The Cooperage is that little UCLA venue that resembles The Max
from “Saved by the Bell,” a place where you might find
anything from a musician performing on tabletops to a band member
sitting down with the audience eating a pizza after the show.
Tucked in the corner of the second level of Ackerman Union, the
Coop, as it commonly known, also serves as a spot where students
can find up-and-coming indie rock, punk rock and hip-hop artists
performing on nights throughout the year.
“(The Coop is) kind of like a secret,” Campus Events
concert staff member Eric Palgon said. “I think, for a large
part, you have to discover it and be really excited, which is not
probable because you are a student and you’ve got other
things going on. But you could discover it and really like
it.”
The Coop isn’t catering to people who listen to mainstream
music, unlike neighboring Westwood Plaza, which boasts bigger bands
and larger audiences.
“The Westwood Plaza people just walk by,”
second-year design student Evelina Rodriguez said. “(The
Coop) is more hidden. It’s usually people who are actually
fans of the music and not just passing by.”
And while some students are quick to point out the Coop’s
low turnouts and the cafeteria setting as reasons for not going
there, Coop defenders counter that with an average of only 60 to 70
people at a show, there are plenty of opportunities to get close to
the band.
“The band is just standing around afterwards. It’s
really easy to talk to them,” Rodriguez said.
The tables and chairs that make the Coop a cafeteria by day
double as seating that makes the Coop a relaxing place to sit down
and enjoy music at night.
“(The Coop) was nice. There was seating, and there were
also places to stand up right in front of the band and plenty of
room for everything. And, there’s food and drink,”
second-year design student Jason Farrell said.
It isn’t just the audience who benefits from the Coop, but
the bands, too.
As musicians looking to earn their living by being a band, Coop
performers are eager to give a free show where they can build their
fan base ““ not to mention get a free meal from Campus
Events.
And since joining Campus Events his freshman year when the Coop
was on the verge of being an obsolete concert venue, Palgon, a
fourth-year art student, has worked hard to transform the Coop into
the respected venue it was in years past.
“I got a lot of satisfaction when I started doing shows as
a sophomore, and then, maybe like six months or the next year, a
lot of booking agents started e-mailing me trying to do shows. So
now that’s how it is ““ a lot of bands say, “˜Hey
can we maybe play a free show at UCLA?'” Palgon
said.
Yet Palgon also acknowledges that a new Campus Events staff that
is into small- venue bands has had a huge impact on the
Coop’s success.
“When I joined (Campus Events), there weren’t as
many people wanting to book smaller shows or (they) didn’t
think they could happen. And now, there are more people who are
realizing and executing that sort of thing ““ just people
pursuing bands that probably could not draw in Westwood Plaza, but
might do really well in the Coop,” Palgon said.
While Campus Events does promote Coop shows by handing out
flyers on Bruin Walk and posting events on its Web site, it’s
up to Coop fans to spread the word to keep the audiences growing in
size.
“I see a lot of the same faces and I see a lot of the same
people, and I think (Coop shows) wouldn’t happen if they
didn’t come, so there’s a community,” Palgon
said.
But as far as it building, it’s all word of mouth,”
he added.
Tentative upcoming shows at the Coop include: Earlimart/
Decemberists, Oct. 9; Eastern Youth, Oct. 14; Mt. Eerie, Nov. 13.
All shows are free and start at 7 p.m. Visit
www.campusevents.ucla.edu for updates.