ith the confident strategy of evoking an excitement similar to the long running Guvernment complex, Lucid Toronto - modeled on the location in Manchester, England - has opened its doors, transforming a John Street address into a whopping 53,000 square-foot house of hedonism.

After an $8-million retrofit, this former Playdium now features nine full service bars, three special event areas, 100 plasma screens, escalators, 50 foot ceilings and DL1 Catalyst projectors (as seen on the Grammy's) - all divided into four floors of cluberia.

The open main level is, as you can imagine, where most of the action goes down. Both DJ booth and dance floor are joined by a massive stage on which national performers, bands, hip-hop artists and top DJs will eventually showcase their talents. The second floor obsesses over an earnest lounge area which serves as a better spot for watching the action below. The third floor has what is called the Screen Room, a multi-purpose space with its own DJ/VJ. And the fourth floor has the near-unapproachable Gallery lounge (AKA VIP) which I’ll bring you back to later.

All of this makes Lucid the biggest bar of its kind since Guvernment and The Docks, and the club is not the least bit self-conscious about its grandeur, but in spite of that, or perhaps because of that, the complex is not as personable or as envelope-pushing as it thinks it is. It’s wildly fun, to be sure, but the owners (MagiCorp Entertainment Inc., a public company, now known as Lucid. Entertainment) have merely taken the nightclub formula that fueled their UK location and stuffed it in a former Playdium in a masturbatory frenzy with little thought for subtlety. The result is a montrous something-for-everybody complex of high-tech club gloss, a cocktail party in a mall.

The overcooked dichotomy of Lucid - nightclubs must be BIG in Disneyland proportions! - is, ironically, undercut by the best thing about the club: that sexy sectioned-off lounge area on the fourth floor, dubbed The Gallery, primarily used as a place to get away from all things Lucid.

As a bizarre juxtaposition that I'm actually haunted by comes from the fact that the Gallery lounge’s lure is made attractive due to the monster club beneath it - the arrangement promotes levels of exclusivity. It takes a long trek through the main level, and two escalator rides to get there (unless you’re a VIP of Madonna-like rank, wherein you’d take the personal elevator to the fourth floor) - but the Gallery is prime Lucid real-estate. Here the nightclub DNA is as exclusive as it gets, as where we are meant to feel all warm and concert-balcony satisfied with the resolution to keep an emotional distance from the child-like fun of the monster club down below.

Of course, a creature comfort is only as good as its creature, and the monsters on view here aren't substantially different from the monster-club template. But the club gets bonus points for providing, within its 35,000 square feet of shiny nightcluberia, a wickedly cool chill lounge struggling to free itself.

What’s worth noting is that the Lucid formula works, and is in full throttle mode; there’s currently Lucid locations under construction in Atlanta, Warsaw, and Liverpool, Wales and Times Square in New York. - DE




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Reader Reviews

Close the doors and think of something else.
Rene, Toronto
November 21, 2004
I went to Lucid Fiday nite all I can say about the club is don`t waste your time or money, staff is usless the club sound system is horrible and the money you pay to get in and for drinks is not worth it. Close the doors and think of something else.


Lucid, What a waste, North York,
November 1, 2004
What a waste of $20. Every staff member was as rude as they could possibly be. Also a very poor beer selection. No Bud or Blue, just Canadian and Coors! I'll never go back. This club is way too big.


Never Again, Brampton
October 13, 2004
I've been to a lot of places and this had to have been the worst night club experience. To start you have to cross the street to get in the line, the bouncers look like they're completly confused, the guest list girls need some fashion sense and an attidude lesson at that. The over priced cover charge of $20 is not worth a penny, and let's not forget you must add $2 to coat check your jacket. The crowd is ok if you like under age clubbers or if you're looking to see a lot $20 outfits on the dance floor. This club is way too big mind you it wouldn't be that bad if my friends and I could see where we're going. It's way too dark for all those stairs. The try hard DJ in the main room plays the same euro type house all night, and the only way to escape this is to make your way up some more stairs and wait in another line to get into the hip hop and r&b room. Once off the stairs you make a quick right yet the bouncer is too distracted to tell you, you have to go the other way and wait in a line at the other of the floor. That line leaves you waiting with other hot and very sticky poeple for a good half before you can even get your first drink. Let's not forget it takes three bouncers to control the crowd in that line! Once in the hip hop room, we did enjoy a few good dances and managed to pay $9 for an over priced tequilla shoot. To end the night we leave cheated and come to the conclusion that our money and time would have been better spent and a martini bar on College St.



