By Brandon Wise news@smdp.com LEADING LADY: Temple Bar located on the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and 11th Street, has been leading the way in bringing the music scene back to life in Santa Monica. One of the main voices of this noble cause is Novena Wallach, who has been working at Temple Bar for six months as the production/booking assistant.
With the recent rise of the music scenes in the Northeast part of L.A., some of Hollywood’s dominance of the marketplace has begun to lose its grip. In that change of power, there are those on the Westside that welcome the opportunity to rise to the occasion and make the local scene more welcoming to music fans and acts alike.
“If there is a true push and good promotion, you’ll see locals gravitate toward this side of town. People are open to it, but they just need to know where and what’s happening,” said Trejo the PR man. “It could easily be that way here. It is a shame that it has-n’t come into its own, but I can’t help but believe that can happen.”
“A lot of people are being turned away from all that. When I go to Hollywood, I have to put on a game face,”
“Parking is $20. You have to be on the guest list. Then there’s a line. Once you get inside, the drinks are expensive and the music isn’t all that great.” — said Wallach
Local artists echo that sentiment. Suzy Williams and Her Solid Senders are both based on the Westside and often gig around the area. She’s a regular at Temple Bar and has lived in Venice for 20 years plus.
“It is kicking up. I think that the whole ‘yuppieization’ of the Westside is bringing some money in and people are starting to want some nightlife,” Williams said. “There hasn’t been that many venues on the Westside, but Venice Boulevard is starting to blossom. More local clubs are finally starting to open up and there seems to be some hope for the area.”
With an influx of new faces, and with them new money, there appears to finally be a real demand for live music on this side of town. People are less willing to drive across L.A., preferring to remain close to home for their entertainment needs.
“I’ve been to Echo Park. I’ve been to Hollywood. I’m always up in Silverlake, but there are so many people there nowadays,” said Tim Boyce, of Venice, who was partying on Halloween at the Spaceland club in Silverlake. “I’d so much rather stay closer to home if there were more options here. The problem is that not many bands seem to play out here for whatever reason. I’m not sure if it’s the clubs or what, but if more was done to get hot bands to play around here, I’m positive that more people would patronize the local clubs and really start to foster a new music scene like what you see in other parts of the city [Los Angeles].”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 3, 2007. Read the original PDF.