Local artists receive opportunity to perform at The Lab Gastropub


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The Lab Gastropub, located across from campus on Figueroa Street, has long been known for its cuisine and casual ambiance. What it isn’t known for is providing students a place to hear the best local bands Los Angeles has to offer. But with its new Live at The Lab summer music series, The Lab and USC Hospitality is trying to change that.

The brainchild of Michele Zaccone, senior manager of restaurants for USC Hospitality, Live at The Lab brings a new local artist or band to perform at The Lab every Thursday this summer. The idea for the series came from Zaccone’s experiences performing in the occasionally perilous Los Angeles music scene.

“Having played the Hollywood circuit, a lot of major venues make you ‘pay to play’ as an original artist and I wanted to create a platform to showcase their talent without those barriers,” Zaccone said in a press release from USC Hospitality. “My hope is for Live at The Lab to be a sought after location for local artists as a venue to perform build a foundation and impact the music scene in [Downtown Los Angeles].”

Thursday marked the first installation in the series and featured performances by singer-songwriters Melia Scaletty at 8 p.m. and RoseBud at 9 p.m.

The setup itself wasn’t especially extravagant. Performers played outside at The Lab’s patio level and were lit by a few small lights. In addition, their performances were fed through a small mixer or PA system through two small speakers. Although occasionally the levels weren’t great and speakers would crackle or feedback, this seemed more like growing pains that the people working on the series will eventually fix.

Immediately, it seemed like the performers were more of a background element for patrons of The Lab. While each artist had a few friends in attendance, most people seemed to have come to The Lab of their own accord and the sound system was not loud to the point of being disruptive. Scaletty performed first, armed with a keyboard and a beautiful, clearly well-trained voice. Her set felt like a standard singer-songwriter setup, with a few originals and a lot of covers, such as Neil Young’s “Heart of Gold” and Bob Marley’s “Waiting in Vain,” which she managed to keep interesting by transposing the tunes to piano.

Following Scaletty was RoseBud, who substituted Scaletty’s keyboard for accompaniment from a man playing guitar and adding vocal harmonies. RoseBud’s bluesier voice and the slight difference in setup made the act feel unique, but not so different that it would seem jarring to audience members. RoseBud’s set was constructed similarly to Scaletty’s, with a few originals peppered in with covers like John Legend’s “All of Me,” Foo Fighters’ “Big Me” and Ella Fitzgerald’s “Dream a Little Dream of Me.” Overall, both acts made for charming additions to The Lab’s general ambiance.

The Lab is currently fully booked for May and June, and is currently booking acts for dates in July and August. In the future, The Lab is planning on hosting a Jazz Night on May 26 and Brie Goldsoble and Lola Rhodes on June 16.  Student-musician Lani Renaldo will perform on June 23 and  artist Alex Nestler will play a show on June 30. Among other performers who will make appearances are alternative bands Alchemy Heroes and Darklung. These acts are all local artists in L.A.’s thriving music community. There is no cover fee and the seating is on a first come, first serve basis.