Madame Wong's

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Esther and George Wong opened Madame Wong's in the early 70's. The Chinese restaurant originally featured live music from Polynesian dance acts. In 1978, Paul Greenstein, a Los Angeles punk fan and promoter, began approaching George about hosting punk shows in the struggling restaurant. Esther was initially resistant, but was eventually convinced by the urging of her husband and children and by the rising popularity of punk shows hosted by Greenstein at the nearby Atomic Cafe. Eventually, Esther Wong took over booking from Greenstein and started hosting power-pop and new wave acts, later including hard rock and heavy metal bands. Black Flag, Los Lobos, Guns 'n' Roses, The Police, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Go-Go's, X and the Ramones were among the many up-and-coming acts that performed at Madame Wong's. A fire closed the original Madame Wong's in 1985 and the building was later converted into apartments. In 2009, Ben Kramer and his two roommates began hosting small 200-capacity shows in their apartment. They advertised the space under the old "Madame Wong's" name and hosted acts like Vampire Weekend, Devendra Banhart, Smith Westerns and Wavves. In 2010, the building was sold to new owners and the tenants were asked to move out, effectively ending the second life of Madame Wong's.