Well, I never......
Lissa, Toronto
Sept. 1, 2004
I was all geared up to get my groove (and drink) on at this massive club. I could not believe how dissapointed I was! The club was stylin, and the escalator's are a saviour for us girls in the 4 inch stiletto's.... but everything else leaves much to be desired. The bartender didn't know what a MANHATTEN or DIRTY MARTINI was, and then he couldn't make them because his bar was stocked with neither dry or sweet vermouth! When my girls and I requested a song from the D.J. he informed us that he is normally PAID for requests... WHAT?! Well, I never......


So 1990...
Lychee, Toronto,
Sept. 9, 2004
Lucid had such potential and unfortunately has fell short of expectations for such a grandiose space. The design of the club is much different than any in Toronto, but the treatment of the clubbers is the same, if not worse than any "run-of-the-mill" club. The doorman and VIP servicepeople should realize that this is a NEW club in a LARGE city with many other clubs; The "holy'er than thou" swagger of a club employee is so 1990...,


packed-to-capacity crowd
Carol, Toronto,
September 5, 2004
I was fortunate to be one of the first to get a peak of this illustrious venue as it hosted the Maxim Magazine Party after the Much Music Video Awards a couple of months ago, just days after the club opened. And was I ever impressed. One can definitely see that lots of money was poured into this complex to make it one of the finest in the city. It's huge with various sections to hang out, esclators and a bathroom so bright, I couldn't resist taking some pictures in it! Since I was in the VIP lounge for most of the night at this exclusive party, I was immersed with complimentary drinks and snacks and oodles of candy all night long. The VIP has a great dancefloor and ample seating. The club overall is pretty big and although it has so much potential, I see it as a great venue for upscale concerts, private parties or video shoots. It looks like Lucid will take a bit of time to maintain a weekly packed-to-capacity crowd, as there is so much competition in the Tor onto's entertainment district. However, if the owners keep this as an "upscale" venue, I'm sure that they will have a real winner on their hands.


run-of-the-mill
Bee, Toronto,
August 31, 2004
Lucid had such potential and unfortunately has fell short of expectations for such a grandiose space. The design of the club is much different than any in Toronto, but the treatment of the clubbers is the same, if not worse than any "run-of-the-mill" club.

should've made this a nightclub laserquest
Poorer but wiser, Toronto
July 28, 2004
This place was an unfortunate waste of twenty bucks. Watching loaves of bread grow mould could've made my night a little less boring. The entrance staff was a spit's worth close to masturbating at the very long false lineup they were creating and the insane cover they were extracting.

They have a handful of cashiers collecting bills behind a counter, so you can't help but liken yourself to being at the checkout line at Costco, except that great value is definately not an imperative here. So you call them sadistic bastards. The bar selection is amateur, considering how the management staff is pretentious enough to dress in pinstriped suits. The pseudo-strippers are scarey. The dj's are playing from an mp3 list of euro-rave/electro-house music that really doesn't get the sparce and nomadic crowd dancing while the hip hop/top 40 room was so jammed they had to form a lineup and close the doors. The staff is self congratulating. There were no sharp objects for me to perform a self-lobotomy to end my misery. But those baddies would've all been more bearable if it weren't for one thing: this place is so massive that everyone ends up spending the night drifting from room to room, looking at the decor, trying to find the best catch in the house, or the best room to be in and a crowd never forms in any one place.

Go if you're into interior decoration--this place is pur-ty. Go if you like sitting around at a club--there's plenty of 20's, 60's inspired chairs and alcoves and little bars. It looks like they've been shopping at Caban when those Paulin chairs were in. They have guys dancing as well as the usual hoochie girls--and there's plenty of mezzanine space to watch them, which where what most of the bored guys were doing. Go if you're an exhibitionist who loves having people watch you from 3 levels while you dance--as there are probably 19 other people dancing with you. Go take the huge escalator and strut your stuff in the complex--that seemed to be what everyone was doing. The crowd is decent looking, in their 20's, well dressed and appear hygienic. The bathrooms have very flattering colour schemes and lighting. The drinks are reasonable: $6 domestic, $5 one-shot mixed. They really should've made this a nightclub laserquest or something. It's pretty vacant.