Open Air — Under the Stars
· Toronto · open-air · all night → sunrise
RebelØ · Nemoist · RAWMIX · Elyx · Nijat · Javi · Risk Assessment b2b Ovnik · Buse Muslu · Allterverse b2b Faiyaz · NAYARA b2b Asli · Diney JayzZ b2b Mind of Zen · TwiZted RoZe
Synthetic Toronto — techno — Toronto, Ontario
SyntheticToronto
A techno night in Toronto. Long sets, one room, no phones on the floor. Dates and locations go to the list first.
- Nights on record
- 8
- Artists played
- 41
- Residents
- Javi · Nijat
- Last night
- 14 Aug 2026
01 — Program
Next date
Dates go to the list first, then Instagram. Some locations are sent by email only.
CHERRY — Cherry Beach Open Air
· Cherry Beach · Toronto · open-air · daytime → sunset
Sebba b2b Halcyon · Julliette · Ayla · Hadis · Javi · Autul · Burnii · Nijat · Latenight b2b A-Nath · Piran b2b Javi
Electronic Beats
· Toronto · 22:00 late · location TBA
Donny Vega · Chris Bigs · Tuomos · Energy · Javi · Liran · Maddmon · Nos-Talgia — visuals by Veniy
CHERRY — Cherry Beach Open Air
· Cherry Beach · Toronto · open-air · daytime → sunset
RXMT1N · Cinnedi · Jaks · S_Zer0 b2b NoFun · NAYARA · Javi · Ashanté · Tuomos b2b RAWMIX · Nijat · Kaîa
Dance With Me
· Toronto · location TBA
Lostnfound · Cinnedi · Batrak · Blanchecho · Nemoist · Javi · Desidra · Bigs · Veegue
Synthetic · The Raven Gallery
· The Raven Gallery · 333 Yonge Street · 21:00–03:00 ·
0 / 19+
Capitan Anderson · Javi · Nijat · R.O.O.C · Nemoist
Cherry Beach Open Air
OPEN AIR · Cherry Beach · Toronto · summer open-air session
Daytime → sunset by the water · SYN/TO residents
Underground Experience
RAVEN · The Raven Gallery · 333 Yonge Street
Javi · Chrislvek · Pinky_Jayzz b2b Mind of Zen · Blanchecho · Nijat b2b Energy
02 — Residents
Residents
Two residents. Everyone else on a SYN/TO lineup is a guest and is listed in the index.
03 — Lineage
Where this comes from
We didn't invent any of it. A short line from the rooms that made the music to the one we run.
- 1977Chicago
The Warehouse opens with Frankie Knuckles. The music gets named after the room: house.
- 1988Detroit → UK
“Techno! The New Dance Sound of Detroit” — Atkins, May, Saunderson — gives the sound its name.
- 1989Detroit
Underground Resistance: masks, no stars, records against the majors.
- 1990Windsor, Ontario
Plus 8 starts across the river from Detroit. Techno in Ontario from day one.
- 1991Berlin
Tresor opens in an old bank vault after the Wall comes down.
- 1994United Kingdom
A law goes after “a succession of repetitive beats.” The parties move and keep going.
- 2000Toronto
iDance: ~20,000 at City Hall. Council drops the rave ban the next day, 50–4.
- NowToronto
SYN/TO. One room, long sets, phones away.
04 — Rules
Manifesto
Every line has a history. The numbers point to it.
Toronto is a cold city. Not the weather — the distance. Three million people who all came from somewhere else, riding the same train, none of them knowing the name of anyone standing next to them.
We didn't start a party. We started a room where that stops being true. SYN/TO is a techno night built on the oldest technology there is: strangers, in the dark, moving at the same speed.1
Techno was never entertainment. It was machine music made by people the city had no use for2 — and it's still the freest thing you can do standing up. Long sets. Hypnotic loops.3 No daylight until it's over.
No VIP.No tables.No guest list that means anything.
Put the phone away.4 A rave is not content, and a floor being filmed is a floor already empty. You're not an audience here — you're half the sound.
From back rooms and borrowed spaces5 to open-air sessions at Cherry Beach, the rule hasn't changed once: come alone, leave with people.
Want to play? Send us a set.
- The Warehouse, Chicago, 1977: a mostly Black, mostly gay crowd and Frankie Knuckles on the decks. Source
- Detroit, early 1980s: Juan Atkins, Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson made machine music in a city losing its jobs. Underground Resistance (1989) made it a position. Source
- In 1994 UK law defined the music it was banning as “a succession of repetitive beats.” We took it as a description. Source
- Berlin's clubs have long banned photos on the floor; some put stickers over phone cameras at the door. Same reason as ours. Source
- In 2000 Toronto tried to ban raves on city property. About 20,000 people showed up at City Hall; council reversed it the next day, 50–4. Source
05 — Index
Who played
Everyone who has played a SYN/TO floor, as billed. Residents in red.
06 — Notebook
From the notebook
Short notes on the history of the music. One fact, one source each.
07 — List
Get on the list
One email per night. Nothing else.
- Dates before Instagram
- Lineups and set times
- Locations that aren't posted publicly