Was at the Hoxton last night for the Little Dragon show. One of my music-listening companions, when telling me where the location was, said (and I quote!) "You can't miss it! It looks like nothing...with a line outside". And indeed it did!
From the outside, it looks like a factory of sorts at the corner of King and Bathurst. I would have walked right by (and have certainly run by!) without noticing had it not been for the line up and bouncers outside. We arrived after the lights had been turned down and were greeted by a glowing space. After being to so many shows in venues "decorated" in darker colours, this was a breath of fresh air in some ways. A large main bar along the east wall was staffed by 4 or 5 bartenders and a second,smaller bar across the way at the west side staffed by 2 provided patrons with a decent selection of beers by the bottle and higher-end alcohol for mixed drink options (that said, their G and T's tasted... odd). The stage was smack-dab in the middle (a good place to put it!) and the band could generally be seen, even despite tall-person syndrome (where tall people stand in front of shorter people). The acoustics were decent; better than Sound Academy, not quite as good as the Opera House.
The space looks better than expected even with the lights on (we hung back after the show to avoid the gigantic coat check line). Wood floors! Warm lighting! I could see how this could go from hosting a music show one night and a swanky event with passed hors devours the next. I hope that musical acts take advantage of this space more often in the future, if nothing else than it involves a 10 minute walk rather than extensive ttc travel.