Toco Dance Club

The Story

This legendary club opened in the early 1970s in the heart of Vila Matilde and became one of the most famous places in São Paulo's nightlife, especially in the 80s and early 90s. With a capacity for four thousand people, it was always packed, with lines that mixed with patrons from neighboring bars, such as Pilequinho III and the traditional Sorveteria Chup's. DJ Marky, then still known as Marky Mark, was a resident at Toco in the early 90s, along with Iraí Campos, one of the names that would dominate São Paulo's FM radio scene. It was here that Marky began to find the sound that made him one of the pioneers of jungle and drum and bass in Brazil, before being discovered by English DJ Bryan Gee in 1998 and performing in London alongside Goldie. Toco definitively closed in 1997, briefly reopened under the name Espaço Datoko in 2007, but without the same success. The historic warehouse remained standing for years until it was demolished in December 2016 to make way for other ventures.

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