The staying power of a city’s music scene

Real estate prices have affected Toronto’s live venues, but things could turn around

Looking at recent headlines one might think Toronto’s live music scene is doomed.

With club owners grappling to afford exorbitant lease rates and a major shift in music tastes, many smaller venues have been forced to close.

Recently, the Hoxton, Soybomb HQ and Hugh’s Room bid farewell, although the latter reopened after a boost from a GoFundMe campaign.

Yet, Toronto is no stranger to shifting gears and embracing new identities. But how the city’s music biz will fare in upcoming years is still anyone’s guess.

“Clubs do seem to have a lifespan,” veteran music publicist Richard Flohil says. “They come, they go. I don’t know how it will all play out, but I do think the appeal of live music is diminishing. The record industry is disappearing, and I always thought live music would be fine, but now I am not so sure.”

In 1957, when Flohil moved to Toronto from England, the city’s stages were abuzz with American jazz and blues. “The part that was generating a music scene in Toronto was R&B because of segregation in America at that time,” he says.

“Canadian musicians who grew up in the ’60s had all these role models in town all the time to follow.”

That’s just one of many incarnations the 82-year-old music-devouring founder of publicity house, Richard Flohil and Associates, has witnessed. As the whims and entertainment appetites of the public change, so do neighbourhoods and real estate. Playing a prominent role in that is, of course, money.

Last year, Queen West indie-rocker enclave the Hideout announced it was closing. A popular fixture since 2006, the building was sold to generate lucrative rents from higher-paying retail tenants. The bar, however, was given new life on College Street.

Also in the midst of rebirth is the Concert Hall, the century-old venue inside the Masonic Temple at 888 Yonge St., which is set to reopen during the TD Toronto Jazz Festival in June. The hall has hosted the likes of Led Zeppelin, A Tribe Called Quest, the Cure and many others, and served as a rehearsal space for the Rolling Stones, but the music stopped in 1998 after the building was bought by Bell Media back.

It’s hard to ignore the role of social media in the diminishing demand for in-person performances. Historically, one had to leave their house to meet people and consume music, but today’s youth can stream music to their phones or computers and get their social fix online.

What’s lost, though, is the electricity of a crowd, the raw energy of witnessing musicians play, and fewer available clubs for struggling artists to hone their craft. While Toronto is often referred to as a ‘music city’, long-time music promoter, Gary Topp, says those days are gone.

But several mid-sized venues, including Massey Hall, Danforth Music Hall, the Phoenix Concert Theatre and the Opera House — as well as smaller spots such as the historical Grossman’s Tavern and The Rex — continue to draw and entertain crowds. Meanwhile, when word got out that the beloved Silver Dollar Room was closing this May, there was public outcry. Turns out the location is undergoing renovations with heritage protections. Whether that means the venue will reopen is uncertain. Add to the renewal list the long-defunct, dust collecting El Mocambo. The legendary hot spot is getting revitalized and is set to return as a live music venue this summer.

The massive venues — think Molson Amphitheatre, Air Canada Centre and the Rogers Centre — hosting biggest names in the music biz continue to thrive and likely always will.

“It’s not a disaster yet,” Flohil says. Things, he says, have a way of cycling back around. “I can still go out — and I do — five, six nights a week and there’s always something to hear.

“There are great venues that have disappeared and every now and then, another one pops up.”