LOS ANGELES _ The Whisky a Go Go, which has occupied the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Clark Street on and off since 1964, has seen its share of action.
This is the joint, after all, where go-go dancing was born, where Otis Redding brought soul to the Sunset Strip, where the Doors played almost 100 times, where the Go-Go's, the Runaways and L.A. punk bands the Germs and X got early career boosts and where Guns N' Roses and a legion of metalheads fomented a movement.
That history seemed inconsequential on a recent Friday night as a trio of weekend warriors called Third Power Project stood in front of a crowd of a few dozen tourists and fellow travelers.
Now a "pay-to-play" venue, the Whisky long ago stopped chasing next-generation visionaries.
That night, one vocalist read lyrics from a music stand.
Behind the bar, two bartenders looked at each other and grimaced after a particularly bum bass note. In the balcony, a middle-aged rocker with a KISS road crew T-shirt and some friends nodded their heads.
This year, the Whisky marked a sad milestone when its longtime manager and owner, Mario Maglieri, died at age 93.
The club is still owned by the Maglieri family, and Mario's granddaughter, Tisa Mylar, serves as the on-the-floor general manager.
She stood outside the club with a bouncer while, inside, a white rapper and his producer had taken the stage and were spitting some amateur rhymes.
"You came on a slow Friday," Mylar said before encouraging a departing club-goer to return the next night. The heavy metal group Hellyeahwas headlining.
"It'll be packed tomorrow night," the bouncer added.
