TRANZAC Club

An interesting and eclectic venue. The only place to find Bluegrass, Celtic music, book launches, live theater and more. The bar and smaller stage in the front is usually open and doesn’t require cover, while most other events on the main stage do.
The bar also servers a variety of delicious pints including Mill Street and St Ambroise. Its a good spot to for a drink if you want to see something esoteric.

Not a bad little community theatre. I mean, its not for profit so it is a little shabby but the staff are very friendly and the bar prices are reasonable. Plus they have a surprisingly good selection of beers on tap.

Had a very hipstery New Years Eve here. It was pretty relaxing and hosted some good acts– like Maloon. The staff really need to get some first aid training– myself and my girlfriend found a girl that had been passed out for an hour and had great difficulty reaching a staff to help her– there were all so consumed with serving drinks and manning the door. I think they should have had more security on such a big ticket night.

Ah, it’s okay.
The real only TRUE reason I go here is to see bands I really want to see — if I didn’t, I would never probably step foot in the place.
It’s cozy, small, comfortable… unless you don’t get a seat because the place is too full so you need to stand.
And they have beer. I like beer.

I can see why the TRANZAC is popular, I really can. I’m just not convinced it’s quite «right» for me…
TRANZAC would win (if I ever actually implement an award system, so eventually) the worst washroom in Toronto award. They are not good. NOT GOOD. The women’s washroom’s door is off of the hinges, so it just hangs around the open doorway indicating that it is in fact, the ladies restroom. Nothing looks that clean, and absolutely nothing looks like it’s in good condition. I may be a bit of a washroom princess, but I’d just like to recommend that if your washroom is the type that can never look clean, please just make it smell like bleach or something so I know it is.
I digress. TRANZAC is what it is, and really it does it’s job well. There are quite a few rooms where live bands are playing, meaning many shows can go on at once. They have a bar and drinks aren’t too pricey, so that’s a plus as well — and the service is friendly.

What a dump! But in a good way.
You see, the Tranzac is one of those places that may seem a bit old, kinda rundown yet with a lot of charm. Both for what it is about and what happens here. Basically, if you like places like the Green/​Red Room, Nirvana and like the local music scene them you will like this venue.
The location is broken down in a number of rooms. One is the ‘bar’ where you can go ‘chill’ get a beer on draft and watch multiple events. On Saturdays they have a open jam, which I enjoy attending from time to time and well, they always have something going on. Best to check their calendar for listings. They have another room that you can rent for parties and a large back room, where they can hold concerts at. A bit like the back room at the Rivoli.
All in all, I do like what they stand for and I try to drop by from time to time to both catch the odd show and support them through my liver damaging habits. After all, if you are going to do it, might as well do it for a good cause.

If you’re ever offered to be part of a craft show in this place be warned. The usual turnout is weak. If the organizers advertise more it might be better but after 2 tries… I am not a fan of the facility.

Like many Unilocal’ers, I would hardly consider myself a regular at the TRANZAC Club. I come here once a year for Queen’s Players (Queen’s as in the university and not the borough in New York).
It’s a-​ok. The bathrooms are a tad nasty … the low-​quality beer’s reasonable … the space can accommodate a significant number of people.
Anyway, this place (when I go to see the Queen’s Players) is an escape to a time when I was a naïve, carefree university student at Queen’s.

I like it. But I wouldn’t say I’d want to hang out here all the time. If the beer was cheaper, maybe ;)

i only ever come here once a year for a week or so during the fringe festival. i imagine its a decent place for local bands to play as there is a large enough dance floor thats supported a a jig or two of mine.
in the summer theres a makeshift outdoor bar set up with a few different beer — nothing of note — and burgers and dogs. this is a nice little feature. each of the tables have umbrellas and those number somewhere around ten lets say. go further west into the patio and its covered by tent.
curl once about the bar and you will find yourself walking through the doors of another room that is both once dainty and during the fringe, always heaving with people.
i think it lends itself well to a loose party atmosphere.

I’ve only been here for shows, having been to many a punk show here in my high school existence. The venue is a great open space without being overwhelmingly large, they’ve got a great stage that’s reminiscent of high school gymnasiums turned up a notch, and they continue to have awesome local shows with decent sound.
And they do lots more than host bands, they seem to have all sorts of jam sessions and craft shows, among other things. Check out their website and you’ll see a calendar jam-​packed with events, something’s going on every day of the week.
If you see a show happening at the Tranzac, definitely check it out. Also seems like a worthwhile place to host a party (if you can afford to rent the place out).

Before I’d ever been to an ANZAC club, I assumed the spaces were similar to the Canadian Legion — long, echo-​riddled halls with a lot of bingo cards and old men. Then I discovered the Aussies and Kiwis have made it welcoming to the public, turned it into a local gathering spot, and seriously upped the trendiness factor in the locations I’ve visited in Canada.
I always knew the Tranzac as a grubby Fringe Festival venue, and never realized live music happened here. There are three rooms here, but I only visited the Southern Cross Lounge, which attracts most of the live music action. The night I went, the dimly lit lounge brought together a large cross-​section of people, with no taste of pretension whatsoever. What a fine flavour that was.
There are about six tables in the seated area, but the bar in the back seems to attract a lot of people, too, for that club-​community sort of feel. The best part is the band plays in front of the window, giving you a soundtrack to the drunken students passing by outside.
Awesome.

A spectacular venue for intimate live sessions, known for experimental-​natured performances. Some sundays there are open jam sessions where everyone gets to jam with everyone else. Most vivid is a show with a theramin and other home-​built unconventional electronic devices in an attempt at observing synchronistic harmonic qualities.