Thursday, April 3, 2008

(04.03.08) Recommends:

The LA64.
#54: Spaceland.
1717 Silverlake Blvd.

(explanation of series here.)




Spaceland (background reading here and here) is one of the most important and influential indie rock clubs in the country. We remember growing up -- the end of high school and through college -- when a band we liked would release their touring schedule, we'd breathlessly check the list to see how close to home they'd be coming. More often than not we'd see the name Spaceland on the itinerary. So seeing a show here was one of our first priorities once we moved down.

We've seen probably a half-dozen rock shows here since. But we've gotta say. The most memorable shows that we've seen have been the random Sunday night Neil Hamburger comedy shows. Neil Hamburger is a modern day Tony Clifton. And we keep coming back to Neil Hamburger becuase, in the back of our minds, we have this feeling that one random Sunday it will be revealed, on that tiny Spaceland stage, that Neil Hamburger is, in fact, the long rumored re-surfacing of Andy Kaufman.