Cobalt Cafe

The Cobalt Cafe was an all-ages music venue in Canoga Park, California. Although the venue always hosted touring artists, it was most known for hosting rock concerts featuring bands local to the Los Angeles area, typically punk, heavy metal, and alternative. The Cobalt, a relatively small venue in the suburban San Fernando Valley, hosted an unusually high number of bands that later established successful careers, including AFI,Intruder featuring front man Joey Tarzan Karpowicz from the tylermoore experience ]], Less Than Jake, Link 80, Avenged Sevenfold, California Redemption, and Valley locals Strung Out, Linkin Park, Hoobastank, and Incubus. With much of the area's music scene centered in other areas (such as Hollywood and Downtown Los Angeles), the Cobalt was among the primary musical, artistic, and cultural centers of the San Fernando Valley.

History

The Cobalt Cafe was founded by Dave Politi in January 1991. One of the first cafe venues in the sleepy San Fernando Valley, the Cobalt was fashioned after coffee houses featuring live music and poetry more widespread in San Francisco. The Cobalt was originally located on Ventura Boulevard in Woodland Hills where it remained for three years. During this period, Cobalt performances typically included acoustic music, weekly poetry readings, and an open mic night. A cultural oddity in the area, the venue attracted visits from people such as Mick Taylor from the Rolling Stones. Performances ranged from a David Becker Tribune concert to poetry readings from Angelo of Fishbone.

Make Do and Mend

Make Do and Mend is an American post-hardcore band from West Hartford, Connecticut, that formed in 2003, who now live in Boston, Massachusetts. They have released 2 EPs on Panic Records, a split with Touché Amoré a full length in 2010 on Panic Records and Paper + Plastick and a full length in 2012 on Rise Records. While technically members of "The Wave", along with La Dispute, Touché Amoré, Pianos Become the Teeth, and Defeater, the band has since clarified that "The Wave" was merely an inside joke between those bands and does not represent a particular movement or subgenre in post-hardcore.

History

Formed in West Hartford in 2006, the band would later relocate to Boston. In 2007, they self-released their EP We're All Just Living (which was later re-released on Panic Records). This release was followed up by another EP entitled Bodies of Water, which was also released on Panic in 2009.

In 2010, after a year of touring with the likes of The Wonder Years, Set Your Goals, Shook Ones, Comeback Kid and Title Fight they released their debut LP, End Measured Mile, which was met with critical acclaim. The album featured guest vocals by Lee Hartney & Jordan Dreyer, of fellow Wave band, La Dispute. The band later signed with Paper + Plastick to release the album on vinyl. Later in 2011, they released a split 7" with another fellow Wave band, Touché Amoré.