Coda

Paid 35 $ to watch 1 old guy dance by himself for an hour… totally worth it. Also one other guy joined in later. Also pretty awesome! If you enjoy empty clubs and watching 2 people dance this is the place to be. Have as much fun as I did!

TWO WORDS TO DESCRIBE CODA: LET’S GOOOOOO
Coda is a blaszt. Honestly tho, this used to be annex wreckroom… is it better? you decide. Let me know if you make it out alive and are not killed by the excessive smoke. gang gang

This is the place to dance, get your party on, and get lost in the beats. For $ 10 cover (Fri), ~$ 7 shots & drinks, I had the time of my life. Last time I partied this hard was a year ago on Bourbon Street. NYC clubs are so expensive and pretentious. Not here. Everybody was here to dance and have a great time. All dressed casual, no high heel-​mini skirt-​dress to impress types. Mostly hipsters that just wanna get down. Nobody bothers nobody. A tip from a previous Unilocaler and she wasn’t kidding. And the DJs are incredible, some even spins in Ibiza. Sound system is off the hook. Lined up at 11:45pm and got right in. Coat check ($ 3, I think) girls were very professional and so were the bar tenders. Saw a man with a small flash light in his mouth bussing and clearing the floor all night. They turned on the fans around 1:30am and party started pumpin around 2:30 with more kids comin in thru the door. Plenty of room to dance, two front & back bars, STOOLS and couches to sit on for free if your legs get tired. Clean bathroom with lots of stalls. No waiting. Small outside area for smokers are down the stairway by the coat check. You wanna let loose to the beats, this is your spot.

Coda is the place to go to if you actually want to DANCE! Arrive early to avoid waiting in line too long as Coda closes at around 4 and the line starts getting REALLLYY long after 12. The lights are amazing and so trippy. There are actually seating areas compared to other clubs. Sometimes they may be reserved for a group with bottle service, but there are plenty of seats available. Cover is usually $ 30 at the door (was $ 40 on Halloween). If you can get tickets online, get it! They will definitely be cheaper than $ 30. Water bottles are $ 4 here. Most people that go here are probably on drugs so keep that in mind if you don’t want to be around that crowd (they’re harmless tho lol). I have found that the people mind their own business, which is pretty shocking as all the other clubs I’ve been to, I have guys grabbing me, touching me or even trying to kiss me. in front of my boyfriend too! This never happened at Coda. Coda is the only club I will go. The only time I won’t go to Coda is if I’m invited to a special event such as a birthday at another club.

If you like electronic and deep house music, this is your place.
It’s clean, has an excellent sound system, isn’t too packed and always gets amazing artists to perform.

This is a cool place for techno, tech house, house, etc
Pros:
–they get awesome «underground» DJs visiting
–music system is excellent. One of the best places I’ve been to music wise
–it’s fairly big, so can hold a large amount of people comfortably. Dance floor is pretty huge too
–lots of places to sit without having to get a table
–clean fairly big restrooms. Never had to line up
Cons:
–the crowd. Lots of roid guys in tank tops. Also I like that you can dress casual at these establishments, but some people really pushed the boundaries here (quite a few people in shorts, yoga pants, other gym gear etc). Also note that the crowd is really young (I’d say most are in the 19 – 21 range). this could be a pro or con depending on your age. Also warning that a fairly large % of the people are smacked out (it’d be similar to what you’d expect at a rave)
Anyways, I’m really happy that Toronto has places like this.

The best club in Toronto for somewhat artistically credible (read: DJs people know but no flower crown EDM garbage) yet accessible house and techno music. Coda consistently books the best known «underground» (internationally touring can hardly be called underground but I’m saying it’s no King West trash club) house and techno DJs in the world. The only criticism I can muster for the bookings is that they are safe but it’s still loads of fun and that’s their niche. The PK sound system is amongst the best in the city. Smooth sounding but still punchy and loud as heck it’s designed to make you dance all night. I do have one warning if you’re a music fan looking to get into dance music. This is still very much a Toronto Club. Don’t expect it to be like in Europe where club music is seen as the underground music of choice. There are some cool people there but also lots of testosterone fuelled gym rats who are either drunk or high. These dudes normally don’t care about the music at all and are just looking for girls. I suppose that kind of thing just comes with the territory. If you can tune out the distractions though it’s most consistently amazing electronic music in the city. Hopefully one day cool people in Toronto will wake up and realize there’s more to music then rock. And hopefully some of idiots that go here will realize that their behaviour ruins the enjoyment for other people.

