Generally though, the El Mo heavyweights were a far more civilized lot than could found elsewhere. Sure, sometimes a rowdy patron might find him or herself hustled briskly from the top floor stairs to the bottom, courtesy of the bouncers. Reggae buffs found their groove there.Īnd what about a club with a published poet as head bouncer? This was the late Reggie Bovaird, likewise a connoisseur of conceptual art who could talk the anger out of just about anybody. A blues collector I know crafted his taste by hearing the likes of Howlin’ Wolf at the club. The El Mo was the early ’70s FM radio of clubs, home to just about anything and everything. Musically, Yonge and Yorkville saw the 1950 meet the ’60s. The El Mo became an outpost for University of Toronto students.” But the El Mo arrived just as there was a change in 1971 of the drinking age from 21 to 18. “In the Village you had (Gordon) Lightfoot. “Before the El Mocambo there was a battle in the city in the ’60s between the (Yorkville) Village and Yonge St.,” says Bob Mackowycz Sr., former Q107 program director and an established Toronto cultural historian. What the El Mo did bring on - starting in 1972 when the building was bought by high school buddies Tom Kristenbrun and Mike Baird - was an entirely new atmosphere for a Toronto club. “But it wasn’t the greatest place to play.” “It was always the place to play,” remembers Bruce Good of The Good Brothers, the de facto house band for years. A steep flight of stairs leads between the two. Two stages against two walls are found in two claustrophobic rooms, one above the other, both with low ceilings. Inside, the El Mo has long been just as ersatz-looking. Structurally self-effacing, it appears to back away from the street, easily missed if not for its tropical neon signage. Alas, the El Mo has never looked the part. They are adult versions of a child’s magic castle. They are a necessary part of any era’s dreamscape. Famous nightclubs always look like famous nightclubs whether as watering holes for high society or low-life criminality.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |