New Venue Alert: Lot 1 Cafe in Echo Park Now Open for Shows, Possibly Filling Echo Curio Void
Lot 1 Cafe in Echo Park is now open for late-night music in Echo Park, thanks to Eileen Leslie. They received an entertainment license last November, and have just started booking shows in addition to serving up (delicious) food and booze. Eileen says she intends to run Lot 1 booking as a collective, with various promoters and music bloggers [Ed's note: music bloggers? Where do we sign up?] taking on one night a month and promoting the events on their own.
Echoparkonline.com Lot 1 Cafe, 1533 West Sunset Blvd in Echo Park
Since our favorite all-ages performance space/art gallery/community center Echo Curio was recently been shut down by the LAPD (boo, City Officials and cops, boo!), we have to wonder whether Lot 1 Cafe is trying to fill the Curio's void. (And, in case you were wondering, the Echo Curio space was recently rented to a tattoo artist who's already deep into renovations.)
Eileen says:
Echo Curio was unique and no one can fill the void caused by their closure. The loss of the curio has effected a lot of people. Their closure ruined my vintage store that I ran late night. It was very cool, people would walk around between shows and visit the store, I got to meet and hang out with new people every night and people had fun purchasing little nic nacs or gifts for their friends (I sold so many unicorns, owl figurines, black velvet art ...). So, the city really destroyed two venues and a great late night atmosphere when it caused the curio to close.
Kind of surprising that the city was so quick to give permits to Lot 1, after giving Echo Curio such a rough time of it, essentially squashing a beloved local music landmark that had the entire community signing petitions and writing letters to officials.
When I learned that the curio needed a cafe entertainment permit, I went to the LA police commission orientation meeting, hoping to find out if there was a way to lend my support to their attempt to become legal. I was surprised to learn that they were not easily able to get the entertainment permit (unless they made zoning changes) and that Lot 1 could get the permit. So, I applied. I'm glad I did because I just learned that there were about 12 closures of music venues last year. It's just wrong to make music accessibility difficult (I studied piano for 8 years as a child).
Next up is NazcarNation and James & Evander this Friday at 9PM. $5. Check it out and let us know what you think of Echo Park's new venue. For their full schedule, see their Facebook page.
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