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‘The biggest shit hole in the city’

By Karolina Weglarz

The floor of Larry’s Hideaway was a carpet covered in piss, blood and beer. It hadn’t been cleaned in years. The ceilings were low and chairs were always set up in front of the stage, which stood at the far end across from the door. Ray Berkis was there to see American punk-rock band Black Flag play at the legendary music venue. Still a concert virgin at 16, Berkis knew how to make his first time a memorable one. He had gone earlier that day with a buddy to buy tickets, sauntering into local music store Record Peddler, even though he was underage. Sweaty fists clutched the tickets as the two boys walked down the dungeon-like stairs to the basement venue, passing underneath a sign that read “ID must be shown for entry.” Their sneakers stuck to the floor and a whiff of stale beer, mould, sweat and weed hit their faces. But it worked. They were in.

“A bunch of jokers we got here, eh?” A bouncer, who looked like he could have been part of the Hell’s Angels, had spotted them. Berkis bribed him with a TTC pass and the man let them go, warning them to stay away from the bar. Neither of the guys cared about drinking. All they wanted was the music.

The crowd started forming bigger, scarier and older than Berkis and his buddy. They were made up of punks with angry hair cuts and leather jackets, and more than a few were Ryerson students, drawn to Larry’s from the campus only two blocks away. But once the music started playing, nothing mattered anymore.

Located in the basement of the Prince Carlton Hotel on the northwest corner of what is now Allan Gardens, Larry’s Hideaway was the place to be to hear the latest punk rock and heavy metal music of the early- to mid-1980s. Local bands were given opportunities to perform on stage, sometimes alongside international acts. The basement was always packed with people because there were not many alternatives offered at the time. In an era where original music was difficult to play and find, Larry’s was a gateway to this new sound. Because of Larry’s, punk music flourished in Toronto.

What was once a gay bar during the baby boom, in the late 1960s to early 1970s The Prince Carlton Hotel was transformed into the legend that today is known as Larry’s Hideaway. Though the building no longer exists, the memories continue to play on.

“It was the biggest shit hole in the city, but the atmosphere was great,” said promoter Gary Topp.

Known as “The Two Gary’s,” Topp and Gary Cormier were Toronto’s most important promotional team. They booked local bands such as Hamilton’s The Forgotten Rebels, Anvil, Razor and The IUDs, and also international artists like Bauhaus, Nina Hagen, Slayer, Husker Du, and even REM. Topp says the basement was always packed and the bands loved playing there.

Cockroaches also loved the place. Topp recalls celebrating a birthday at the venue, where he had a cake delivered and set up in one of the dressing rooms upstairs. When they went to dig in after the bands playing that night had finished, a cockroach had already found its way to the cake and helped itself. “It just shows how dirty the place was,” he said.

Managed by Danny K., a short and balding chubby man in his 40s, the venue itself was dark and musky. Upon entering, you had the choice of going downstairs or upstairs: downstairs for the music, upstairs for the prostitutes.

Downstairs, corners were used to smoke weed and to partake in sexual activity. The bar, a haven for underage drinking, was located to the side while a kitchen was hidden behind the stage area.

“It was a place that the villians in Mad Max and Road Warrior would have hung out at,” said former patron Thor Volokwyn.

Sitting with his girlfriend at a table located right in front of the stage, Volokwyn recalls Einsturzende Neubauten as one of his favourite performances. The band took “industrial” literally, playing with a mix of guitars, keyboards and drums with power tools and chunks of metal. Sitting so close to the stage proved to be a big mistake, as bits of broken glass and refuse kept flying off as one of the musicians smashed a sheet of music with rods. “Things were bouncing off everywhere,” said Volokywn. “We took it in stride though.”

The upper floors were a different world. Dressing and hotel rooms were usually occupied with prostitutes and junkies, while dirty sheets and condoms lay scattered along the floors.

Drew Masters, an ex-patron, recalls an incident where he walked in on Danny K. on top of a prostitute. He only managed an “Oops, sorry!” before making a hasty exit.

Coming from a sheltered, small town, he says he was naive to many of the things he witnessed at Larry’s. “I saw the prostitutes and drug dealers, but never really took in why they were there and what they were doing,” he said.

