Music

Iconic Toronto venue El Mocambo is for sale

by Tyler Munro

via RCA Toronto

When’s the last time you went to the El Mocambo? If you’re like us, we’re wagering it’s been a while, and that’s a thought that holds true with BlogTO reporting that the once-legendary Toronto venue is up for sale for the second time in as many years.

Details are a little messy, but whatever happened, it doesn’t look great. You might remember that, in 2012, owner Sam Grosso was adamant not to book local hip-hop shows, a curious decision that seemed hardheaded and, quite frankly, pretty stupid.

“When I think about the El Mo I think about the Rolling Stones, I think about Stevie Rae [sic] Vaughan, Elvis Costello, Muddy Waters – all these great bands that played here,” he told NOW Magazine. “I don’t think hip hop was ever born at the El Mocambo.”

Whatever the case, Grosso’s fixation on the past obviously didn’t mesh with running a successful venue, and closing it for a few months for renovations this summer didn’t help. When it reopened, Grosso urged he was desperate to book bands.

“We need the money,” he said. And he did.

Unfortunately for live music fans, this looks like it could be the end for the El Mo. A line in its listing says the site has “redevelopment potential,” suggesting it’d be great for “student housing, a fitness club” or a “boutique hotel.”

Grosso says he “loves live music,” but not hip-hop, obviously, and says he’s ideally looking for investors and partners. But if we’re to believe BlogTO’s staffer source, who says the decision to sell was less than amicable, we wouldn’t bank on it.

In the end, would it be such a loss? Uh, probably, actually. Yeah. The venue’s long been out of its heyday, but in its prime housed everyone from The Ramones to Rolling Stones. Muddy Waters played there, Stevie Ray Vaughn recorded his infamous live album there and Elvis Costello played there right before his career went nova.

The venue hasn’t done much lately—the last show we shot there was in April 2012, a few months before the ownership change—but its got plenty of space and, at the corner of College and Spadina, a fantastic location. Unfortunately, its legacy comes with a steep price tag: $3,950,000.