Waterboys 1984 el macombo3/26/2023 ![]() ![]() Gus Mauro and his Gay Caballeros used to stroll until the liquor board decided that mobile music was out. How these rules played out in practice was reflected in the Globe and Mail’s February 1949 review of Gus Mauro and his Gay Caballeros:Īt El Mocambo-how Latin can you get?-Toronto has what is probably the world’s only set of stationary strolling troubadours. More than that, and only trios were legal. (The latter was considered “rowdyism.”) If the venue sat fewer than 100 patrons, only a solo act was allowed. Musicians were notified if anyone snitched about patrons requesting songs or singing along. The decision was reversed in July 1948, but singers, strolling musicians, jugglers, and ventriloquists were still banned. Soon after the El Mo opened, the LLBO banned live entertainment at cocktail bars and dining lounges. Ads placed in the Maeditions of Toronto’s daily newspapers promised the El Mocambo’s opening gala, taking place that evening, would include “the finest of food served in pleasant surroundings.” Subsequent ads touted steaks made from Royal Winter Fair award-winning beef, and plenty of “night time gaiety.”Īdvertisement, the Globe and Mail, March 24, 1952.Įarly performers dealt with ridiculous limitations set by the meddlesome killjoys at the Liquor License Board of Ontario. The building, whose past tenants included a dry goods store, a barbershop, and restaurants, was transformed with the creation of a dining area on the first floor and a dance hall on the second. Brown’s inspiration for the venue’s name and neon palm sign came from a nightclub he frequented in San Francisco. The new rules appealed to Joseph Brown and John Lang, who applied for a license for their restaurant at 464 Spadina. (This didn’t satisfy the likes of the Star, which called the new rules “thoroughly evil.”) Premier George Drew defended the exemptions, arguing that they would help the tourist trade by not forcing visitors to sneak nips in their cars or hotel bathrooms. Especially upsetting was a provision that exempted five cities (Hamilton, London, Ottawa, Toronto, and Windsor) from holding municipal referendums to approve venues such as dining lounges and cocktail bars. It also laid out new classifications for licensed establishments, which outraged temperance activists. ![]() The venue’s history can be traced back to the Liquor License Act of 1946, which loosened the province’s alcohol regulations, allowing hard liquor to be sold by the glass for the first time since 1917. The palm tree reflects the El Mo’s early days as one of Toronto’s first cocktail bars. Music historian Nicholas Jennings, meanwhile, wants to see the sign preserved as “a connection to its earlier eras.” Grosso has also considered donating it to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. ![]() “I would love to have that sign stay on the building or moved somewhere else in the city,” he told the Toronto Star. Regardless of what the next owners decide to do with the site, Grosso hopes its iconic neon palm tree will survive. The building was put up for sale in March for $3.95 million, and last week co-owner Sam Grosso announced that it’s been conditionally sold, with the venue set to close in November. Now, yet another change in ownership threatens to bring the final curtain down on the El Mo. Just when it appears the venerable music venue at 464 Spadina Avenue will close its doors forever-when the crowds line up for a “final show” and the obituaries are published-the music rolls on. The El Mocambo has had more lives than most cats. Photo by Rick McGrath from the Torontoist Flick Pool. ![]()
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