-deprecating Torontonians are. It's a stunning inferiority complex. Montrealers brag all day long and their city really, at best, looks like the worst part of Toronto.
I know New York and plenty of so-called "world cities" with international recognition. CiRCA is easily one of the best clubs in the world. As far as "sophistication", I see no indication that CiRCA does not hold up easily against Pacha, Cielo or whatever club is considered "sophisticated". It certainly makes Webster's Hall look like a dive. (Well, anywhere could).
CiRCA is by far Toronto's best club and the best club I've been to, between NYC Montreal San Fransisco and Toronto.
Btw, sophisticated folks never 'make' the scene. They just stand around, put nose up at everybody. Toronto has way too many of those. Don't try so hard.