A new club with a no-cameras policy is opening downtown

About a year ago, party promoters Bradley Blaylock, Marc Bou-Fadel and Mitch Gibson—who work day jobs in marketing, HR and event management, respectively—joined forces to envision the future of clubbing in Toronto. Like legendary shuttered venues Circa, the Guvernment and the Hoxton before them, they’re preparing to open a 16,000-square-foot, multi-level dance club with the capacity to host upward of 1,000 people over the course of a night, dubbed Complex19 and set to open just in time for Pride celebrations this June.

“After Covid, there was a slow ramp-up of events again—people were really craving them—so I threw my hat in the ring and started producing an event catered to the LGBTQ community,” says Gibson. “It was called Not Another Gay Dance Party.”

After the event was a runaway success, Gibson began throwing it monthly, eventually scaling up to larger special-edition nights around Pride, Halloween and New Year’s. Word about these parties spread quickly, and after Gibson connected with Blaylock and Bou-Fadel, the three decided to help bring noise back to a scene that had been dormant for far too long.

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For their space, the trio landed on a vacant heritage building near Church and Adelaide once occupied by the Rosewater Supper Club. “The building was constructed in 1852 for the Consumers Gas Company that lit the city for the first time,” says Blaylock. “We loved the idea that we’d be lighting up the city in our own way too.”

In March of 2025, they leased the building to host a massive queer party called Yum Yum—an event that prohibited phone cameras and social media posting. “The big thing for us was creating a space where people can disconnect from the outside world while they’re there. From the moment guests walk in, we sticker their phones—no cameras are allowed in the space whatsoever,” Blaylock says.

Despite the no-camera policy, tickets sold out online in under ten minutes, and the party quickly became a series of monthly events. “Part of being in a safe space as a queer person is having the freedom to act without inhibition—feeling sexually liberated and free from judgment,” says Bou-Fadel. “Social media has stripped some of that away, and this is an opportunity to give it back.”

The trio has now taken full ownership of the space and plan to operate it with regular club hours. The name Complex19 is a nod to the building’s maze-like interior and hidden corners. “We got to play with the different rooms, spaces, and little nooks and crannies—something people really love,” says Blaylock. “You can dance for a while, then wander off to explore, have a conversation or find a more intimate moment somewhere else in the space. That balance—being as liberated as you want, dancing as much as you like, and still feeling connected to the floor without the distraction of blue light or people filming—really worked for us.”

In keeping with its owners’ unbridled anti-social-media ethos, the club will also forgo bottle service and any kind of dress code. “We’re not interested in hierarchy or showiness,” says Bou-Fadel. “Whether you come in a ball cap or a tuxedo, you’re welcome. If you’re a rowdy bro with a bit too much testosterone looking for trouble, you can check yourself at the door—or our security will happily do it for you.”

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