Larry's Hideaway was a bar in the Prince Carlton Hotel in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The venue was notable for being one of the first venues in Toronto to open itself to punk and new wave music acts, as well as

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

. The venue was well known for its good

acoustics Acoustics is a branch of physics that deals with the study of mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including topics such as vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician ...

. Several artists recorded live albums at the venue.

Venue

The bar was located in the basement of the Prince Carlton Hotel on the north-west corner of Allan Gardens, on Carlton Street at Jarvis Street. The room was a restaurant prior to 1961, when it became a jazz venue. Starting in the late 1970s, the venue was booked by the "Two Garys", Gary Topp and Gary Cormier, who also booked bands to "The Edge" venue and to the Horseshoe Tavern. The bar had a dirty, un-clean reputation although bands reputedly loved to play there. The bar closed in the summer of 1986, but the hotel remained open and was the site of several robberies and sexual assaults. In September 1986, the hotel was raided by the Toronto Police. The police arrested 26 persons and seized thousands of dollars of stolen goods and drugs. The hotel was sold in 1988 and closed. It was boarded up and left vacant, sometimes used by squatters and vagrants. On October 16, 1991, a three-alarm fire destroyed much of the hotel. The City of Toronto government bought it in 1990 to increase the size of Allan Gardens park. The location is now the off-leash dog area of the park.

Notable artists

* Lee Aaron *

Alien Sex Fiend Alien Sex Fiend are an English gothic rock band, formed in London, England in 1982. The current lineup of the band consists of Nik Fiend and Mrs Fiend. Five of the group's albums and 12 of their singles reached top 20 positions in the UK indie ...

* Bauhaus *

Billy Bragg Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer-songwriter and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic themes. His music is ...

* Blibber and the Rat Crushers * Black Flag *

Circle Jerks Circle Jerks (stylized as Ciʀcle JƎʀᴋs) are an American hardcore punk band, formed in 1979 in Los Angeles, California. The group was founded by former Black Flag vocalist Keith Morris and Redd Kross guitarist Greg Hetson. To date, Circle ...

HYPE Hype (derived from hyperbole) is promotion, especially promotion consisting of exaggerated claims. Hype or The Hype may also refer to: Film and television * ''Hype'' (TV series), an American comedy television series * ''The Hype'' (TV seri ...

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are an Australian rock music, rock band formed in 1983 by vocalist Nick Cave, multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey and guitarist-vocalist Blixa Bargeld. The band has featured international personnel throughout its care ...

* Chris and Cosey *

Ornette Coleman Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman (March 9, 1930 – June 11, 2015) was an American jazz saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter, and composer known as a principal founder of the free jazz genre, a term derived from his 1960 album '' Free Jazz: A Colle ...

* The Cramps * The Cult * Dead Beat *

Howard Devoto Howard Devoto (born Howard Andrew Trafford, 15 March 1952) is a retired English singer and songwriter, who began his career as the frontman for punk rock band Buzzcocks, but then left to form Magazine, one of the first post-punk bands. After M ...

* The Diodes * Einstürzende Neubauten * The Exploited * The Fall * FM * Goddo * Hanoi Rocks - First North American performance March 1984 * Nina Hagen * The Hi-Fi's (early Blue Rodeo) *

John Cale John Davies Cale (born 9 March 1942) is a Welsh musician, composer, singer, songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the American rock band the Velvet Underground. Over his six-decade career, Cale has worked in various styl ...

Killing Joke Killing Joke are an English rock music, rock band from Notting Hill, London, England, formed in 1979 by Jaz Coleman (vocals, keyboards), Paul Ferguson (drums), Geordie Walker (guitar) and Youth (musician), Youth (bass). Their first album, ''Ki ...

* L'Etranger * Linton Kwesi Johnson * The Lords of the New Church * Max Webster * R.E.M. * Random Killing *

Raving Mojos Raving may refer to: *Rave A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated w ...

Rush Rush(es) may refer to: Places United States * Rush, Colorado * Rush, Kentucky * Rush, New York * Rush City, Minnesota * Rush Creek (Kishwaukee River tributary), Illinois * Rush Creek (Marin County, California), a stream * Rush Creek (Mono Cou ...

Slayer Slayer was an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California. The band was formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style ...

* Sun Ra Arkestra * Teenage Head *

The Jolly Tambourine Man ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

* The Tragically Hip * Triumph *

U.K. Subs U.K. Subs are an English punk rock band, among the earliest in the first wave of British punk. Formed in 1976, the mainstay of the band has been vocalist Charlie Harper, originally a singer in Britain's R&B scene. They were also one of the f ...

* Vital Sines * Negative Gain * HYPE

Live albums

- '' Ha!'' * R.E.M. - '' Murmur'' (Deluxe Edition bonus disc) * The Viletones - ''Saturday Night/Sunday Morning'' *

Discharge Discharge may refer to Expel or let go * Discharge, the act of firing a gun * Discharge, or termination of employment, the end of an employee's duration with an employer * Military discharge, the release of a member of the armed forces from serv ...

- ''Toronto '83'' *

- ''Live at Larry's Hideaway 1985 (album)''

References

{{reflist , 30em, refs= {{cite journal , work=the eyeopener , url=http://theeyeopener.com/2009/10/the-biggest-shit-hole-in-the-city/ , title=‘The biggest shit hole in the city’ , first=Karolina , last=Weglarz , date=October 21, 2009 {{cite news , work=Toronto Star , url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/music/2010/01/03/torontos_transit_of_venues_or_weep_not_for_the_bop.html , title=Toronto's transit of venues (or, weep not for the bop) , first1=Nick , last1=Krewen , first2=Garnet , last2=Fraser , date=January 3, 2010 , accessdate=April 4, 2016 Music venues in Toronto