Los Angeles Musician Hope Sandoval
I was in Los Angeles in 1991 after having returned to the area from Boston. I had just graduated college and I remember thinking I had the world in my hands. That first year back was really almost magical. My boyfriend Matt was still there and his band was getting gigs in local clubs. He was singer songwriter who also played the keyboards and during my time in Massachusetts he would often complain about his band and their lack of commitment and tendency toward partying. However, the year I returned they all really seemed to have it together and were playing out quite frequently. One night, shortly after I arrived in town I decided to go see them play and they opened up for a band called Mazzy Star.
The show happened in a club I had only been to a couple of times and I can’t remember its name. It was off of Sunset and close to a few local hotels and a deli we always used to go to. That’s as much as I can remember now, but the point is how incredibly great Mazzy Star was. I didn’t even know who they were, well they weren’t all that famous at the time. In fact, I don’t think they were even nationally known. It was right around the time their first album came out and I’m not sure the show was before or after it did. I was blown away though. Oh, and I almost bumped into Hope Sandoval as I was coming out of the rest room. She was just standing there, you know, like a regular person talking to a couple of guys that worked at the club.
So I was walking out of the bathroom and turned back for a moment. I almost plowed right into her when I turned back around and just said, “Oops, excuse me.” She just smiled and shook her head like it wasn’t a problem. Then she turned back to the guy who was talking. I didn’t even know who it was until I sat back down and my friend Sara, who had come with me, told me. I didn’t really think anything about it until later when she was performing. I was stunned. She seemed so small and quiet offstage and dang, she turned into this amazing charismatic singer. It’s not that she was wild or crazy onstage, she just drew in everyone’s attention and had a great voice that I wouldn’t have imagined to come out of her. Yes, that was a great year.
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Tags: Hope Sandoval, local hotels, Mazzy Star