Lee's Palace
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 Artwork by Alex "Runt" Currie |
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| Address | 529 Bloor Street West Toronto ON M5S 1Y5 |
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| Location | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Coordinates | 43°39′55″N 79°24′34″W / 43.665272°N 79.409448°WCoordinates: 43°39′55″N 79°24′34″W / 43.665272°N 79.409448°W |
| Type | Nightclub |
| Genre(s) | Alternative, Indie |
| Built | ? |
| Opened | 5 September 1985 |
| Former name(s) | Bloor Theatre (1950s–1960s) |
| Website | leespalace.com |
Lee's Palace is a concert hall located on the south side of Bloor Street West east of Lippincott Avenue in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The facility consists of a converted motion picture theatre and can accommodate several hundred guests.
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[edit] Founding
The music venue opened as Lee's Palace on 5 September 1985. The headlining band that night was Handsome Ned.[1][2]
[edit] History
Opened as the Bloor Theatre by the Allen's Theatre chain. In its pre-venue days, Lee's Palace was a somewhat-popular[clarification needed] movie theatre through the 1950s. To identify the building better, one should take a look at the rear external decor/structure of the building and notice that it has a rounding-top shape that had resembled most theatres of its time. In the 1960s and 1970s, it was a restaurant.
Between early 2004 and mid-2005, the venue had gone under renovations to replace the island bar and put it up against the wall to sport more room for guests and the employees. The backstage is still considered DIY, but now has more of a comfortable atmosphere for bands that are waiting to go on stage. Below on backstage-right is a common area for the band to relax. Above it is an office and sound area. On backstage-left is the area for leaving band equipment. Above it is a sound booth. The stage has also been elevated a couple of feet, prior to the time when it was almost easy enough to just jump on stage. However, there has always been a foam-covered padding that fans could lie up against if they were being pressured from behind by other people.
[edit] Live music
Lee's Palace is a Toronto hotspot for live music. Known for its intimacy and strong acoustics, it hosts live music nearly every night of the week. The music genre generally played at Lee's Palace is alternative rock. Canadian music groups such as Moist, Sloan, Our Lady Peace, Barenaked Ladies, and The Tragically Hip have played this venue's[1] tiny stage early in their careers. International stars such as The Verve, Nirvana, Tortoise, Blur, The Smashing Pumpkins, Oasis, Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Magnetic Fields made their Toronto debut at Lee's Palace.
The capacity of the venue is roughly 600 people in the concert area, and more upstairs in the "Dance Cave", the dance club under the same roof. The Dance Cave caters to the alternative rock crowd, playing retro rock, Mod, '60s, Britpop, and indie rock during the week, and straight alternative on the weekends.
[edit] Regulatory agencies
As the venue serves alcohol, attendance at concerts and events at Lee's Palace is generally restricted by the laws of the province of Ontario to those 19 years of age or older, although the venue occasionally hosts all-ages shows (usually on weekend afternoons or early evenings) where alcohol is not served.
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Best of List". Lee's Palace. http://www.leespalace.com/best.html. Retrieved 16 March 2011.
- ^ Punter, Jennie (14 September 1995). "Lee's thrives on nuturing [sic] local acts", Toronto Star, p. H10.
