CLOSURE: Bar for live entertainment just shut down after five years in Toronto

A bar that was known for its live music and comedy nights and support of the creative community has closed its doors.

Tonight Bar has announced their closure after five years in business with a heartfelt mini documentary.

The space has played host to many music acts and comedians over the years, including Joe Sumner, members of The Strumbellas, Blackie Jackett Jr., NQ Arbuckle, Juno winner Quique Escamilla, Che Durena, S.L.K and Ban Bankas. Their homey Parkdale space had fun touches like an iconic wall of over 1,000 cassette tapes.

The documentary details the five years of history behind Tonight Bar, from beginning to end. The doc chronicles the journey from getting the idea to open a new venue, to running the space as a cafe during the day and a bar at night, to dropping the cafe and continuing on primarily as a live entertainment spot.

It also tells the story of how owners Clamp and LB became pregnant right before pandemic lockdowns hit, and how Tonight Bar persevered through not just five years operation, but some of the toughest years small businesses have ever been through.

However, the documentary ends on a relative high note. While it’s sad to see Tonight Bar go, Clamp explains in the short film that the closure isn’t necessarily a tragic one, and was really part of the plan all along.

“No sad story. No victim of the times. No bad landlord. We just knew when we’d go before we even started. We just didn’t know how many memories we’d make along the way,” Clamp says near the end of the doc.

A post on Instagram sharing the documentary has over 300 likes and nearly 100 comments from regulars expressing how sad they are to see the space go and how much it meant to them.

Tonight Bar ownership tells YourCityWithIN.com that a new bar will be taking over the space.