Toronto Music Venue The Phoenix Concert Theatre to Close In 2025
The 33-year-old club will play out its final days before shutting its doors on Sherbourne Street in January. In the meantime, the owners promise to find a new downtown home for the venue, with backing from City Hall.
Finger Eleven at a live show at the Phoenix Concert Theatre
One of Toronto's longest running concert venues is closing early next year.
The Phoenix Concert Theatre at 410 Sherbourne Street will go dark effective on Jan. 15, 2025. The landmark concert venue and the 18,000 square-foot building it's housed in will be levelled to become a new residential housing development.
The concert hall has a long history in the city as an entertainment venue. In 1984, it was re-branded as The Diamond. That landmark club closed in 1990 and reopened as the Phoenix, with its own storied history. It's hosted concerts from The Rolling Stones to The Tragically Hip, Bob Dylan to Alanis Morissette. It also hosted a popular series of alternative dance nights, including live broadcasts from late Toronto radio DJ Martin Streek. It's also hosted a wide range of queer-friendly events, parties as part of Toronto Caribbean Carnival and much more.
In 2014, former music biz executive and backer Zeke Myers took over the lease. Lisa Zbitnew has served as co-owner and president, keeping the venue independent — increasingly rare for a mid-level venue in Toronto. On the cusp of the Covid pandemic, Zbitnew and her partners reopened the Bronson Centre Music Theatre in Ottawa, a fully renovated 1,000 capacity live music venue, which also serves as a social enterprise.
The owners share the bittersweet news with a promise to look for a new downtown home for the Phoenix, with Toronto City Councillor Chris Moise and others at City Hall, as well as external partners.
"Being the custodians of The Phoenix for a decade has been an honour," Zbitnew says. "She is the grand dame of venues in Toronto, and we’ve seen some of the world’s biggest and best artists grace this stage. We are sad to see her go, but are also excited to turn our focus to writing the next chapter in our new home.”
Erin Benjamin, President & CEO of the Canadian Live Music Association, says the Phoenix is an example of the significance of live music and its spaces and shares hope "it will rise again."
“Venues are more than live music," she says. "A whole community is built around live performance, and the Phoenix is one of the most important examples of how the impact of live music venues extends beyond the artists and resulting employment opportunities. The Phoenix has always created space to bring an incredible range of diverse communities from across Toronto together, and in doing so has provided people with a sense of identity and belonging in their city."
In the meantime, the venue is planning programming that highlights the history of the venue for its final days on Sherbourne, including many of its beloved long-running nights and parties.