Coda is so chill. After hours life without the sketchville atmosphere like CZ. You don’t even realize you’re at an after hours that’s how nice it is. It’s classy and the layouts cool. Great great music. Had some really awesome talks with people here as well. The staff/​bouncers are SUPER nice and friendly. It’s not too pricey either, like reasonable and fair. I love this place ! Highly recommend. Never went to footwork but apparently this (new FW) is much better so that’s a plus. Apparently I didn’t miss much

I’m surprised no one has said anything about Coda’s sound system… Gives you that unadulterated good shiz… Hits you right in the feels. One of the city’s best, without a doubt.
Otherwise, the venue itself is clean and nicely laid out, they bring in some great local and international talent, and there is actually *gasp* room to dance! The fans stay blowin’ to keep us dancers cooled off.
Not to mention… What a pleasant surprise to go to a club and not be treated like a pile of rhinoceros turd! The security and door staff are all really pleasant, and the crowd is generally great/​mature as well. Aside from one small, out-​of-​place group of obnoxious young girls last time I went, it was nothing but good vibes and jammin.

CODA is an amazing place. It is the old Footwork (Brant and Adelaide) moving to a bigger location. In order for me to give this place a fair review — I need to get people to understand how the old Footwork used to be and what it represented to the electronic music lover.
I have been a long time participant in the Montréal electronic scene and eventually moved to Toronto in 2007. The Guvernment was too big for me and always attracted a bad crowd, mixed in with horrible staff and security (read the horror stories online if you will) — so wanted to find a place that would cater to pure electronic music lovers who were past the age of just getting silly drunk and hitting on women in the club.
My friend introduced me to Footwork in 2008 and was blown away. The place was cozy and always played really good quality electronic music. They never appealed to the big masses with big name DJs — but rather more niche but excellent techno/​house DJs (definetely NO Guetta, Armin, Tiesto or the likes). The staff was ALWAYS friendly, from the security (who always addressed me by SIR and treated me with utmost respect, even when I got kicked out for being too drunk — «SIR, I would have to ask you to leave as you are too inebriated»), the friendly coat check guy (he used to allow ppl to take their coat out in Canadian winter when going for a smoke) to the bartender who never overcharged. The crowd was fantastic — the place was rarely packed to the point you couldn’t walk anymore — and it instilled a friendly community type of feel — where people bonded, were friends, didn’t push around and respected the concept of personal space — to the point that some ppl used to apologize for you stepping on their shoes («sorry to be in your way»). The DJs seemed to relish this, as they were always putting up an incredible show.
This place carried me for years and LOVED it… until it shut down in 2014 to find a bigger location. It eventually moved to 794 Bathurst — the old Annex Wreckroom — and renamed CODA. I went there for the first time almost afraid that they might have destroyed that amazing vibe that Footwork had.
Been there 5 times already. The feeling is still overall the same. Friendly bouncers and coat check, albeit not AS friendly (no more get your coat for a smoke) and bouncers a bit tougher (kicking ppl out for burning on the dance floor — unheard of at Footwork), but still friendly and professional. Much bigger dance floor with a large bar area — felt at ease and immersed right away. The crowd is relatively the same — friendly people, more mature that are there for the music and not for fighting or hitting on chicks. The first few times there were a lot of wannabees (being a new place they thought it was your regular commercial dance club) but eventually they were weeded out once they discovered what this was about.
In conclusion — just went to CODA for the 5^th time since moving from Footwork and now I can say with certainty — most of the old Footwork feel has come with them — staff still friendly, excellent vibe, great DJs and an awesome crowd, ensuring that I never left home without making some friends. But somehow the bigger location, the larger crowd has slowly pushed CODA to let go of some of the coziness that Footwork had, an obvious effect of the size. Do I still love it? YES, absolutely, and this is still my place to be for great music. But I will always remember my amazing nights at Footwork…

When we heard one of our new favourite artists was going to play at Coda, we jumped on the chance to get tickets. The show ended up being sold out in a matter of hours. When we arrived, I was worried. The line up was massive! We asked the bouncers if there was a line for ticket holders and they kindly told us it was the empty line behind the big one. We walked right in.
ID, security, ticket taking, coat check, all took a matter of seconds. The first thing I noticed was that everyone knew everyone in this club! All I saw was people running up to other people, high fives, smiling faces, hugs. I could already tell this place had a great community and a great vibe. I also noticed that you could dance ANYWHERE. If there is a cushioned box to sit on, you can dance on it. If there is open space by the bar, you dance there. If there is a bottle service booth near you, you can dance there too. Security is not uptight about keeping the booths separate from the regular crowd.
With a sold out show, I was worried that the space would soon be limited. It was about 12:30 and I asked a girl beside me what to expect. She said «This is it!» I had so much room to dance! Coda does not cram people into their club like sardines. Thank goodness. In addition to this, the people who attend this club have respect for personal space. As a side note, the bathrooms were consistently clean with lots of stalls which is a big plus.
So here I am, having the best night in a LONG time, its getting kind of late, we are getting tired, and maybe a bit hungry. But what is this? A fruit kebob is put in front of my face. Yes, that’s right. Coda was providing fruit to its concert goers to ensure everyone was nourished in the wee hours of the night. The bowl is simply passed around from person to person.
At the end of the night I was pleasantly surprised to see that security was controlling the coat check line and maintained order so it didn’t become a mob. I think what really makes Coda so fantastic is the fact that security is so on point.
All in all, the music is amazing (tech house, techno, deep house), the sound is the best in the city, the people exude some wicked vibes, and the staff are attentive. I will be coming back to Coda the first chance I get.
Leave the bangers and the kandi at home, Coda is electronic music without the nonsense.

Unprofessional is an understatement. Coda is garbage in fact. The bar tenders treat you like trash for a perfectly measured 1 oz of booze in your drink, and then up-​charge your card from $ 24.75 to $ 52.99 when 2 am hits. They take your license and your credit card and hold these hostage until you agree to be charged for 4 – 5 redbulls you didn’t drink, want, or even receive after you pay for them; that’s robbery. To top it off, when the bartender finally does find your card, they hand you this chip in pin card reader on a sting that snaps back to the bar before your transaction is finished, so then they kick you out claiming you ran from the tab they doubled for absolutely no reason. Sorry, but I can’t get far without my license, so your story doesn’t add up, and the 4 drinks between 3 people left me sober and frustrated. Some of the bouncers are understanding, while some have such a Napoleonic complex about working an interior door that I can barely find the appropriate words to describe their childish behavior.
The people who frequent this club are just as bad, and have zero respect for anyone, and lack any sort of maturity whatsoever. This is attempting to party with your high school-​aged younger siblings while you’ve made your away to college/​university. Not only is it not fun, but you are crowded, and subsequently harassed by candy kids and flower crowned girls who stage a miniature running of the bulls so they can claim they got the best picture of a DJ that is way too talented to be gracing the 2 lonely CDJs this place has supplied.
The talent arrives in what is sure to be a state of disbelief. The club opens with some dude pressing play, and appearing to read the latest Rob Ford, or Raptors news on his laptop. Maybe touches a knob to throw in some fx occasionally, but is more concerned with the headphones sitting above his ears and looking good for the young girls he sees spaced out in front of him. I would be rather upset to arrive at this venue to find someone barely making it through a completely pre-​planned and minimally adjusted set such as we saw on 11÷27÷14. The main DJ, Joris Voorn, is amazing; but even the sound seemed unrefined for the venue. What is supposed to be the best sound in the city, is a sorry excuse to neglect any sort of tuning that may be necessary to adapt to the sounds of the night. Certainly not the best sound in my opinion.
Honestly, the most enjoyable aspect of Coda is the simple fact that it was relatively clean. The bar-​backs or bussers, who seem to be the reasonable and the level headed bouncers take care of this by, in my experience, kindly working through the crowd to clean up empty glasses, and other party debris.
The worst aspect of Coda is definitely the bar tenders the smaller guys who work the interior doors with a people counter; these are the employees who are completely customer facing, but seem to lack any sort of service skills necessary to make it through the night smoothly. They yell and swear at their customers for no reason whatsoever, and heaven forbid you wait for the other people in your party who just have to zip their coats behind you before you leave. The social media team blocked me on Instagram for expressing my concerns with their garbage business practices. A club that can’t take constructive criticism, or is not receptive to the feedback of the customers who ensure they open their doors each night is not only childish, but down right bad business. Open your eyes, be open to the fact that your staff should not treat your customers as disposable, and learn to listen; otherwise you’ll be ending up closed, or as a juice bar like Comfort Zone.
They can’t delete this review, and I certainly hope whoever decides to visit Coda after reading this review has a far better experience than we did; otherwise steer clear, you can do better than this Toronto.

Crazy place. I try not to frequent this place too often because it usually means I am there until 4 am. Staff are all super nice. The DJs they get are always good. The sound system is amazing.
If you like house music, deep house music, this is the place…
Bathrooms are small.

Nice venue. But bouncers at the door violated basic privacy code by sticking hands in pockets and bags. Unprofessional and could lose security license over this. Otherwise had a good time.

Coda is awesome. Love this place. Convenient location. Huge dance floor but also places to chill on the side if you need a break from dancing. Friendly staff. Security is great. The washrooms are huge and clean (which is a big deal for me, I hate clubs with gross washrooms). ALWAYS good music. If you like techno, tech-​house, deep house… you could come here any night and be pleased with the music. They bring in awesome international DJs and the best of the local DJs. I can’t think of anything negative about this place. Love it.