A camera-free club is coming to Toronto this June and to one’s surprise, many party goers in the city are all for this concept.
Owners Bradley Blaylock, Marc Bou-Fadel and Mitch Gibson came together to create Toronto’s newest club, Complex19 just in time for Pride.
The no camera policy is enticing party goers to have a night out while being completely present. It also encourages dancing and for people to come together and meet new people.
“No camera policy is what we really want to stay true to. And that’s also because, you know, sometimes you just want to let your hair down, and you want to dance, and you want to be as sweaty as you possibly can be without the fear of showing up in someone’s story the next day,” Blaylock told The BG Show.
“Like you get to live in the moment. Take your selfies or whatever outside the club. Do your thing, and then find out how messy you are at the end,” said Torontonian Tyler Sloan.
Club culture has ultimately changed over the years with people doing less dancing and more recording and engaging with their phones.
“What I find is like when my phone is dead, that’s the time where I get to talk to people that aren’t my friends. Where you finally get to lock eyes with someone and maybe have a conversation,” Sloan adds.
Social media is where people love to post aesthetic photos of venues, outfits of the day/night, and with their friends, especially on a night out.
“We don’t want you to be worrying about what you’re wearing, or nervous that you don’t have the right brand clothing or whatnot, or that you can’t spend money on a booth,” said Blaylock. “We want to strip it all away. Everybody’s kind of the same level. And again, it’s about the music and the vibe and the energy, and we can only do that if we’re all kind of there together as one.”
The caption of Complex19’s instagram post reads, “We’re ripping out the booths! No bottle service. No sections. No separation. Just more room to dance.”
“There’s an epidemic of people not dancing in the club. Dance in the club! So maybe get off your phone, and I’d like that idea,” Toronto local Mary Megahy told The Brandon Gonez Show. “We’ll take our club photos before we go to the club.”
Complex 19 is located at 19 Toronto St. and is opening on June 28th for the “Danny Tenaglia – A Pride Sunday Marathon” event.
