Oakland's Club Laga closes its doors on Friday
When Oakland's Club Laga closes this week, the Pittsburgh music scene will be losing another music venue rich in character.
"I think it's a shame that these great clubs that were set up as rock clubs that have personalities are closing," say Jeff Schmutz of Good Brother Earl.
"It was a good idea," adds Schmutz's bandmate, Dan Paolucci, "having different levels of music. I guess it did catch on, but it didn't stay like that, which is too bad because it was really unique."
Perhaps Laga's farewell isn't going to bring out souvenir hunters or create the sort of melancholic gatherings that witnessed the demises of the Decade and Graffiti, two other noted Oakland venues that have shut their doors in the past few years. But the quirky showcase club -- located on the fourth and fifth floors of a building along Forbes Avenue -- had a weird ambience that will be missed.
Laga's inimitable feel started the moment you walked in the door -- and then had to climb four winding flights of stairs that seemed to never end. Inside, there was moody lighting could be measured in candle power rather wattage, and an L-shaped balcony provided a great way to view shows if one would rather miss the crush of bodies that usually crowded the stage. To drink an alcoholic beverage -- Laga was an all-ages club -- patrons had to enter a section enclosed with wire where the bar was located. The effect was akin to an animal viewpoint in a zoo, but there was nevertheless a quirky charm to viewing bands through chicken wire.
Ron Levick, who opened the club in 1996, is attempting to buy the space and convert it into apartments. He says it's been a long, fun run.
"This is tough," he says. "I love entertaining people. We've had so many huge shows, many different types of events."
Levick cites Macy Gray, Dr. John, Erykah Badu, George Clinton and Smashmouth among his favorite shows at the venues.
The club also was the rare local venue that promoted national rap and hip-hop acts.
"I've seen some great groups there," says T. Glitter of the Johnsons Big Band. "I believe just about all of them hip-hop shows. ... While a live hip hop performance is always a shaky proposition, I have to say that just being able to get so close to groups like the Wu Tang Clan and Public Enemy was awe-inspiring. Public Enemy was definitely the best live hip-hop show I've ever seen."
Levick says that he will keep open The Attic, a club on the fifth level of the building, to keep his hand in entertainment. But although he will miss the buzz of activity Laga created, he's not going to miss the precarious financial nature of staging live concerts. Insurance rates skyrocketed after 9/11 and the fire at a Rhode Island club that killed 100 people, and Levick lost more money that he'd care to admit.
"We had to work hard to survive, just to pay the bills," he says. "People think every dollar in ticket sales that comes in the doors is profit, but it's not that way.
