Enjoy!
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
What Ever Happened To...The Masque?
Been REAALLY busy this week with parent conferences, but I wanted to take a second to let you know that we've posted a new page in the website archives to display some photos that were emailed to us very recently. They were taken during a visit to the site of the original Masque in Hollywood. Since I occasionally get asked "what ever happened to the Masque?" I thought I'd let these photos answer for me. I haven't been down there in many years and no - I don't give guided tours :)
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
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19 comments:
So, Joel's comments are a bit vague. He says the photos were taken in 05, but then says the rooms are all gone? So where was the Masque exactly? I thought it was on Santa Monica near Crescent Heights, which is all pretty gentrified now.
My bad -- The Cathay was on SM, right?
Well...the original Masque was in a basement off of Cherokee just south of Hollywood Blvd. There was a second Masque called the New or Nu Masque on Santa Monica Blvd. We assumed "2005" because Joel said "within the past couple of months" and we got this email about a week ago. The Masque used to have rooms inside, that was where bands would rehearse and other such things...also, there were some partial walls and some miscellaneous structures scattered throughout. I'm guessing those are what Joel refers to as the "walls". But the main walls are weight bearing and are still present in the photos. I think the interior doors which were also covered with graffiti may have been taken down and "collected" by some enterprising folks.
If you want to see what the original Masque looked like back in the day, check out Jenny Lens' website by clicking here.
To answer your other questions, Santa Monica and Crescent Heights was the location of the Starwood; across the Blvd. was Oki Dogs. The Cathay de Grande was at Selma & Argyle but didn't start happening until several years after the Masque had closed. Hope this answers your questions.
does anyone know if the gun club played at the masque and if there is any live footage anywhere?
Gun Club did not play at the Masque. Band didn't exist until a couple years after Masque2 closed.
I'm sure that Gun Club did not play on the same bill that was filmed for the Decline since I was there and so was Terry. I don't think the band even existed at that time, but I could be wrong. I doubt that Penelope would have filmed them anyway cause they sucked.
i believe Alice. Because she knows all. I'd have to agree with her, I don't think they were around then,that being The Gun Club.
this is why I have raised my daughter like a Punk. Because otherwise, she'd be listening to crap. Thank goodness for Alice Bag and GV.
Hee hee... I love a little controversy. I personally liked the Gun Club except for JLP, it was pretty hard to get past his "singing" and off-stage behavior. I vaguely recall seeing one of their first shows at the Cathay and talking to Terry afterwards. I was hanging out with Don Bolles and we complimented Terry on his drumming. Jeffrey was dressed up like Col. Sanders. Rob was also very nice. Ward was a great guitarist, too. Musically - a very good unit. Add Kid into the mix and how can you go wrong? It's all a blur now. TERRY - WHAT SAYEST THOU?
OK, so the whole band didn't suck. Jeffrey had a way of surrounding himself with great musicians. I remember standing back and trying to hold a beer bottle in front of JLP so that I could enjoy the band while the beer bottle blocked him from my sight.
Castration Squad has been trying to rehearse but we were plagued with scheduling conflicts. We haven't given up yet, we all want to do it! Rest assured that any reunion show will be announced here.
I realized that I did not answer your question. Tracy, Dinah and Tiffany are all involved. Phranc has been asked to participate. That's all I can say for now.
i can tell you that The Gun Club never played at the original Masque - I was in the scene until I left in June 1978.
i can tell you that The Gun Club never played at the original Masque - I was in the scene until I left in June 1978.
i remember hanging with JLP in Reseda, He was the only guy I knew that knew about Debra Harry
Sorry, GV, I was so busy blabbing elsewhere that I missed the thread. Yes, JLP could be a flaming monster at the drop of a hat. He wrote great songs and was a library of American roots music but onstage...well, every GC show was "different" depending on Jeff's mood and intoxicant but, no, Jeff couldn't actually "sing" a lick. And, you know, I'm sure Jeff was at the Masque but I don't remember ever seeing him there. Hmm, maybe it was the rum...er something.
I did go down there this year. I dont remember when, I think it was Febuary or something. I was doing a socioligy project for school, and had no pictures of the Masque(Jenny Lens had not yet displayed her's on her website yet) and I am a perfectionist so I had to get them. I did alot of research(did you know the Masque used to be L.A.'s biggest speakeasy during prohibition times? I assume thats what the penguins are from?) and contacted the owners, who are the nicest people in the "world"(no pun intended)SO DON'T BOTHER THEM BY TRYING TO GET DOWN THERE THEY WONT LET YOU, who let me photograph/film it for my report. The masque started out as rehersal space, thus the "rooms". There was also hallways, stairways, corners, and some coat check looking thing with a pole in the middle. These have all been torn down. From my research, I believe sometime between the masque tapes release party in 1996 and before the current owners obtained it. All the dots on the roof are gone too. I have heard there was a fire in mid to late 1978. There is no evidence of this, but I wasn't there so I don't know. There is alot of mystery surrounding the legend of the Masque and I'm going to piece it all together, it wiil just take some time. The more I find out I promise you I will spread the information as best as I can. I also find it sad that this disscussion about the masque has sequed into the gun club. I don't care much for the gun club either(however NO music is BAD in my opinion), and I like alot of music. On that note however, There are alot of bands that came after the real masque closed who's names are on the walls, so people obviously played there into the late 70's so maybe they might of had a party there or something?? But I dont know I'm only 22.
Joel
Ah, just came across this blog, looking for my lost youth. Now I'm a 45 year old mother of 2, but those were the glory days. Remember being at the masque almost every weekend, and during the afternoons mid-week. Brandon had an office upstairs in the same building. There were 2 rooms, plus a room some people were squating in. That's where I met Jello and we started a torrid romance. I remember being so high one night that I fell over a drum set on top of Rodney, and Spazz had to take me back home. Toni was out of town that week, I think. Went to the same high school as Darby and Michelle, if you saw the first Decline of Western Civilization, the dead man scene happened when I was at Michelle's house. Dinky Bonebrake was also a close friend, it was Dinky, myself and Michelle, we ran in a pack. The one incident I'll never foget was when the walls of the ladies room feel apart, while Michelle was on the toilet. Yeah, great fun, great memories. Neil Young trying to talk to Darby while Darby puked all over him................ a nod to you all! Greta
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