Toronto Nightlife: A British Boy's Guide

When it comes to nightlife, Canada’s most populous city has a range of options – from groovy listening bars to thronging clubs. As an exchange student living in the heart of Toronto, I had plenty of opportunities to dip my toes into it all. Here, I hope to give an honest account of what ‘the 6ix’, as it’s popularly known, had to offer.

My first introduction to Toronto nightlife was a favoured student spot: the Madison Avenue Pub. As a set of converted Victorian mansions it was easy to get lost in at first. I remember practising my patchy French with the other exchange students I had just met: “Do you wish to go downstairs to the basement, Arthur?” – “Bien sûr!”. However, whatever music they had blasting down there couldn’t have been to my taste as, by the end of the evening, I had decided that ‘the Maddy’ was not where I’d be spending most of my time. That’s not to say it didn’t have its merits. It was well worth the two-minute walk round the block for some occasional beers, burgers, and pool. Famously, on St Patrick’s Day, one jolly patron fell through the roof, with the video of it going viral. Thankfully, they walked away unhurt and seemingly carefree. 

One spot I had on my nightlife itinerary, even before I landed in Toronto, was The Little Jerry listening bar on College Street. One of my favourite DJs – Haseeb Iqbal – had posted about playing there on a brief Canadian tour. If it’s good enough for Haseeb, I thought, then it’s good enough for me. They had a tucked-away booth for vinyl turntables, and as you might expect, an amazing sound system that tended to play groovalicious funk. Some of my best times were had making shapes here – even if we were the only ones on the dance floor. 

Another unmissable night in Toronto is the famous Nuit Blanche, where art exhibits are made accessible across the city from 7pm-7am. My exchange pals and I viewed various outdoor art exhibits together, ranging from a light display that matched with the artist’s heartbeat to a live video portal (like the one between Dublin and New York) where I sang ‘Rapper’s Delight’. But the most interesting event of the night came last. At Queen’s Park was a concentric and circular set of stages all playing different genres of electronic music. The effect of walking around the perimeter of the crowds was quite compelling – like changing radio stations handsfree. While my German friend opted for the techno stage, I felt more at home listening with the house crowd. But it didn’t matter – like a tiny festival – we would still be able to find each other easily at the end.

A discussion of nightlife would be remiss not to mention Toronto’s amazing live music scene. As North America’s fourth most populous city, it is naturally a common stop for touring artists. I was lucky enough to see many performances throughout the year. Highlights included an acoustic set from the brilliant Nigerien guitarist Mdou Motcar, a drumming festival put on by Larnell Lewis, and synth-funk band L’impératrice. Seeing the latter would lead me to end up at perhaps Toronto’s best nightlife spot.

The evening started with me rocking up to the Budweiser Stage wearing a suit and tie. It was certainly my normal attire, but raised the eyebrows of the coat attendants. So this is what Superman feels like when he reveals his costume, I thought, as I unzipped my raincoat to their amazement. When the music was over, I went outside for a cigarette in the -10 degree cold. A girl and a guy approached me, saying they had noticed me and my suit, asking if I was wearing it as a dare. “No flipping way, guys”, I said, “I’m just old skool”. They then invited me out to Drom Taberna, Toronto’s hottest bar and one of the few places that stays open past the city’s 2am curfew. But as I was getting my coat, two exchange students from Sweden I’d met earlier that day came out of nowhere. Could they join at Drom Taberna, I asked my new Canadian friends? “Sure,” they said, and we all hopped in an Uber. So, with our motley crew assembled we arrived at Drom, met with an outrageous burlesque performance. “Have you ever seen anything like this in Sweden?” I asked my Swedish friends. “No, never,” one of them replied, blushing whilst sipping a vodka cranberry.