Cobalt Cafe

I had my first kiss at this dumpy little venue. It’s a damn shame it’s no longer in operation. I know it’s become cool to make fun of the Cobalt, why with its nasty ass Prison bathroom and sex couch in the back. The pungent odor of smelly feet and sweat. The bad audio system and the fact that NO Alcohol is allowed. The list goes on. But the thing the Cobalt had was history. It was one of only a handful of music venues in the Valley back in the day when it first opened. Bands like Linkin Park and Incubus have toured through here before they really hit big. Everyone knows a good story about the Cobalt. I remember going to see my High School friends play in their bands. I remember meeting up one night with my friend and her friends and kissing a cute girl I had feelings for on that smelly ass carpet! I was 17 OK? Haha, I had no shame! Point is, the Cobalt will always have a place in my heart. For better or worse. It was a shithole, but it was OUR shithole! Goodnight, Sweet Prince. R.I.P.

This place is great because it’s one of the only venues (if not only venue) in the valley to see live bands. It’s an all ages place so it’s great that kids have a place to see shows. I have been coming here since 1995, however, tickets have gotten to be REAL expensive in the last few years. I wouldn’t mind that if they actually served alcohol here and I could just drink and forget about that, lol. The place is small and smelly and for as much as the tickets cost they should either serve drinks expand or renovate, because they desperately need a facelift

I don’t hate to say it, but good riddance to this POS place. Prior to 2009, I’m sure the place was quality. I will always remember it as the only time I had to save a band gig because the venue threatened to close early based on the shitty bands who brought no crowd to satisfy the venue. And did I mention it was my band’s very first gig? 40 of our people showed up on a weeknight, we got no apology, and we never returned. Now they can turn that space into a banquet room like it always should’ve been. Karma’s a bitch.

This place is one of the best venues for the local music scene. As well quite a few big bands play there making local show too much fun. I will be extremely sad to see this place go. I have been to too many shows to count here and I try to make it to all the fundraising shows to try to save the venue.

The Cobalt is a great little all ages venue they generally only have local shows here since the place is kinda small but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t rock I’ve had a great time here either watching a show or playing one. This seems like its a very positive place for the kids in the area to catch some live music and get off the street. The sound isn’t terribly bad for a small place but it is quite loud so you definitely might wanna bring some ear plugs. Haha I’m getting old! Anyway they don’t sell booze here only a few sodas and snacks so grab a drink next door @ Scotland Yard! The venue seems to let you in and out so the smokers can smoke I’ve always just used this to grab a drink next door no ones ever seemed to care. Definitely will be back here at one point either with friends in the area or to rock the stage once again for all the kids that are dancing in the pit!

i cant believe this place might be shut down, it’s always been a second home to me and has a special place in my heart.
its as good as its gonna get when your parents only trust you to go to a venue a block away from home.

I will always have a special place in my heart for the Cobalt Café because I played here all the time in high school and met many good friends I still know today.
Is it small, trashy, a bad place for sound, have a crappy bathroom, in a crappy part of town… YES!!!
Don’t hate on it though…
You have good thai food, cavaretta’s deli next door, and Scotland Yard and Casey’s 20 feet away… so you can have a great night!
One thing…$ 12 at the door?! just make it $ 10 fellas… seriously

This place is trash when it comes to venues, The was literally shit in the bathroom the whole time i was there, apparently they have no maintenance or manager to look after the place. The sound quality was down below ground. Never heard such distorted P. A in my life, totally UN-​Equalized. No idea why you would open a venue and have no sound engineers. the security was not the friendliest not as if they should but they should not be rude. The band was good but like i said the quality was trash. If i was in a band i would not play here for my crowd, it would make my music look bad or not what it should sound like. No i wont come back, plus $ 12 for this place, nope its like no one cares for it they just open the doors collect the $$$ and leave.

This place NEEDS a face lift. I went once or twice a few years ago when small bands are playing and recently have been back for the Tuesday night poetry readings. The many many many gum stains in the carpet help to show that it has not been taken care of. I get that its a band venue and having the dirty gritty thing is part of it all but there comes a point when dirty and gritty surpasses rock and roll cool to just disgusting and grimy.

