Club Review : Big Crowd at Stigmata Looks Locked in the Daze of the ‘80s

The long line outside Stigmata may suggest that folks wish to partake in the club’s activities, which continue until 4 a.m. Inside, however, nobody appears to be having much fun. The Friday night club at the Probe in Hollywood seems to be locked in a creepy warp, circa ’85. Although the ‘80s--shudder--are already inching their way back into vogue, Stigmata reflects a period that surely no one willingly wants to recall.

Guys wear frowns and tights, gals wear Siouxsie & the Banshees makeup-by-numbers. Fights break out over requests to bum a cigarette by people who don’t appear to be 18--the required age to get inside the cavernous, two-level club. Those who aren’t dressed to depress appear just as exquisitely bored as their black-clad brethren.

The deejays’ music, which focuses primarily on new wave and industrial, isn’t inventive enough to breathe much life into the club, though a recent set’s sandwiching of Revolting Cocks’ industrial version of Rod Stewart’s “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” between some prerequisite Nine Inch Nails and Siouxsie gave the scene a momentary shot in the arm.

* Stigmata, Fridays at the Probe, 836 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood, (213) 462-7442, $8 cover with one-time $2 membership fee.