Fold Seeking a Flock

Some of L.A.’s legendary clubs were composed of little more than a room, a liquor license and a working toilet. Well, actually, plumbing was never very high on the list of postmodern priorities, and the more common scenario included a room, a liquor license and bathrooms that should have come with biohazard warnings.

Let’s face it, though, it’s not the passing out of hand towels that brings people out at night. Quite often, it’s an indefinable energy, the prospect of a good time. Promoters who work out of a modest space offer various tactics. Some have a good ear for new and unusual music, others can man a turntable, a few can artfully adorn a bleak space, while others simply know the right people who tell two friends and so on and so on and, voila, it’s a party.

The point: You’ve got to offer something that others don’t have. The Fold, a live music club that recently migrated from the Silver Lake Lounge to a Koreatown bar called the Chorus Club, is still a bit amorphous. Promoter Scott Sterling, a documentary filmmaker, has his work cut out for him. Despite the spotlight on the artistic hub of Silver Lake, it’s a tiny region, and the competition is stiff. Already-established clubs such as Spaceland (a good example of what can be done with a nondescript space), the Garage and downtown’s Al’s Bar do a good job of homing in on the new and unusual. Each has managed to make the most of what it has.

Al’s Bar is an institution, a must-see stop right up there with the Getty for those really trying to understand Los Angeles; Al’s is living art (the wall stickers alone speak volumes). At its peak, Spaceland, the name of an oily discotheque on Silver Lake Boulevard, gave focus to a flowering music scene. And after a bit of rough idling, the Garage now hosts some of the liveliest dance clubs in Los Angeles.

Perhaps the Fold’s moniker was chosen presciently. Sterling says he selected it because “the fold” could mean failure or a flock and it was used in a film about the stoppage of time.

All three are applicable. In its old location, such artists as Elliot Smith and Sacharrine Trust were among the performers. Great choices, considering Smith was just breaking nationally and Sacharrine Trust hadn’t performed together in years. But one couldn’t help but wish the festivities were happening anywhere but there. The rinky, dinky, stinky bar has few amenities and plenty of drawbacks.

Its new location at the Chorus Club is kind of a lateral move. By virtue of dozens of rock ‘n’ roll posters, the Chorus Club is ever so slightly reminiscent of Club Lingerie but without the good memories. Though it’s not quite as shabby as the Silver Lake Lounge, the one-room club is filled with tables and offers little by way of standing room, making it strategically uncomfortable. There’s no bar to lean up against, just a take-out counter with a beer and wine menu (we recommend the Newcastle Ale).

None of these factors would matter if the music were impressive or at least rock-based. Energy coming off the “stage” can more than make up for a club’s dreary environs. But with much of the current music at the Fold, which occurs each Friday and Saturday, as well as some weeknights, leaning toward the dreary, the club is like a smoky purgatory. Only on exit does time start marching on again, and not a moment too soon.

BE THERE

The Fold at the Chorus Club, 237 N. Vermont Ave., L.A., (323) 666-2407. 21 & over, $2 to $7 cover.