Unknown Theater

Came in for my friend’s friend’s band. And yep, we got lost. We rounded the block twice before finally spotting it.
Parking wasn’t bad though since it is kinda a quiet street. The venue itself has an eclectic cool vibe. It’s basically a large warehouse with a division between the stage and the bar/​lounge area. The lounge was hosting a photo gallery (a very small one) as well as someone’s pop up trunk shop with clothes and a buncha accessories. Despite being a stranger from this scene, having a beer helped. The place draws folks from different age groups, too. It’s a small venue so you may be sitting/​hanging out on the walkway while watching the show. It doesn’t matter tho, kuz no one else really seems to care; they’re just enjoying the moment.

directions to the unknown:
1) know someone who is in a production/​band that is performing
2) drive by 8+ strip clubs on SMblvd. (whether you go in or not is your choice… no judgment.)
3) street park blocks away from the UNKNOWN, undisclosed garage door
4) bring cash for your bev. of the evening
a) or just BYOB (preferred option)
5) laugh, listen, and enjoy the spectal occurring in front of you on stage and feel culturally enlightened by partaking in the world of performing arts
6) hug said person in band/​production (reference #1) and be on your merry way back to your car at #3

The Unknown Theater: Comedy:Viper Room: Rock — it’s a dark little space to catch great local gems and some bigger name, it’s nothing fancy but that’s not what you came for, is it?
The guys running the shows on Sunday and Monday are very cool and it’s a laid-​back vibe while you hang out in the «bar» before/​after the show. The donation/​free beer is Bud in a can, so unless you are a total cheapskate that’s probably not what you want to plan on.
The chill atmosphere extends to the show, so you don’t feel like you are stuck in your seat if you’d prefer to hop up and go grab a smoke or another drink.
The one big downside for me are the shabby seats. Every seat I’ve sat in has been broken in some way or another, including one that stabbed me in the back of the arm and drew blood.

Came here to see Vibrasol one night and was rewarded with unlimited free cans of Bud for the night — albeit with a little, shall we say, resistance on the part of the bartender. The place is ostensibly a non-​profit and these days, I understand this to be a label used by a venue to guilt-​trip its way into your wallet — not unlike the «suggested» donation found in places like the film screenings at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.
The theater itself isn’t very big, but is equipped with many of the pulleys and other dramaturgical contraptions found in a larger theater. The stage isn’t elevated, if I recall correctly, which feels as if intended to allow for more participation rather than some form of focal intrusion that may be the topic of a Foucauldian wet-​dream. But this Unilocaler felt as if he had stepped into a hippie commune or a place that promotes the kind of safe, insipid, forays of the artist who is more at home with making the musical equivalent of a Hallmark greeting card than with making music that makes contact with something that may be just a bit seedy.
Now with the performance fully associated with this venue, I can’t help but see this venue as being very ideologically driven — which in itself, isn’t a bad thing, I suppose, yet is when the ideology isn’t in agreement with my own.

I took a dive into the unknown (pun intended). Went to see some folks I knew play a couple songs and was a fan of the set up. Admission will run about 5 bucks and they used to have free flowing beer all night when you pay to come in (Bud Light or Budweiser). Not a beer drinker, but that aside, I liked the look of the place, it’s kind of what a small underground theater would look like for Alice in Wonderland on LSD. In the summer they have dance troupes do shows every Sunday which the barkeep SWORE up and down by. I was intrigued being a dance aficionado so I’ll be coming back to check that series out.

I definitely have an appreciation for this spot. Last weekend I went to a god-​awful play avant garde play with something like 5 people in the audience, all of whom where dying of boredom. After wards, several bands ushered there way in and set up, as did a handful of artists and loads of people who obviously didn’t care much about the theatrical performance, but did want to see a few damn good shows. The music on this particular night was fantastic … and there was really something in the air, between the artists painting/​drawing on stage to the music, the bizarre dancers floating through the aisle ways and the detailed lighting/​set design usually reserved for the actors… just this fantastic energy… not a hokey sort of way, but just something positive and uplifting. I felt surrounded by creativity. And it was awesome.
Anyway, I will definitely go back to one of these Friday night gigs. I dug it. Apparently they do this every weekend, so check it out. Oh and they do have alcohol ;)

Talk about not knowing about the unknown…
Driving back from a night of Dive Bar Adventures reconnaissance… I notice some gothy looking characters in the south of Hollywood backlot area off Seward… Luckily gothy people in LA stay on the sidewalk because their fashion sense does not help me a bit when I have had one too many whiskey sours and pull a 180 to check out a new hang out… But I digress…
I pop my head in and notice this giant industrial space is alive with little gothies… A DJ with a turn table, and non-​alcoholic snack bar and a massive stage, and a fairly large space for theater with over 50 seats maybe 100…
Turns out they have art shows, concerts, live theater and such. Their artist director Chris was very friendly and he let me wander the space to check it out without paying the 5 dollar cover.
It was early in the evening so all I heard was the DJ and noticed not much action as the NIN peeps sat chit chatting on 1972 coffee house décor…
They had a entire month of shows I had not been aware of. So I will check them out. The space was large, retro, industrial, and had a sense of being the next cool place before everyone found out about it.
Can’t give it higher than 3 stars, cause well, I am an alcoholic and I saw no booze for pappy… Also no show was on at the time. I will update as I have signed their obligatory myspace page…
Chris’ biz card gave this website: