Champs Sports Bar to ban dancing, karaoke after noise complaints [Video]

A dive bar on St-Laurent Boulevard is halting dance and karaoke events after the neighbouring landlord filed a noise complaint.

Champs Sports Bar, which became a hotspot for the LGBTQ+ community, said they tried to resolve the issue amicably but were unable to. It is now working on soundproofing.

The Régie des alcools, des courses et des jeux (RACJ) requires alcohol permit holders to have an additional licence to allow what it calls “the practice of dance” in an establishment, mainly to regulate nightclubs.

Pamela Bernstein, an administrative employee at Champs who has been working on resolving the issue, said the bar sometimes has DJs that get people to dance, but the speakers are the equivalent of a home sound system.

“Is it a nightclub? A big place with massive speakers that needs to be regulated in this way? Not in our opinion. It’s a dive bar, with trivia nights, …