No matter how dirty or skuzzy the place was, nothing compared to Larry’s acoustics. “The sound quality was immaculate! It was the best in the country,” Topp said. Some argue that the sound produced from the old systems used in the 1980s was and still is better than the music you hear at shows now.

The sound also brought a more sophisticated crowd, or as photographer and former Ryerson student, Chris Buck, liked to call them, “music snobs.”

“The fans weren’t the friendliest,” said Buck. “They were misfits who were intense about their music. It was a fairly intimidating place to go because there was always the fear of being snubbed.”

Playing such great music also came with demands from the “stars.” Topp cited English glam rock singer and songwriter Gary Glitter as one of his most demanding artists.

“We had to build a big staircase for him on the stage. He’d go up it and do this Elvis thing and because the ceiling was so low, he’d hit his head,” said Topp.

Buck’s encounters weren’t as pleasant. While photographing Nick Cave from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, he received the brunt of the front man’s nasty and sarcastic comments. “Oh, that was a beauty,” Cave spewed. “That’s a classic for the ages.”

Cave told Buck that if he got him some heroin, he would do anything he wanted. “I was a nice Catholic boy, so when I called up friends and asked them for heroin, they were all surprised,” he laughed. Buck never got his hands on the drugs, but still has the photos and memories from one of Toronto’s more notorious venues.

Larry’s reign ended when it was burnt down in the late 80s. Masters believes that after the managers were offered a larger sum of money than it was worth, they shut the place down. The Prince Carlton Hotel was also torn down as part of an urban gentrification project.

“Nothing like [it] can exist today,” said Donnie Blais, manager of The Forgotten Rebels. “I don’t think punks these days could handle a place as hardcore as Larry’s was.”


15 Comments

  1. We received the following email from Corinne C., (bestfishcleaner@hotmail.com) at 11:07 on June 22, 2012.

    I was just reading your article on Larry’s Hideaway (Prince Carlton Hotel). I’m not sure where all your information came from, but I am the daughter of the late owner of Larry’s. My father owner and operated Larry’s from the very beginning until the very end. He certainly was not offered more money than it was worth, my father wasn’t a young man, and it was the right time to close the business. There was a fire in 1991 and the city demolished the builing because it was not able to be salvaged, it was not torn down for an urban gentrification project. It was never a gay bar! It started as a hotel and classy dinning establishment in the fifties. It changed with the times and area, with hookers drugs and music. It was very filthy dirty and definately filled with cockroaches, but it was a a piece of Toronto’s music history and a part of my familly’s history. As for Danny K being a “manager” he was a goof that worked for my father. Danny got a big head and thought he ran the joint. I’ve heard a lot of people say they managed or owned Larry’s. My father owned and operated and managed his own business, no one else ever did. I am pleased to know that a lot of people remember it for what it really was but it does upset me when I hear or read stuff that just isn’t true.

    Corinne (Pustil) Cluney

  2. Gerry

    I had some extremely bad experiences in Larry’s Hideaway…in fact, if I saw the two men that I had to deal with, I’d kill both of them on the spot…just sayin’…I’m glad it burnt and was destroyed.

  3. Mike

    I remember like it was yesterday I heard Slayer was coming to Larry’s Oct 84 and I had their lp plus their new ep and was a big fan of that new style of metal. I purchased a ticket even though I had to work a 12 hour day shift at Mcmaster University in Hamilton that day plus the next as well. After my shift I drove to Toronto and parked down the street and headed for the venue which I had never been to before, no one was there so I was too early and had to kill some time before heading back. When I got there at show time it was packed, I headed in to the claustrophobic dungeon and stood at the back of the crowd. The opening act was the local Razor if I can recall and they were pretty heavy. Slayer then came on and I must admit it was the heaviest show I have ever seen in my life. I was only 23 years old then but was their strictly for the music but the crowd of headbangers were sure pissing me off, at one point they started chucking chairs and one bounced off my shoulder. In hindsight the place would have been the perfect firetrap with the low ceiling and everyone jammed in. Slayer were completely wild but surprisingly good and diligent in their playing. As for the crowd I would loved to have had a grenade but unfortunately did not. I drove back to Hamilton that night very late and reeking of cigarettes with my ears ringing but was glad to have seen what in hindsight was a piece of musical history. Who could have ever thought Rock n Roll would die but it sure did. As for the Larry’s Hideaway it sure was a hole and I never went back but nevertheless have fond memories of the days when you could see a great rock/metal concert with actual musicians.

