The Room After Toast
648 Kingsway took its name from its address, the same Mount Pleasant storefront that The Toast Collective had run for over a decade. The new operators ran the space from 2022 until August 2024 as a volunteer-based DIY venue.
A Home for Underrepresented Voices
Over its two years, the room established itself as a stomping ground for upcoming artists, championing QTBIPOC musicians and underrepresented voices in Vancouver's music scene. The team worked strictly on a volunteer basis and kept shows accessible to young musicians looking for their start.
The end
In August 2024 the operators announced the venue was shutting down: the rent was set to increase by 40 percent that September, and the small volunteer team could not sustain the space despite community fundraising efforts. The venue went out with the four-day Peoples Pride Festival, August 21 to 24, 2024, and closed at the end of that month. The storefront's next tenant, Take Your Time Back, kept programming the room until city pressure ended live music there in March 2026.