Neutral

This was my Saturday night Britpop haunt for a good while after I moved to Toronto. I think I found it in 2009 or so.
By the time I got to Toronto, in 2007, BLOWUP was but a legend and an annual Xmas party. It used to take place here as well as at many other venues. So DJ Lawrence had a britpop night, Kensington Underground, at Neutral. It was almost always a really awesome time for lovers of the Stone Roses, Pulp, Smiths, Oasis, etc., etc. There were also live bands to get things going at 10, many of them pretty good. Fjord Rowboat played here. I miss those guys.
Nostalgia aside, the venue was pretty much what you would expect and probably hope for in a divey, underground, cheap club. Washrooms were not a problem nor was getting a cheap pint of beer. I think this is the only place that a stranger grabbed my ass while at the bar. Good times. There were a few places to sit and chill out.
Funny but true: one of the very last times I was here some random girl and I made eye contact and started dancing. Over the loud music a few words were exchanged:
Random girl: «How old are you?»
Me: «How old do you think I am?»
RG: «I dunno.»
Me:“thirty-five” (or however old I was at the time)
RG, without saying a word, totally runs off. Like, runs. No idea what happened to her but I had one of the best laughs of my life right there on the dance floor. Again, good times!
Lawerence’s gig ended so I never really had another reason to go back. I think a lot of industrial and/​or goth nights happen here now. Maybe there is a 80s night.
I’m looking forward to the BLOWUP ’13 reunion here this Saturday. Hey, maybe somebody will grab my ass again too! Just please don’t ask me my age, ok?

This review is based on the Tuesday night Karaōke at Neutral. I’ve never been here on another night.
Honestly, I love this karaōke night. The sound system is the best I’ve heard! The song selection is AMAZING, and you get to sing on a stage. But my favourite thing about Tuesday at Neutral is that anything goes. Seriously, you can sing anything you want without feeling weird about it.
What I’m saying is the crowd is pretty awesome. They dance and cheer etc.
The host, Steve-​o, really goes the extra mile. There are funny graphics on the big screen between songs, which I really like.
The venue itself is reminiscent of a cave. A basement with cement floors and ceilings. This is a VERY casual establishment. The bartenders and owner are always friendly. The drinks are reasonably priced.
I always have a blast here and recommend Tuesday at Neutral for any hardcore karaōke enthusiast.

I attend karaōke at Neutral every Tuesday night. It’s an odd night for karaōke, but the vibe is so unique.
When you first enter, you notice it smells like a dingy basement. The lighting is poor. The chairs are strewn about the room — but then the staff start talking to you. You start mingling around the room, drinking REALLY reasonable priced alcohol — and skimming through karaōke books with nearly every song you could imagine… from The Beatles B-​sides, to Richard Cheese. Of course, they have Top 40s too.
You will run into some very kind, very interesting characters there. For example, the first night I went there was a conga line and Salsa dance along to somebody performing «Shake Señora» by Harry Belafonte.
If you don’t work Wednesdays, or even want an hour or so out of the house for some fun on Tuesday night I recommend Neutral. The staff are sweethearts, the regulars are interesting, and the song selection is fantastic — as well as some good, cheap beer!

OH MY GOD. I was there yesterday for a NXNE event and some of the bands had nothing to do with the place. This place is paradise. I felt young again when the DJ was playing (or very old, who knows)
Every DJ on earth who plays Love Will Tear Us Apart on a set will have my eternal love. If s/​he plays Depeche Mode gains bonus points, so I’m in love with Neutral and I want to go back there TODAY, TOMORROW, every single day of my life.
The downside, they don’t have more elaborate drinks, and I love girly drinks. But ok, you can have fun outside and go there just to dance. It really made me feel like the old clubs I used to go when I was young.

I’ve spent many a Saturday night at Neutral for Brit Pop fun times. At first, I wasn’t crazy about the place, but it’s started to grow on me. As everyone’s said, it is a little bit like a cave, with a tiny stage that you can go dance on if you’re drunk or daring enough.
The music is usually great, and the crowd is decent. I’ve had a couple encounters with exceptional douchebags here, but sometimes there are just douchey people at good places. If you want to go out and you don’t want to take a gamble on the music, come here with some friends for 90s classics and decently-​priced drinks.
Two notes of warning: They allllways do bag checks so don’t try and sneak booze in, and if you’ve had a couple too many, be careful coming down the stairs.

What a weird cavernous place. While watching the pre-​dance night band in here, I felt like I was back in high school, replete with me sitting off to the side with my fellow awkward peers, wishing I was somewhere else.
We went for the Indie/​Brit night and were pretty excited about it. Perhaps I’m just not hip to the scene anymore; I was hoping to climb over groups of mop-​headed boys in zip-​up track suits, but my dreams failed me. Still, I would’ve been fine with larger groups in general. Had there been more people there present — mop-​headed boys aside — it may have been a more engaging place to hang out, dance, and listen to music.
Just didn’t work for me that night.

Forget Richmond St! Neutral is a great, dark, sparse dance bar located in Kensington Market. (A little hard to find; you enter off of Augusta just south of Spadina avenue). There are four fantastic nights of fun to go check out:
Tuesday’s are alternative, retro and karaōke.
Every second Wednesday is a killer psychedelic trance event
Friday nights are my favourite; a live DJ spinning a mix of rock, goth and industrial and Saturdays usually have live acts of Indie, Brit and Electronica.
Neutral is cheap (cover usually about $ 5), fun and non-​pretentious, athough, it probably isn’t for everyone. You won’t find valet or coat check here. It isn’t fancy. The lighting is dark and intimate and it’s a place for people who just really want to dance and have a good time! If you want to dress up, go goth on Friday’s, or just come as you are!

Neutral is exactly like what I thought clubs looked like when I was far too young to go to clubs.
Friday nights is the only real dark or goth like night with DJ Osaze. The Psytrance night that is referred to here, is actually bi-​weekly. Kensingon station is a Brit-​Pop/​Electro night every Saturday with DJs Lawrence and LaMerde and it’s the most popular. There’s also a regular Tuesday night Karaōke night with Steve-​O.
It’s located right at the corner of Augusta and College in Kensington market. Drinks are cheap, bartenders are friendly and the crowd is a good mic of young and old (and by old I mean post 25). It’s hard not to have a good time in this joint. It’s big enough that it has a club feel, but not so big that 905ers have taken the damn thing to the drivethru level.

Neutral is known to the locals and the underground «dark» scene. Has a wicked psytrance party on Wednesday nights for the earth-​toned hippies. Usually lots of room to dance even though it is a smaller venue. A tad sketchy but that’s what makes it dirty and sweaty.