  4. Pigchop

    I lived on the streets in the area where Karry’s was. Place was truly s dhithole, but a lot of cool bands played there. Real bummer that it’s gone.

  5. Tina Douthwright

    I lived at Larrys in the early 80s, I was 17 years old. I remember every couple months or so the cops would surround the place and do a door to door. They were looking for people with warrants, run away kids and so on. They would have cops all the way around the outside of the building before they went in to grab up all the drugs and weapons coming out the windows lol The first time this happened after I moved in I remember the 2 cops get to my door, come in, check my id, they were looking around and then looked at me and said “You don’t belong here” lol I answered “Yes sir I do.” lol My still husband from those days and I had emptied the room out the window lol, scrubbed it with bleach, ripped out the carpet and tiled the floor, new toilet seat, new shower curtain, painted the place and put in our own furniture. We had baskets hung from ropes from the pipes across the ceiling to keep our food in to keep the mice away from it, we could lower the ropes to bring the baskets down lol We could lay in bed and watch the mice climbing the drapes to try to get to our food, oh so romantic lol There was of course no way to avoid the cockroaches lol It was nothing coming or going to pass a hooker on the stairs giving a blow job lol We have been going out one night and there was blood all over the floor and walls in the hallway, not uncommon, on the way down the hall my husband found the bloody knife on the fire hose box, he still has it to this day. The cop asked me “Aren’t you afraid living here?” My answer to him was “No sir should I be?” at the time I don’t think it a cured to me to be afraid but looking back maybe I should have been lol

  6. C

    Anyone know whatever happened to Danny Kikot?

  7. joey

    I also lived there in the 80’s, it was a 24/7 party parlor, drugs of all kinds, rock n roll was big in larry’s hideaway, lots of sex by lots of women but what an experience im 52 yrs old today, wow flashback indefinatly

  8. Stacey

    Stacey G

    I frequented Larry’s in the early 80s as teenager to my early 20s. It was using jammed full. Smokey. Loud music and great bands. My boyfriend knew the ‘Gary’s ‘ so sometimes we got in free. I saw Nina Hagen there…possibly twice. She had a crush on Paul, one of the guys who I think set up the stage…or was he a bouncers? Anyway she took him back to Germany with her. Nina had good taste. Paul was very good looking and sweet.
    One of the best bands I saw live was at Larry’s. It was Bahaus. It was like watching a film and band at the same time. It was dynamic and thrilling. I remember the singers blue eyeshadow and pink lipstick. He was incredible. Violent and sexy at the same time. We had drinks with Peter Murphy after the show. He was a total gentleman.
    Larry’s was a dive but there was no like it. CBGB’S was the NYC version. I’m grateful that I got to experience it.

  9. Cheis H

    man oh man….endless forgotten rebel shows. Exploited and UK subs at the UK subs. Hardcore Sundays. BFG! getting beaten up outside by some nasty Skins and Bambi having to save my 15 yr old ass. your under age OK, go in and i don’t want to see you. what is that, you couldn’t do that these days,hey! OH boy we had some good times

  10. Russell Foster

    I was in a new tribute band in the mid 80’s
    My friend in another tribute band saw us and suggested we go meet Danny K
    So i phoned him and he said come to Larry’s with you promo material, so I did

    He booked us for a couple gigs there
    What a shit show….
    1st gig, we had a a few beers from the bar, came time to get paid and were told we drank our pay… so we got zilch

    2nd gig, we go up to the dressing room after sound check, tune up, change etc. Go do out first set, come back up to the room, and some girl (hooker we assumed) comes climbing in the window from the balcony (we just assumed the window was locked) and exclaimed, “i am just here to use the washroom”. So she did and then left through the door….. haha. We were not thinking straight… went down, did our 2nd set…. packed the main equipment away, came up to clean up, and all of our dressing room equipment (guitar tuners, small amps, etc) was gone!!!

    For that experience, i an glad it was out last gig there.

    But the sound, the audience, all very good as far as a music venue goes!

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