Hello,
Hope everyone is having an exciting and eventful December. We are deep in the holiday madness and as the year comes to an end, it is with great sadness that we also say goodbye to an important House Music venue; King King Hollywood.
King King is small club in Hollywood, California located on the corner of Hollywood Blvd and Whitley Ave. It is a perfectly sized venue with ample space on the dance floor. The stage is also something that you can see from any vantage point in the room which makes the whole experience so much better; you can see artists perform right before your eyes. Although they host a mix of events they are probably best known for their house music shows. King King is an important staple in the house music community; accepting, authentic, and responsible for throwing some of the most unbelievable underground parties.
We were very sad and disappointed to learn that they will be closing their doors at the end of January, 2016. There are still a few things planned and listed on their calendar of events including an Ugly Sweater Party featuring Colette and Tony Powell on December 12th, as well as a Balance Gets Deep event “A Tribute to King King” featuring Kemal and Marques Wyatt on December 19th; both events look pretty awesome. It is rumored that owner Mario Melendez is looking for a new place in the downtown Los Angeles area to host new theatre projects with DJ and music related events in the evenings. And for now, Adam Auburn, a well-known local DJ and promoter will be looking for new venues to host the popular Soul & Tonic parties which he previously hosted at King King.
So, what is House music? It really began in 1977 on Chicago’s Southside. A new club opened, called The Warehouse, which eventually gave the genre its name. DJ Frankie Knuckles, who opened the club, mixed old disco classics with new Eurobeat pop. Imagine The O’Jays mixed together with Martin Circus and Kraftwerk. It was also at this legendary club where Acid House got its start. Record stores began to sell some of these records and labelled them “as played at the Warehouse.” Besides Knuckles, early artists were Larry Heard, Walter Gibbons, JM Silk, and Marshall Jefferson. According to Stuart Cosgrove, Scottish journalist, who wrote on the 12 volume The History of House Sound of Chicago, “When people hear house rhythms they go freak out. It's an instant dance reaction. If you can't dance to House you're already dead" Stuart Cosgrove.
Why is it important? While house is a specific genre of electronic music, it combines minimalistic elements of drum beats, cymbals and synthesized baselines. When mixed, scratched or edited correctly, it creates something totally dance worthy. Househeads are very serious about music; they’re also very welcoming and have created an accepting community that embraces everyone from all walks of life. House music has been influenced by soul, disco, and hip hop. Anyone who appreciates music can connect to house. It has even been popularized in the mainstream music channels lately and can be heard more frequently on the radio.
Having recently attended the Soul & Tonic 4 year Anniversary party featuring Mark Farina, it became clear that the closing of King King will hit me, Cosmic Opposite Lori, very hard. That particular night was perfect; clear, crisp and made for dancing. I attended the show with my favorite little dancing couple, Diamond and Marti and although it was not our last night together, nor was it the last time that we would dance together, it just symbolized a great change. I have had many truly wonderful and memorable evenings at King King. I have made friends, enjoyed deeply moving sets first hand, and danced my butt off.I’m sure that the upcoming events will do that place justice so please, if you can make it out to something, go! Dance! Pay homage to a meaningful and significant place before it’s too late.
Thanks,
Lori and Pete
For more information please check out:
Check them out on Instagram @kingkinghollywood
Also follow Adam Auburn for updates on Instagram @adamauburn
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