The Masque (club)

The Masque was founded by British-American music promoter Brendan Mullen on August 18, 1977 in downtown Hollywood , California , between Hollywood Boulevard and Selma Avenue. ^[1] The club quickly gained popularity among representatives of the punk subculture of Los Angeles .

Many Los Angeles bands such as the Dickies , X , Germs , Bags , the Screamers , Black Randy and the Metrosquad , the Alley Cats , the Go-Go's , Suburban Lawns , the Mau-Mau's , The Weirdos , the Zeros , the Avengers , the Dils , the Skulls , the Controllers and The Smart Pills often performed there. Also one of the early punk rock bands Rhino 39 , hailing from Long Beach, California , often performed at The Masque.

Some groups, including the Motels , the Controllers, the Skulls, the Go-Go's, the Berlin Brats, the Smart Pills and Secrets, rented space at The Masque for rehearsals.

At least two compilation recordings of live performances at the Masque have been released.

The covers of the very first punk rock fanzines , such as Flipside and Slash, show the scene of the Masque club.

The Masque was closed by city officials on January 14, 1978. ^[2]

Mullen decided not to stop there. In the same place, in Hollywood, he opened Other Masque (also known as New Masque or Masque 2), where he continued to organize events. The club lasted from December 1978 to spring 1979. ^[3] Many other bands performed at Other Masque, including the Dead Boys (supported by local musicians such as Stiv Bators and Nickey Beat from Weirdos), the Cramps (after moving from New York City ), Wall of Voodoo , the Flyboys , the Mutants , Dead Kennedys , X, Germs and others. The closure of the second club led to the fact that punk rock bands were forced to move to clubs on the Sunset Strip (for example, Whiskey a Go Go or Gazzari's ). This change of venue led to the gradual disappearance of the Los Angeles punk scene in the early 1980s.

After the closure of the second club, Mullen opened Club Lingerie, which lasted until 1991. ^[four]

In the 1998 video clip "The Perfect " by the Smashing Pumpkins , they shot The Masque and the specific graffiti on its walls. ^[five]

The building was renovated in 2001. Despite the fact that most of the walls were demolished, the remaining walls at the base of the building retained the graffiti of that time. Now here is the archive of the production company World of Wonder .

Mullen died of a stroke on October 12, 2009. ^[6] Flea, bassist for Red Hot Chili Peppers , wrote an article on Mullen’s death and memories of the club. The article was published in October 2009 in the Los Angeles Times . ^[7] Brendan Mullen was the first music promoter to launch the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1983 at Club Lingerie. In addition, the group dedicated Brendan Mullen the song " Brendan's Death Song ", which was included in the album I'm with You .

All that remains of the Masque club was filmed in 2015 and featured in the documentary " Who Is Billy Bones?" . The film also contains old interviews with Brendan Mullen, where he discusses the formation of The Skulls. ^[eight]

• TLC (April 9, 2008). "Masque" . The Go-Go's Notebook .
• Yampolsky, Michael (1997). "Inside the Masque 1997" (photo gallery). TranceWorks .