The Bovine Sex Club is a
bar on
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
's
Queen Street West
Queen Street is a major east-west thoroughfare in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It extends from Roncesvalles Avenue and King Street in the west to Victoria Park Avenue in the east. Queen Street was the cartographic baseline for the original east ...
strip. In operation since January 1991, the Bovine Sex Club (often shortened to 'the Bovine') has at various times found itself at the forefront of Toronto's
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
,
punk
Punk or punks may refer to:
Genres, subculture, and related aspects
* Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres
* Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
,
alternative
Alternative or alternate may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki''
* ''The Alternative'' (film), a 1978 Australian television film
* ''The Alternative ...
, and
rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western musical styles such as country with that of rhythm and blu ...
music scenes.
History
The club opened in January 1991 with a trio of Toronto nightlife enthusiasts behind it in ownership capacity —
Wesley Thuro a.k.a. Happy Dog who had already had some organizational experience with Toronto nightlife establishments having launched the all ages
rave club
23 Hop just a few months earlier in 1990,
colourful
CFNY
CFNY-FM (''102.1 the Edge'') is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 102.1 MHz in the Greater Toronto Area, licensed to the suburb of Brampton. CFNY plays an alternative rock format. Owned by Corus Entertainment, its studios are in Downtown ...
radio personality
Chris Sheppard who in addition to achieving a measure of local fame as the voice of CFNY's weekend live-to-air broadcasts from various Toronto clubs also performed under the 'DJ Dogwhistle' moniker,
and
Darryl Fine
Darryl is an English name, a variant spelling of Darell.
Male variations of this name include: Darlin, Daryl, Darrell, Darryl, Daryll, Darryll, Darrell, Darrel.
Female and unisex variations of this name include: Daryl, Darian, Dareen, Darell ...
.
Those who have visited the club include band members and film actors, including
Bruce LaBruce
Bruce LaBruce (born January 3, 1964) is a Canadian artist, writer, filmmaker, photographer, and underground director based in Toronto.
Life and career
LaBruce was born in Tiverton, Ontario. He has claimed both Justin Stewart and Bryan Bruce as ...
.
In 2013 the club opened a rooftop patio bar known as the Tiki Bar.
Art
The Bovine's facade was built by a small group of local artists including
Dave Grieveson and
Great Bob Scott (also the drummer for
The Look People). They worked under the creator of the Bovine, Happy Dog (real name -
Wesley Thuro). The exterior and interior were an art installation made solely from discarded items.
References
External links
Bovine Sex ClubBovine Sex Club live photo archive on Formertransformer
{{Authority control
Music venues in Toronto
Nightclubs in Toronto
1991 establishments in Ontario