Circa Unleashes Victorian Sideshow on the Masses

I think the dumbest Investment would be a nightclub..and Circa was a dumb investment..I know it has all the bells and whistles and junk..but just like most clubs they come and go..

@alex delarge:
true enough, but I don't think there's anything wrong with an investor/entrepreneur/club mogul providing the city with some beats, booze, and booty shaking, regardless of how temporary.

Circa is seeming more and more contrived every time I hear any news about them or catch any photos. I think the shot above with the 'impromptu photoshoot' says it all.

Adam> But a contrived photoshoot is no different than lots of the activity at celebrated (awful) indie places like Magic Pony (where they do this kind of meta-junk all the time), or so many indie rock shows, or so many art events around the city. So, either all this culture sucks, high and low, or why not give Circa a break for trying harder than most clubs do to make things a little more interesting for hte non-indie, "regular" folk? Is it ok someplaces, or is snobbery the real problem?

Roger, great shots! :D It's too bad they didn't have the dunk tank or the cotton candy working last weekend, but they were there last night and Circus theme has now taken over every corner of the place!

Alex > For me, a city without any good clubs would be a "dumb" place to live, so right now I'm thinking it was a good investment. CiRCA has already revitalized Toronto's ailing dance music scene, and the fun has just begun ;)

Q: What's the definition of smurf sex?

A: Doing it until you're blue in the face.

I think Circa is fantastic and we should have more clubs trying to push the envelope on what a night club experience is. It's easy for all those people to sit on the side and criticize....and i'm sure they've never done anything worth mentioning in this blog or anywhere else

This post makes me feel old.

@ Adam

Speaking of contrived, have you been to any other club in the 'district'?? Pardon the kids at Circa for having a little light-hearted fun, rather than the more typical Richmond St. 'lets down shots til we puke then pick a fight with some random on the sidewalk' attitude....

Anyone want to wager a bet on how long Circa will survive?

If you're going to go to a big club you can do a lot worse than Circa.

Not a whole lot of talk about music in this thread eh?

What do you mean Greg> Above average house/techno/dance seems to be the Circa way. Clubs are more than the music.

But you seem like an anti-dance-music troll.

Depends where you're picking your "average" from, but I wouldn't call Circa's lineups "above average" and I've seen a few too many of 'em.

To elaborate, I found that the quality of music and of the nights seemed to drop off continually from the first night on (I'm talking Fridays here) and the impressive clubcessories and installation bits seemed to vanish over time or frequently be off-limits for entire nights... and the first public night I came back telling everyone I knew to go because of the art, creative layout and most definitely above-average electronic music for a club on an above-average club system, whereas now it seems like the non-musical features got really weak and the main room music took on quite a serious level of suck over time while rooms playing better music had poorer and actually pretty dangerous sound and I don't even want to go myself.

That being said, DJ Godfather next week definitely counts as seriously above average, and Mystical/Sniper. Would be pretty swell if he was in the main room, but I'm still tempted to go, and a new iteration of the club's setup could potentially be worth seeing, assuming things aren't 'random'ly closed...

Although remembering the crowd that turned up for Lupe Fiasco, I wonder who the ghetto tech, booty and jungle lineup will attract.

I watched Jake Fairley play an incredible hometown set at Circa to one of the most unlively crowds I've ever seen in my life. It's a bad place to hear good techno.

@Popular

anti-dance music troll? Not really. I was just calling a spade a spade. If I do go out to hear house or techno, I'm a little more discriminating than seeking out "above average house and techno".. I'm also completely uninterested in theatrics and decor.

I was there at Circa last night and man oh man, it was packed with people. Could not even get our coats checked after almost an hour of lining up and being packed like sardines. I am never coming back there. Poor management and poor people control. Can't even find a decent spot to dance. Been pushed a lot of times. A waste of my money.