Saturday, August 28, 2010

Toronto Concert Venues

While I've been adding some interesting concert dates, I thought I'd also take this (early Saturday morning) opportunity to rank the most popular venues in Toronto as the venue often dictates whether I'm willing to pay good money for a concert or not.
  1. The Mod Club - perfect size, high stage, great sound, always a great atmosphere.  Lots of pre and post options in the Lil' Italy neighbourhood.
  2. The Horseshoe Tavern.  Old, dirty, low ceilings, hot and often too loud.  But you can't beat the energy of the old place and they let me in with my DSLR camera.
  3. Koolhaus - large, unseated, warehouse-like venue.   Large enough for some big name acts and decent light shows.
  4. Lee's Palace - fun old joint, good size, good viewing angles and decent sound.  Seems to attract a lot of once great bands coming back for an encore.
  5. Phoenix Concert Theatre - gets pretty jammed, pretty quickly, but hosts some great artists.  Sound is usually good, but security is very strict and lineups are often a problem.
  6. Molson Amphitheatre - large outdoor venue.  Sound is pretty poor from the lawn, but can be very good in the closer seats and in the general admission area.
  7. Air Canada Centre - large arena, ok sound if you're in the lower bowl or up front.
  8. Sound Academy - this place gets a lot of good artists, but the layout is all just wrong and the sound is suspect.  Above all, difficult to get to if you're not driving and if you are driving, a nightmare parking lot.


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