I love the history that The Cobalt Café has and what they do for the community by simply existing. The Cobalt Café is the CBGB’s of the valley… NO JOKE !
However every time I’ve stopped by the Cobalt to catch a show the sound is always shitty. For fuck sake Cobalt Café GET A REAL SOUND SYSTEM happening and expand your ridiculously small performance stage ! and if you call the current stage an upgrade than know that it isn’t. Performers should have more room to run around on stage and embellish upon the feeling of their music. When performers have that freedom it creates much better shows and a much better audience experience. Also the sound guy shouldn’t be stationed on the left side of the stage… He should be located near the back wall facing the front of the stage on an elevated station.
It just boggles my mind that they haven’t done these things already. they’ve been around for many years too! If they would do these things they would without a doubt have a much more solid and consistent turnout for shows because people would then be able to actually coherently hear what they are listening to and bands would actually speak more highly of the place rather than it being a joke.

ive been playing here since i was in high school but now i look back at the cobalt as a great memory and i would consider playing here again only problem i had was the door guy that i caught steeling door money every time. He was a unfriendly rat that was just there to pretend the place was his and steel money but i was here recently and i saw he was gone and just by that the vibe was so much better and everyone now seemed so friendly. I’m even considering playing here again just because that door guy is gone for good.

If I ever had a tv show about my life, I would HAVE to feature some dinky little «café» like the cobalt in it. There are just so many memories that I have here. I met some guy in 1994 that invited me to see his band play here, and I grabbed my 2 best friends to come watch with me. At this time, most of the bands playing here wanted to sound like Nirvana. A couple years later I played my first show here at the age of 14, when punk rock was starting to be the thing here. I met so many people here who I later played in other bands with; it was a life changing place for me. I played and watched shows with incubus, hoobustank, and linkin park (hybrid theory back then), never thinking they’d be kroq bands years later. The cobalt used to be full of awesome punk bands and gutter punks, and I remember the nights where vegan kids would set up free rice dinners out front. We all made fun of the cobalt, even back then, but at the same time, we secretly loved it, and you could find us there every Friday night, skanking to some ska music. I’ve been back a couple times in my 20s, to watch, and once to play a show. All I can say is that the cobalt itself has literally not changed in 20 years. What I did notice, is that the scene here has. The kids seemed distant and a little stuck up, entitled maybe? Back in the day, everyone was just happy, drinking illegally in the ally, or dancing or moshing their heads off inside the place. We demanded fun, and we got it… even at the Cobalt.
I wouldnt really call it a café, but if you want to check out a band you like its a super easy place to come hang out. just don’t expect any part of the club itself to be enjoyable anymore, come for the music.

I used to write a lot of music, as a music composition major. I kept all the files saved on my crappy constantly-​breaking-​down computer. One day I sensed the computer was about to break down for good, so I finally transferred all of these files to an ipod. These were all my last existing copies of these songs, and my computer died.
My band was playing a show here, must have been like 4 years ago. I had this ipod, and we were using it to play samples from for our show. We were setting up and I left the ipod by the mixer so we could plug it in, etc, for hte last song. We start playing, I’m keeping an eye on this corner of the stage the entire set, because kids are hopping up on the stage and being goofballs right next to this super expensive keyboard we were using. They were being pretty respectful; didn’t damage the keyboard. Before the final song, I walked over to make sure the ipod was plugged in and cued up, and it was gone. We had to play without the samples. We asked the audience if anyone’d seen it, but no dice. We asked the sound guys who’d been in the booth the whole time if they’d seen it or seen anybody take it, no dice. They even kind of laughed at me for losing it.
Thing is, if it was there before we started playing, and I didn’t see any people take it during the set, IT HAD TO HAVE BEEN THE SOUND GUYS WHO STOLE IT. I lost every existing copy of everything I had ever written, because a professional was dishonest. We never played or went here again. Thanks, Cobalt!

