Left-of-center Spaceland Turns 10
By TODD MARTENS
Saturday, March 5 2005
Saturday, March 5 2005
Published on AllBusiness.com
The storied rock clubs of Los Angeles, from the Whisky-a-Go-Go to the Troubadour to the Roxy, all have one thing in common: location. The West Hollywood venues occupy prime real estate, all situated in heavily trafficked areas where parking is at a premium, tourists run rampant and the nearby bars have velvet ropes.
This is precisely what bothered Mitchell Frank. In the early '90s, Frank began booking shows at a bar called Dreams of L.A. Located in Silver Lake, which is a few miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Frank started staging shows under the name Spaceland in March 1995. Today, the designation has become synonymous with the bar. A slew of 10th-anniversary shows are planned throughout March, with appearances confirmed from Love, Ozomatli, Moving Units and Greg Dulli's new project Uptown Lights.
The drive from Silver Lake to West Hollywood is only about eight miles. Yet it was a 25-minute trek that Frank didn't want to make. When he started Spaceland, such acts as Beck, the Negro Problem, the Geraldine Fibbers and Possum Dixon were regulars at Silver Lake haunts. They simply lacked a stage in their neighborhood.
"I wanted a place for musicians to hang out," Frank says. "No offense to the Troubadour, but I didn't want to drive to West Hollywood to get my music on. I missed the local bar atmosphere. Spaceland [when it opened] was a place where everybody knew your name."
The opening show at Spaceland featured Beck, Possum Dixon, Lutefisk and Foo Fighters. The club has become the first Los Angeles stop for up-and-coming touring acts like the White Stripes and the Arcade Fire, and it is the warm-up venue of choice for such acclaimed local acts as Weezer and Beck.
BUILDING A REPUTATION
A 21-and-up venue, Spaceland has earned respect for taking chances on young acts and booking quality artists who thrive outside the mainstream. For instance, of the more than 80 acts on the bill for this year's Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in Indio, Calif., nearly 40 have passed through Spaceland.
"I'd rather have a really amazing band with 12 people than have some schlocky band with 250 people in there," Frank says. "We wanted to build a reputation where any band you would see was hopefully worth the fee you paid to get in."
That admission is rarely more than $10, and the monthly Monday night residencies at the club are free. Acts performing during the free nights are no slouches, either, as February welcomed V2's hard rockers the Burning Brides, and past residencies have included Los Angeles' folky-popsters Rilo Kiley and the all-over-the-map rock of Dengue Fever.
"It's an important starting point for left-of-center bands," says the Agency
This is precisely what bothered Mitchell Frank. In the early '90s, Frank began booking shows at a bar called Dreams of L.A. Located in Silver Lake, which is a few miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Frank started staging shows under the name Spaceland in March 1995. Today, the designation has become synonymous with the bar. A slew of 10th-anniversary shows are planned throughout March, with appearances confirmed from Love, Ozomatli, Moving Units and Greg Dulli's new project Uptown Lights.
The drive from Silver Lake to West Hollywood is only about eight miles. Yet it was a 25-minute trek that Frank didn't want to make. When he started Spaceland, such acts as Beck, the Negro Problem, the Geraldine Fibbers and Possum Dixon were regulars at Silver Lake haunts. They simply lacked a stage in their neighborhood.
"I wanted a place for musicians to hang out," Frank says. "No offense to the Troubadour, but I didn't want to drive to West Hollywood to get my music on. I missed the local bar atmosphere. Spaceland [when it opened] was a place where everybody knew your name."
The opening show at Spaceland featured Beck, Possum Dixon, Lutefisk and Foo Fighters. The club has become the first Los Angeles stop for up-and-coming touring acts like the White Stripes and the Arcade Fire, and it is the warm-up venue of choice for such acclaimed local acts as Weezer and Beck.
BUILDING A REPUTATION
A 21-and-up venue, Spaceland has earned respect for taking chances on young acts and booking quality artists who thrive outside the mainstream. For instance, of the more than 80 acts on the bill for this year's Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in Indio, Calif., nearly 40 have passed through Spaceland.
"I'd rather have a really amazing band with 12 people than have some schlocky band with 250 people in there," Frank says. "We wanted to build a reputation where any band you would see was hopefully worth the fee you paid to get in."
That admission is rarely more than $10, and the monthly Monday night residencies at the club are free. Acts performing during the free nights are no slouches, either, as February welcomed V2's hard rockers the Burning Brides, and past residencies have included Los Angeles' folky-popsters Rilo Kiley and the all-over-the-map rock of Dengue Fever.
"It's an important starting point for left-of-center bands," says the Agency
