Knitting Factory Hollywood sets closing date

The days are officially numbered for Hollywood's Knitting Factory. The club, says a spokesman, will host its last show on Oct. 25, with pop-punk band Hit the Lights currently booked on the venue's final day.

Pop & Hiss reported in July that the Knitting Factory intended to leave its current location at 7021 Hollywood Blvd. at the end of October. The club's lease is up Oct. 31, and there were no last-minute changes of heart.

"We are definitely not staying here," says the club's head of promotion and publicity, Bruce Duff, via email.

The Knitting Factory's flier for its final Hollywood shows teases a new venue opening in 2010. Duff says nothing has yet been finalized on a new locale, although "several are in the running."

Earlier, Knitting Factory Chief Executive Morgan Margolis told Pop & Hiss that he was open to other neighborhoods. “I’ve been looking two years now for the right space,” he said. “I’m looking all over -- downtown, Silver Lake, Los Feliz, North Hollywood, Studio City. I’ve looked as far as Alhambra."

The Knitting Factory opened in Hollywood in 2000, about a year before the official opening of the outdoor mall at the nearby intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue. The neighborhood has undergone significant changes since the club debuted. A Virgin Megastore has opened and closed, and the club now sits on the end of a tourist-friendly stretch of Hollywood that is home to a Gap, a Hooters, an H&M and Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.

-- Todd Martens

Photo credit: Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[amber]

aww imma miss all the shows at this place

[apers]

this sucks. my favorite venue...

[Nick Trombley]

This is a very memorable venue for me. A very cool atmosphere right in the busy area of Hollywood - the inside of the venue is really cool and nice, but not at all in a pretentious way. The main room with the balcony was very intimate and badass. I saw the "Cinco de Thrasho/Thrasho de Mayo" show here, which featured Latino metal bands on two stages. This will be missed! It's too bad that there were political bullshit fighting with tenant issues. The neighboring shops are all chain-store boring places. There will be much less character at this part of the strip once the Knitting Factory leaves.