Saturday Night was a good one for Long Beach. Out of nowhere, at least for me, a new venue sprang up with a solid group of musicians performing at the Grand Opening. I had heard about The Basement about a week ago when I saw that Richard Swift was going be playing there on Friday, July 1st. The only problem was, I had never heard of it and after searching google for a bit, couldn’t find a damn thing. Luckily a few friends had the inside scoop and keyed me into the going’s on.
The word on the streets was that Money Mark and A-Trak were going to be running the show. Damn, it was hard for me to imagine that duo playing in my hometown. We arrived a bit late and were pleasantly surprised that we weren’t stuck waiting outside. I’ve heard it referred to as “The Basement” but technically i think it’s called The Basement Lounge. Long Beach is one of the most diverse cities in the world. Maybe part of the problem with the lack of good music venues in the area has to do with bars and clubs getting pigeon holed into being a certain type of bar for a select clientele. As far as I can tell, The Basement is doing it smart and going for good and creative music everyone can enjoy. I’ll say right now that I see the future of this establishment riding on Dennis Lluy being able to keep creative control of all the booking. It’s not an easy job and as with any new business, a bar might take a little while to build up a reputation.
Knowing A-Trak and Juan Mendez were supposed to be DJ’ing, I was surprised at the bland music that hit us upon entry. I didn’t see A-Trak anywhere and I had hoped to run into him to thank him for letting us use one of his pictures from Sasquatch on our site. The set up is plush, or better put, PLUSH. They weren’t messing around when they designed and built this place. Lot’s of fellow Long Beachian’s were in effect and it was nice to see most the males dressed up a bit. I instantly felt comfortable and scoped the place out to see what it was all about. With beer in hand, I headed toward the stage where the band was setting up. It’s not hard to pick out Money Mark and you could tell the rest of the cats were ready to roll. The first thing I heard over the system was some freestyle poetry/rapping. Hold your horses. We’ve all heard our share of decrepit skills but this was much smoother, brighter, and interesting. The MC knew what was up and after giving it a go with the first song, he headed out into the audience to let the band get their groove on. And that they did. Soulful improv music provided the perfect undertone for the evening.
A few more drinks and an hour or so later and the crowd had thinned just enough so that when the band returned to the stage, there was just enough room for dancing. A few folks shook it and the rest just enjoyed the skillful sounds of Smokey Hormel, Stephan Hodges, Ikey Owens, Peter Fahey, and a couple others. Due to the lack of an extra bartender or barback, the wait for drinks was keeping most folks just sober enough to not lose their cool. Congrats to Jesse for doing a great job. Another highlight came when I finally made it to the men’s room and met Bubba, the nicest and funniest bathroom attendant on the planet. I’d like to get into some stories here but….
The night was winding down and John Mendez was absolutely killing it from behind the glass. Somehow he mixed in Paperboy’s “Ditty” and a crazy James White/Chance remix or “Contort Yourself” I had never heard before. I looked around and noticed a couple of the owners and Dennis were on the dance floor with everyone else. If your going to have your own club, you might as well have a good time and everybody seemed to that night.
Thanks to everyone at The Basement and the best of luck. Long Beach can be a fickle place and consistent good live music hasn’t had a home here for a while.
