It's a slightly blistery Friday night as I head out to see what all the fuss is about: Yet another club has opened its doors on St-Laurent. I used to frequent hallowed haunts such as Koxs and Business and am not easily impressed by today's quasi-hot spots, especially those that cater to dance/electronic music. I do love my after-hours and circuit parties, so I was sceptical, at best, about a club with the requisite neo-flashy interior spinning anything a bit better than a CKOI noontime mega mix.

The massive throng of wanna-be party goers, spilling slightly into the street, outside Coda Club is a bit of a surprise. The token bridge and tunnel/freshman quotient is in full play — as is the velvet rope — but, as all serious party people know, this is always the result of the buzz about a cool new club: Everybody wants in.

Elias, the very nice doorman, quickly spots me and whisks me upstairs. The space is great: one big rectangular room with a DJ platform centred at the back, giving the DJ a view of the dance floor. The crowd of party people cheer like disciples at a Baptist tent revival, fists pumping, heads bobbing, and it's only 11:30! By midnight coat check is full and the dance floor slowly fills up as those who started the evening in the VIP booths, which line one side of the dancehall, finish their buckets of vodka/red bull and join the fun on the floor.

Spinning some alternative techno and hard trance beats, the DJ has the diverse crowd, similar to the group at Picnik Electronik, worshiping at his altar.

Co-owner Brook, who although slightly overwhelmed, happily chats, gleefully speaking about how he and his business partner Mike G wanted to “open a club that would really be a free experience,” a safe haven for us dance bunnies who sometimes don't want to have the requisite disco nap and head out to the after-hours, returning home at noon.

Coda Club delivers a funky mélange of lounge setting, pimped-out decadence and an underground groove reminiscent of 1990s NYC and those famous rave parties we haunted. I have no doubt Coda Club will become a fixture on the Montreal electronic scene. Go and enjoy.