It’s no secret that party culture has changed. Dance floors have transformed into seas of glowing screens, where people spend more time filming themselves in the DJ booth than they do actually dancing. Nights out have become content opportunities and awkward moments that live online forever. The pressure of potentially ending up on someone else’s Instagram story has made it harder than ever for young people to actually let loose.
But in true Toronto fashion, this city is fighting back.
One new downtown Toronto event space is ready to bring the city something different. Complex19, a new nightclub inside the historic Consumers’ Gas Building at 19 Toronto St., has officially opened with one rule guests won’t be able to ignore: no phone cameras. Every person’s phone camera is covered with a sticker before they enter, and if that sticker comes off, so do they.
“One of the things we’re definitely going to be strict on is the no-camera policy,” founder Bradley Blaylock shared on Instagram. “We’ll be stickering every single person’s phone and mama, if you’re caught… you’re out!”
The venue celebrated its first launch over Pride weekend, opening with a ticketed event featuring legendary house DJ Danny Tenaglia, Shimmy G and more.
“We want to make sure that this space is for dancing. It’s for building friendships. Building community,” says Blaylock. “We want it to be a space where people can actually enjoy themselves and not have blue light all over the dance floor. So no phone camera policy whatsoever.”
The idea reflects a growing backlash seen across nightlife scenes worldwide.
Iconic clubs like Berlin’s Berghain and London’s Fabric have long restricted or discouraged photography, while a growing number of promoters have embraced phone-free events in an effort to get people off their screens and back into the moment.
Instead of dancing without inhibition, many people now spend nights occupied with documenting their evening obsessively online — or worrying about whether they’re in someone else’s video.
Amidst the year of going analogue, Complex19 has arrived to reverse that trend.
The team has redesigned the venue with one goal in mind: getting as many people onto the dance floor as possible. The booths that once occupied the space have been ripped out entirely, creating room for wall-to-wall dancing rather than bottle service sections, an almost entirely new concept for Toronto. New tube lighting, moving-head fixtures and flashing effects are being installed alongside an L-Acoustics sound system, a setup typically associated with world-class clubs and festivals.
The venue’s biggest design feature, however, has been there for more than 170 years.
Complex19 occupies the historic Consumers’ Gas Building, originally constructed in 1852. Its soaring stained glass windows remain intact, creating an unique experience for late-night club-goers who dance until sunrise and watch the morning light pour through the colourful glass.
Blaylock is no stranger to creating spaces that foster community in Toronto — he’s the leading force behind YumYum.Party and Precious Cargo, two queer-focused dance events that have cultivated dedicated followings for their house music programming and community-driven atmosphere.
That same sense of community carries into this new venture. One of the more exciting aspects of the space is its goal to foster inclusivity in Toronto’s club scene.
“Everybody on the team is actually queer, which is really exciting,” Blaylock shared on social media. “So I think we’re going to be able to breathe new air into the Toronto nightlife scene and do it in a way that’s inclusive for everybody. Eventually, we want this to be a beautifully programmed venue of house and techno music.”
Complex19 has intentionally moved away from many of the traditional nightclub status symbols, removing the focus from bottle service or influencer culture — aspects of Toronto nightlife that have been plaguing our city’s club scene for years. Instead, there’s a focus on creating an environment where everyone shares the same dance floor.
Without cameras pointed in every direction, Blaylock hopes people will feel more comfortable striking up conversations with strangers, expressing themselves freely and becoming immersed in the music rather than worrying about how they’ll appear online.
As social media continues to shape how people experience concerts, festivals and nights out, Complex19 is asking guests to do something many haven’t done in years (and some of our younger locals haven’t done at all): leave with memories instead of content.
Whether Toronto is ready to embrace a phone-free dance floor remains to be seen, but if the crowds that packed the venue during Pride weekend are any indication, there are plenty of people willing to trade a few Instagram stories for a night they simply had to be there to experience.