Nocturne

Fucking racist place. A girl asked me for a smoke and I get kicked out for absolutely no reason.

No matter how old I get, it is hard to imagine a year without a few nights here dancing to the likes of the Smiths, Joy Division, the Cure and all of those sounds from my younger days.
I usually hang out in the back room. The lighting is pretty fun back here – those rays of light, almost like lasers cut through the artificial fog. Plus there are mirrors which give the space a cool «hall of mirrors» type of effect.
The back room, in days past used to have a 2^nd bar but nowadays you only get drinks from the main bar. Nice touch on the real glass for the drinks. No taps, just very basic bottles. I think drinks are about $ 7 – pretty standard pricing.
In terms of eye candy, everyone from the bar tender to virtually every patron, at least the women, have made a great effort to look amazing. Ink, piercings, outfits – this has always been a great place to people watch. (Not gawk! Please don’t gawk!) And some of the dancers, especially in the main room, really have the moves down – me and my two left feet stay in the darker retro room.
Security has always been fine here but then I’m not the type that would ever give them any issue. I do feel like this is a safe place to play. There is certainly a «scene» here with lots of regulars but there is also an openness about it too.
Bathrooms are fine – and in the back. Don’t think I’ve ever had to wait or been unable to dry my hands.
But it is really about the music right? I’ve only ever been on Saturdays and it is usually always good. The main room, with Lazarus, spotlights a sub genre or band. Volume is about perfect. The retro (back) room can be tricky as «retro» means lots of different things to different people and it is hard for the DJ to please everyone. Some want britpop, some want classic industrial so go with an open mind because you may hear Morrissey blend right into Nitzer Ebb. Volume can be a tad loud too.
It is hard to imagine spaces like this not existing on Queen or being a part of Toronto’s nightlife. Enjoy them while you can. Someday Nocturne will probably be condos.

Love this place! It’s like a home away from home. You won’t find many good alternative dance clubs left in the city, so I really cherish this venue. If you enjoyed DJ Lazarus’ parties at Funhaus and The Big Bop, you’ll love Nocturne. (It’s where he holds most of his events now.) DJ Osaze also does Friday nights there now that Neutral has closed. And it’s home to Ivan Palmer’s Batcave goth nights. Basically if you’re looking to stomp to Industrial, EBM or Alt Electronic music it’s the place to be.

As a space to party, i like Nocturne.
Good drinks, but the prices are expensive…
the location can’t be beat, and there are a lot of darker events there that are really good (Darkrave!)
DJwise though, i would make a lot of improvements. If you are doing an event here, you cant use turntables in either room. It has to be CDJs or live equipment that wont skip. It is certainly loud enough in the club, and the main room dj booth is pretty good (skipping aside).
I really enjoy the parties though, Darkraves are always a good time!

I was there again and they did have water this time. Maybe it was a one time thing. But you shouldn’t have to ask the bouncer to get water for you. I think that is the bartenders job. Obviously very poor customer service.
This time, one of the stalls in the women’s washroom was out of order. At around midnight or 1 AM, the second stall became out of order which left us females with NO WASHROOMS. The party was supposed to go on til 5 but no one was there after 3 or 3:30 … probably because of the lack of washrooms.
Funny that the owner says water is available when I asked EVERYONE (bartenders, security, etc.) and nothing was available. Owner, please train your STAFF to give water. I would have gladly paid money for a bottle of water but they said there wasn’t any.
Safety first.
Also seriously train your staff so that they know how to sell water.

One of the only places in Toronto that places a good selection of music. (Rave, Retro, Synthpop, Industrial, Goth). They have two rooms, which is good on a club night. However, it’s a very small venue, and can get quite crowded some nights.