Whether The Guvernment is a Toronto icon depends on your perspective, of course. But it'll soon be lights out at the nightclub, with the news that it’s been sold off. (You'll need to find somewhere else to play with your glow sticks.)

The Guvernment and Koolhaus Entertainment Complex is expected to be replaced by a mixed-use project, we hear. The nightclub is scheduled to close Jan. 31. INK Entertainment chief executive Charles Khabouth tells us he and his partners did everything they could to buy the “long-standing landmark in the North America nightclub scene,” but they couldn’t pull it together in the end.

Bands like Coldplay, Prince, Lady Gaga, and the Rolling Stones have put on live shows there over the years. (But they didn't play there all at once... no building is big enough for all that ego.) "The decision to close The Guvernment was one that was made for us," Charles says. "We would have loved to keep it open forever." Above, indie pop band fun. ("We Are Young" and "Some Nights" among its hits) played a show there last year.