Hong_Kong_Café

Hong Kong Café

Hong Kong Café

Music venue in Los Angeles, California

For Hong Kong style cafés, see Cha chaan teng.

The Hong Kong Café was a Los Angeles restaurant and music venue that was a part of the Los Angeles punk rock scene during the late 1970s and early 1980s when the club was owned and operated by Barry Seidel, Kim Turner and Suzie Frank,followed by a resurgence from 1992 to 1995.

Quick Facts Address, Location ...

Located at 425 Gin Ling Way in the Chinatown district of Downtown Los Angeles, California and across the way from sometimes rival Esther Wong's Madame Wong's,[1][2] the former Chinese restaurant[3] was open to audiences of all ages.

It can briefly be seen in the 1974 movie, Chinatown.

History

First Run of Shows: 1979-1981

The Plugz and UXA played at the club's opening night on June 7, 1979,[4][5] and numerous bands, including X, Catholic Discipline, The Mau-Mau's, Bags, The Smart Pills, Nervous Gender, and The Alley Cats, performed there until its closing in January 1981.[6][7] Concert footage filmed at Hong Kong Café appears in the Penelope Spheeris documentary film The Decline of Western Civilization.[8]

The Hong Kong Cafe was typically more open to punk and hardcore acts than Madame Wong's.[9] Black Flag played some of its first few shows at the Hong Kong Cafe.[10]

Resurgence: 1992-1995

The venue reopened for music in 1992, featuring shows from acts such as D.I., Guttermouth[11] The Offspring, and the Voodoo Glow Skulls.

Aftermath

The space is currently occupied by Realm, a housewares and gifts retailer.[12]

Shows at the Hong Kong Café

Shows from the Hong Kong's first months:

More information Date, Band ...

References

  1. [1]
    The 4th Wave & The Chinatown Wars. Retrieved on August 1, 2010.
  2. [2]
    Oliver, Myrna. "Esther Wong, 88; 'Godmother of Punk' Whose Venues Showcased Pop, Rock Acts in '70s, '80s" The Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, 17 August 2005. Retrieved on 2010-08-10.
  3. [3]
    1979 When Chinatown Was Punk—pt 1 Archived 2011-07-08 at the Wayback Machine, April 16, 2008. Retrieved on August 1, 2010.
  4. [4]
    Thirty Years Ago Today in LA: Hong Kong Cafe Opens, 7 June 2009. Retrieved on 2010-09-05
  5. [5]
    Flipside Fanzine Live Show Database 1979 Retrieved 2010-09-05
  6. [6]
    Hong Kong Cafe, 16 April 2008. Retrieved on 2010-08-01.
  7. [7]
    Catholic Discipline (r.i.p. 1979-1980)
  8. [8]
    Valentine, Gary. New York Rocker: My Life in the Blank Generation with Blondie, Iggy Pop, and Others, 1974-1981, page 203. Da Capo Press. 2006.
  9. [9]
    "Esther Wong: Her Flawed Legacy". LA Weekly. Apr 26, 2012. Retrieved Mar 31, 2018.
  10. [10]
    Black Flag Gig Archive Retrieved on 4/5/2018
  11. [11]
    Youtube footage of Guttermouth at the Hong Kong.
  12. [12]
    Realm. Retrieved January 15, 2011.
  13. [13]
    Thirty Years Ago Today in LA: Hong Kong Cafe Opens, 7 June 2009. Retrieved on 4/5/2018
  14. [14]
    Black Flag Gig Archive Retrieved on 4/5/2018
  15. [15]
    Black Flag Gig Archive Retrieved on 4/5/2018
  16. [16]
    Black Flag Gig Archive Retrieved on 4/5/2018
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hong Kong Café.

34°3′55″N 118°14′13″W
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Hong_Kong_Café, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.