For a break from City Hall toxicity, try an open mic in Tarzana
City Councilman Tom LaBonge was so busy working and holding public comment at Monday night’s meeting to address the recent allegations against Mayor Bob Filner that he didn’t take the time to make the audience aware of a new place in the neighborhood that would be just as informative for them as City Hall.
I’m hoping it would be a good place to grab a coffee to help pass a few quiet moments at the end of a sweaty meeting full of political posturing.
In addition to taking up his time with the public, the new open mic is on the ground floor of the same building, Tarzana Coffee House, where the Mayor and his staff have taken up residence in protest of his office’s recent actions.
It’s a little down the block from the Council Chambers where the Mayor and Council members, as well as the Office of Human Rights’s interim director, have been putting on a demonstration against Mayor Filner.
Coffee House is a great location to hold an open mic event.
It’s where the city’s first open mic, a group of musicians who started playing in a coffee shop, was held. The musicians met at the coffee house while they waited for other musicians to start playing.
A few dozen people showed up the first time through, listening to the musicians play. The next time, the number of people who showed up grew significantly, as the musicians, who had become a regular in the neighborhood, were there to play on a regular basis.
The musicians, many of them from the downtown L.A. music scene, quickly built up a following and started booking gigs away from home in L.A. and elsewhere.
“They have a name for themselves out here, and I’ve been here three times,” said the owner of the coffee house.
“They are just a big local band that gets a lot of support,” he said. “I would not have a clue about (what happened in his shop) unless I was here, so the open mic was right there.”
It was a perfect venue for the event. The musicians, many of whom have been playing for a few years, played for
