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About The Cobalt Cafe
A Brief History
of The Cobalt Cafe.....
The Cobalt Cafe was founded by Dave Politi on January 17, 1991 -
three days before the Gulf War! The Cobalt was one of the first
coffee houses that started in the sleepy San Fernando Valley and
was fashioned after the same manner of coffee house that San Francisco
is known for. The original location of the Cobalt was on Ventura
Boulevard in Woodland Hills, Calif. where it remained for three
years. The style of the Cobalt then consisted of acoustic music,
weekly poetry readings, as well as an open mic night. Celebrities
such as Mick Taylor from the Rolling Stones
played there and Angelo from FishBone read poetry.
January 14, 1994 was the Grand Opening of the Cobalt at its current
location in Canoga Park, just three days before the Northridge earthquake.
Dave Politi's
Take.....
I grew up in the San Fernando Valley and while growing up here,
I knew the Valley needed an alternative venue where the creative
culture and all of the "CBGB's" of the valley could come and collectively
connect. I couldn't have done it in the beginning without the help
of many people. My partner for the first year, Maia Wright, was
a tremendous help in getting us off of the ground - dealing with
the bureaucracy and red tape. I can't mention them all, but you
know who you are! Likewise with all of the bands that helped fill
us nightly. I could not have done it without all of you!!
In the early
years, the bands were Diga Jiga, Skinflint, Pushing Up Daisies,
Fuzzybyte, Smokin' Roaches, and more; Jason Radford from One
Side Zero helped start our open mic nights. Jason hosted them
for three years. BoogerMan, an old KROQ
Radio DJ, took over the Cobalt's open mic night after Jason
left. Rick Lupert, poetry
extraordinaire, became the Cobalt's open reading host in 1994, and
is still in full swing weekly. Here is a list of some of the bands
that have gone through the Cobalt throughout the years: AFI, The Hippo's,
Jimmy Eat World, Less
Than Jake, D.I., One Side
Zero, Save Ferris, Eve 6, exit only, Reel Big Fish, Incubus, Strung Out, Union 13, Linkin Park (as Hybrid Theory), and
more. The latest band on the fast track are Nural, Look What I Did,
Go Betty Go,
Avenged Sevenfold, Hoobastank, Audiovent,
Yellowcard,
Ozma, Rufio
and Finch.
Cobalt cafe would like to thank Drive
Thru Records and their wonderful staff for all their support
and the great bands they have provided us through the years. Here
are some of them Newfound Glory,Allister,
The Starting
Line, Homegrown,
Midtown,
Finch
, FenixTX,Something
Corporate, and RX
Bandits.
Some of the more memorable celebrity shows were with Milla
Jovovich and her band, John Wayne Bobbitt came and did a comedy
stand-up show.
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