I went here for the Tuesday Night Poetry reading and it was incredible.
The place is quite literally a hole in the wall with nothing in the way of amenities, but that’s not why I came. Being part of such a diverse and talented group of artists was an enriching experience and I will be back again.

I appreciate the opportunities many local bands are given to perform and flash their tunes, yes indeed. But I don’t really appreciate the state of this ‘café.’ Fact: It’s not a café. And I feel like my living room is bigger than the actual venue itself. Super small, not very big and to top it off, incredibly crowded.
This place is usually infested with several teenagers and retired scene hipsters walking around. The coffee they sell here isn’t all that great. The snacks are not that delectable and are ridiculously overpriced. The sound system is outdated and sure does need a boost. The bands that play here, though, are sometimes good. Sometimes not. Just depends what you dig.
Opinions are like colors… Not everyone likes the same color.

It had been ten years since I had been here. CHANGE THE FUCKING CARPET ALREADY. Also, tell your bouncers to stop beating up on 17 year old girls. Video coming soon. You can count on it.

Oh Geez, I felt like I was babysitting. There’s so many kids! I pretty much only come here if I’m watching a friends band play and even then I’m at the bar next door until they go on and right after they finish their set.
I’m sure if I was a kid in the valley I’d love it. but I’m not.

As classic as this small dive of a venue is… it is ten times as dirty.
I worked there for almost a year and got sick consistantly from the air ducts being not cleaned in a decade. I also saw some of the biggest roaches i have ever seen in my life in this place! Having talked about the dirt and grime… the security guys are super nice at heart, but remember you are just a number to them at a show, they are mean and will kick your ass out for any reason they can. I do not agree with the people or the way this club is up and running. They are shady in just about every way possible, so WATCH YOUR GEAR! There is no bar, the snacks are from costco and priced like a vegas strip mixed drink. The sound system is wayyyyy outdated, so dont expect to sound good, or hear yourself.
At $ 10 a pop. i would rather see two great $ 5 shows elsewhere.
*Overall this place stinks. Dirty, overpriced, sound sucks ass, people are disrespectful and your not going to make anything out of it even if you do bring over the amount of people needed or are a touring act. FIND ANOTHER VENUE THAT TREATS THE BANDS BETTER.

A classic, a legend, and well… it’s cobalt. It’s not a bar, it’s not a coffee shop and not even a café’ but hey, I am all for embracing the ironic.
What more can I say? They not only support, but celebrate the local talent of the valley. I remember coming every week to hear Fuzzbyte play 15 years ago! LOL. With bands playing original music (no covers) throughout the week and poetry readings on Tuesdays this is the place to go to hear and experience the voices that break through the monotony of popular radio, busy LA traffic & hectic city buzz.
Many poets and musicians have made their mark here and while Cobalt may not be the classiest joint in the west valley, it’s well worth the visit.

YOU KNOW WHAT?
I like this place! I mean, where else can you go for local shows just about everyday for decent prices? Even yesterdays show (Friday) boasted The Action Design which performed at Warped Tour ’08 in Pomona. It’s good to see music is still alive and thriving in all these younger kids.
The Venue itself isn’t really outstanding. The security aren’t exactly friendly, but they never are. There are no chairs or couches contrary to the pictures on the website (at least when I went). It’s a small room with a small stage and the place is all so basic it’s borderline crude. It got hot, and I regretted ever bringing my jumper, my feet began to hurt and I got to a point where I would kill for some decent seating, but then again, I didn’t pay to sit down and drink coffee. Having a better setting would be nice of course, but that’s all extra convenience when the main purpose of visiting is for the bands.
You can try Room 5 which is 21+ and the Avalon in Hollywood, the Glass House in Pomona, or any other place within reasonable driving distance, but the Cobalt tries to have shows nearly everyday so if you want to go, then you can go. SO WHAT if there’s kids. If you go for the music, then enjoy the music. Are you willing to miss the bands you like because you don’t like the scene?