A Hollywood Comeback

Ten years ago, it was all quiet on the western front in Hollywood. In the years following the 1992 unrest in Los Angeles, the area was like a ghost town after hours. It’s taken a decade, but Hollywood has dusted itself off and dressed itself up.

The biggest excitement is on star-studded Hollywood Boulevard, where new nightclubs such as Deep, the Pig N’ Whistle, the Knitting Factory, Star Shoes, Las Palmas and the Highlands have proven there’s still life on the old boulevard. Now, the return of King King, a beloved L.A. music haven, signals that maybe in Hollywood you can come home again.

King King, a one-room La Brea Avenue nightclub that thrived in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, was a music lover’s paradise. Its young owner, Mario Melendez, was a nightlife veteran from East L.A. (his father owned restaurants and Latino cowboy bars) who worked the door at Al’s Bar in its ‘80s heyday. King King’s roots were in blues, but it was a blues fused with street knowledge, and the bands that played there mixed in elements of punk, rockabilly, ska and Latin music. It became a hotbed of creativity, and artists such as Joey Altruda, Big Sandy & the Fly-Rite Boys, John Doe and the Solsonics used King King as the place to expand their repertoires. The acid-jazz nights in particular became a meeting ground for L.A. and New York artists.

After shuttering it in ‘93, it took Melendez almost a decade to reopen King King in a historic brick building at the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Whitley Avenue. The “historic” part caused the delay. Melendez spotted the building in 1998. He started renovating--until the discovery that the building was a landmark. The 1912 brick structure is one of the last of the French chateau-style buildings in Hollywood and it took him another four years to work through the red tape.

It seems worth the effort. After a splashy April opening with a performance by the Blasters, King King’s settled in nicely as a go-to venue for good music. The blues band the Blue Shadows have a Monday residency, and Tuesdays are dedicated to Brazilian and Latin music. Wednesdays and Thursdays emphasize rock, and the weekends mix it up with DJs and live bands.

To enter the club, guests walk around the building and through the back, going down a longish hallway before landing in a huge, warm room. It’s versatile too, with a collapsible stage at its far end and two movable bars that can roll from the back of the club to the center for easier access on a crowded night.

A music lover and a self-proclaimed motorhead, Melendez designed the red-hued venue with minimalist, masculine sensibilities. He had someone who usually custom-paints guitars create a bar top that looks like the same glittery polyurethane you’d find on a red Telecaster. Using his hot-rod expertise, he added quick-connect hookups for the movable bars. King King’s brick walls conjure up the feel of the old Club Lingerie.

Word is already getting out about the new club, and such artists as Dave Alvin, the Nervis Brothers and Joey Altruda are featured there regularly. I poked my head in on a quiet weeknight and I felt some of the ghosts of the old King King. The jukebox was playing Nina Simone, and Angelo Moore from Fishbone was hanging out for the night. He’d heard King King had reopened and was looking for some DJ gigs. He knew he’d find a friendly face. Mando from Royal Crown Revue was sitting at the bar that night too. Melendez had given Royal Crown Revue its first eight gigs at the old King King and the musician had come to pay his respects. (Royal Crown Revue is scheduled to perform July 4.)

One of King King’s coolest features is the jukebox, a testament to its owner’s passion for music. You won’t find J. Lo, but you will find dozens of 45s by artists such as Slim Harpo, Nina Simone, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins and Art Blakey.

It may be too soon to see if King King can rekindle its old passions in Hollywood. It already has one advantage. While every other club in the neighborhood charges for parking, King King has its own 80-spot parking lot behind the club, and it’s free to park nightly.

And no matter how old you are, it’s worth stopping by to throw a coin in that old jukebox. When that big red room fills up with the sound of Billie Holiday’s voice, sparks fly.

It may be too soon to tell what the club’s long-term potential is, but it’s already made a good first impression.

King King, 6555 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, (323) 960-5765. 21 and older. Cover, $5-$10. Open nightly. Free parking in rear.