Posts by David Brimer

A local favorite that makes midtown Long Beach the place to be on a cold winter night. Located at the corner of Junipero and 4th St, Portfolio is the traditional coffeehouse you grew up with. In a world surrounded by franchise monsters like Starbucks and Coffee Bean, it’s nice to see a small place like this (though it is not necessarily small) thriving within the community.

On the visual side of things, Portfolio offers a fantastic indoor and outdoor atmosphere. Outside the doors there are plenty of places for you and your significant other to sit, sip, and feed off of each other’s warmth. There are also a wide variety of shops within walking distance, making late night that much more fun.

Once through the doors your eyes will typically be greeted by people and laptop computers. Portfolio’s free wireless internet, and limited amount of noise make it a Mecca for writers, and college students alike. There is hardly a person inside whose eyes aren’t glued to their screens, which makes for little, or no conversation (besides laptops, iPod’s are very popular here as well). I would say that there is a feeling that whatever conversation you have inside should be hushed and quiet.

If you are just popping in by yourself, it is a perfect atmosphere to get some thinking done. The walls are adorned with an interesting array of paintings, which I would assume are from local artists. They also sport a wide variety of magazines for sale (consisting of mainly music magazines, Rolling Stone, Mojo, Etc).

When you reach the counter, portfolio offers you typical coffee house fare. There’s coffee, mocha, tea’s, etc, all of which is good, and worth you four dollars. I would recommend anything from the mocha category, as well as the teas. For those who’ll be spending an extended amount of time there, Portfolio also offers a pretty extensive lunch menu.

Things then change on Friday and Saturday nights when Portfolio’s back room becomes a hot spot for weekend entertainment. At around nine o’clock, you should make your way to the back room where you can see the cream of the crop of local singer songwriters performing the best they got. I think that’s what really makes this place feel like the traditional coffeehouse I grew up. They are grooming house for the best talent that Los Angeles has to offer. To top that, amateur talent can show their stuff on Wednesday nights Open Mic, also starting at nine.

Portfolio is only a hop, skip, and a jump from my house, so I spend a good amount of time there. It’s a fantastic atmosphere that serves many purposes. So, whatever you’re feeling, Portfolio Coffeehouse is a good place to go to think about it, or not think about it.

The Knitting Factory is many things. On one hand it is a first rate concert facility stocked with three stages (all of which have their own sound and bars). On the other, it is a little small and barely manages to hold all of its occupants. Yet overall, the Knitting Factory is a fine place to spend an evening with friends and catch Hollywood’s finest local talent.

Being a musician myself, I’d like to begin by saying that playing the Knitting Factory has always been a pleasant and enjoyable experience. That being said, the quality of the music that graces the stages is usually as good as it gets. Because of the Knitting Factory’s relatively small size, most people get full view of everything that’s happening on stage. This intimate atmosphere adds major points to the appeal of the Knitting Factory.

Once you enter through the front door your eyes will be greeted by some very comfortable plush couches, and the first of three bars. Treat yourself first to one of many over priced drinks, that is if you can squeeze your way through the mob of people. If you make a right you’ll see the second stage. This is where the lesser bands, and touring indie bands play. This stage is nice, but there is not a lot of room to stand and it can get annoying if you find yourself in the path of traffic from the other rooms to the bars.

Next I would recommend making a quick stop by the Alterknit Lounge. This small little room is a haven for local singer songwriters looking to get their talent out there. If you need to, you can make your way to the second bar in the back of this room. Though it’s not as stocked as the one up front, you can still get an overpriced beer or two. This room doesn’t usually have as many people in it and is a nice place to get away and still enjoy the music.

If you leave this room, the only other place to go is the main stage. This is obviously where the larger bands come to play. The room is smaller than the House of Blues, but holds the same atmosphere. The visibility is pretty clear from all angles, and offers the same intimate feeling that the rest of the club has. Also, as with all the other rooms, the main stage room has a fully stocked bar. I would not recommend going to this bar due to the loud noise from the stage. It’s a lot easier to get what you want from the front room.

The Knitting Factory is even smoker friendly with the convenient exits in back of the room. Overall, I would say that the Knitting factory offers a good concert going experience, as well as just an old fashioned good time for everybody.