Seduced by a naughty past
AFTER selling the Derby in Los Feliz, nightlife impresario Tony Gower hoped to cash out of L.A. for good. He moved to Hawaii with visions of running a little tiki bar and relaxing on the beach.
That was before he learned that island bars are typically grandfathered to family members. Rather than own one, the Brit imbibed at multiple hangouts until the locals had had enough of him.
Midway through a 200-day bender in Waikiki, Gower earned himself the dubious nickname: “Go Home Tony.”
“I realized I needed to come back to L.A. when I woke up one afternoon on the beach, and children were dancing around me making fun of me,” he says. “I crawled into a bathroom and realized that half of my face and body was red and the other half white.”
So he headed back to the mainland and got back in the saddle. His latest venture, Bordello, is a departure from the neo-swing vibe Gower created with his ex-wife, Tammi, at the Derby, known as the birthplace of Royal Crown Revue and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.
In a downtown space that according to legend was once a bordello, chandeliers glint from nearly every spot on the ceiling and dancers perform burlesque routines on an ornately detailed stage worthy of a Baz Luhrmann production. The place feels like a miniature red-light district, even if it’s not breaking any laws.
“The club is stunning,” says Greg MacAvoy, an Irish musician from the band Sally’s Gap. “I knew Tony when he first came to L.A., and to see what he’s accomplished blows me away.”
Nanette Chavez was a regular at Little Pedro’s, the neighborhood bar east of Little Tokyo that used to occupy the Bordello space. “When my daughter was sick, we held a benefit there. The people were so warm, like a family.”
She said she was skeptical when she found out the place was changing hands. But now, like many former Little Pedro’s customers, she’s bowled over by Bordello, which opened late last year.
“When I first walked up to the entrance, I saw all the candles outside and thought, ‘Hmm, that gives it a real sultry vibe,’ ” Chavez says. “When we walked through that door, our mouths were completely dropped. The entire club is a piece of art.”
Not surprisingly, it’s co-owned by three pros: Gower, whose legacy in Hollywood as a post-modern Rudolph Valentino is already cemented; Elizabeth Peterson, who owns an urban planning company that counts Andre Balazs, Sean MacPherson and Cedd Moses among its clients; and celebrity designer Dana Hollister of Odalisque, who works with such artists as Tim Burton and Madonna and who restored the Silver Lake estate, the Paramour, to its former glory.
It’s Hollister’s design that really has people wowed.
“All I could think when I saw the stage was Moulin Rouge,” Chavez says.
Lounge cat Joey Altruda functions as Bordello’s director of entertainment, morphing nearly every night into one incarnation or another. Sometimes, he’s fronting a striptease jazz combo to prepare the crowd for a burlesque show. Other nights, he’s hosting a set of Afro-Cuban beats or jamming with his deep dub band, Crucial Riddims. For the Friday night “Macabaret,” he dresses up like a character out of the ‘60s ghoulish show “Dark Shadows.”
“It’s a haven for people who love actual A-plus music,” says Altruda, who can also be found DJing there. “You’re not gonna find this range at any other club in L.A. From punk, Latin, Afro, Brazilian, jazz, ska, American -- all in a very sexy setting.”
The vibe is meant to hark back to the turn of the century, when, Gower says, the building was a five-story bordello. “The first floor, where the club is, is where people use to meet, then they’d head upstairs to have trysts,” Gower says.
Gower believes that history may be causing guests to lose their heads slightly.
“I’ve found a few folks in flagrante delicto tucked away in booth areas,” he says. “Must be the ghosts encouraging them.”
Chandeliers hang throughout the bar area and entrance; dozens more lighting up the dance floor and stage area. As Altruda plays stand-up bass and warms up the audience, one slinky dancer after another hits the stage to perform an old school burlesque routine. The acts are as innocent as a strip bar is dirty, and it’s a perfect fit for the room, with its erotic-themed cues.
AS different as Bordello is from Gower’s last venture, there’s little doubt that the new club pays homage to the Derby. Its opening night in December was celebrated with a performance by the one and only former Derby house band, the Royal Crown Revue.
“It felt good to be playing in that room,” says Eddie Nichols, the Royal Crown Revue’s frontman. “It captures the spirit of the Derby from its heyday but in an entirely fresh setting. The room sounds great, and I see a lot of the same faces from the Derby.”
So Angelenos have reason to be thankful that “Go Home Tony” heeded the advice of the Hawaiian locals. He’s still one of the club scene’s legendary wild men -- rather than hanging from his own chandeliers, he can be found swinging from a church bell gong across the street when the spirit moves him.
According to Gower, his team is just getting started. Next up is the Bridge Tavern downtown, set to open in mid-February.
Already up and running is Royal Claytons, an upscale restaurant on Industrial Street that’s been well-received by the neighborhood.
“We really believe in downtown,” Gower says. “I’ve been around long enough to have seen it thrive multiple times. We’re just glad to be a part of its new renaissance.”
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Bordello
Where: 901 E. 1st St., L.A..
When: 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. daily
Price: Cover charge varies
Info: (213) 687-3766