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| - CODA is an amazing place. It is the old Footwork (Brant and Adelaide) moving to a bigger location. In order for me to give this place a fair review - I need to get people to understand how the old Footwork used to be and what it represented to the electronic music lover.
I have been a long time participant in the Montreal electronic scene and eventually moved to Toronto in 2007. The Guvernment was too big for me and always attracted a bad crowd, mixed in with horrible staff and security (read the horror stories online if you will) - so wanted to find a place that would cater to pure electronic music lovers who were past the age of just getting silly drunk and hitting on women in the club.
My friend introduced me to Footwork in 2008 and was blown away. The place was cozy and always played really good quality electronic music. They never appealed to the big masses with big name DJs - but rather more niche but excellent techno/house DJs (definetely NO Guetta, Armin, Tiesto or the likes). The staff was ALWAYS friendly, from the security (who always addressed me by SIR and treated me with utmost respect, even when I got kicked out for being too drunk - "SIR, I would have to ask you to leave as you are too inebriated"), the friendly coat check guy (he used to allow ppl to take their coat out in Canadian winter when going for a smoke) to the bartender who never overcharged. The crowd was fantastic - the place was rarely packed to the point you couldn't walk anymore - and it instilled a friendly community type of feel - where people bonded, were friends, didn't push around and respected the concept of personal space - to the point that some ppl used to apologize for you stepping on their shoes ("sorry to be in your way"). The DJs seemed to relish this, as they were always putting up an incredible show.
This place carried me for years and LOVED it... until it shut down in 2014 to find a bigger location. It eventually moved to 794 Bathurst - the old Annex Wreckroom - and renamed CODA. I went there for the first time almost afraid that they might have destroyed that amazing vibe that Footwork had.
Been there 5 times already. The feeling is still overall the same. Friendly bouncers and coat check, albeit not AS friendly (no more get your coat for a smoke) and bouncers a bit tougher (kicking ppl out for burning on the dance floor - unheard of at Footwork), but still friendly and professional. Much bigger dance floor with a large bar area - felt at ease and immersed right away. The crowd is relatively the same - friendly people, more mature that are there for the music and not for fighting or hitting on chicks. The first few times there were a lot of wannabees (being a new place they thought it was your regular commercial dance club) but eventually they were weeded out once they discovered what this was about.
In conclusion - just went to CODA for the 5th time since moving from Footwork and now I can say with certainty - most of the old Footwork feel has come with them - staff still friendly, excellent vibe, great DJs and an awesome crowd, ensuring that I never left home without making some friends. But somehow the bigger location, the larger crowd has slowly pushed CODA to let go of some of the coziness that Footwork had, an obvious effect of the size. Do I still love it? YES, absolutely, and this is still my place to be for great music. But I will always remember my amazing nights at Footwork...
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