Moroccan Lounge

From Soft to Loud, the Moroccan Lounge Shows off its Sound with Jaws of Love and Tennis System

Last night was a particularly special in Los Angeles. The founders of Downtown LA’s Teragram Ballroom held an industry preview for their latest addition, The Moroccan Lounge. Located in the budding DTLA Arts District, this older building has been revamped to serve as possibly your new favorite spot to catch a show.

Upon entering the 275 capacity space, attendees were led through a narrow hallway that opened up into a small lobby which offered some appealing eats from the full kitchen. Following the lobby, we practically walked directly into the luxurious lounge which boasts a beautiful bar aside the cozy couches and booths. Lights shone through a double doorway ahead, which led to the main event.

The Moroccan Lounge holds a very intimate music room with a state of the art stage. Music industry pals got a taste of just what this venue has to offer with LA’s own Tennis System. The punk trio instantly tested the waters with their large wall of noise. Frontman, Matty Taylor surprises with his very shoegazy and almost distant vocals amidst the shudder of guitar and banging drums. The room topped off to catch this rock band flavor the stage with a set that had no pauses.

Jaws of Love at the Moroccan Lounge shot by Danielle Gornbein

As if the audience couldn’t be any more spoiled, we had the pleasure of catching the debut performance of Jaws of Love. The new project is that of Local Natives’ Kelcey Ayer. After advising silence, Ayers led us into an intriguingly dark world where his keyboard does the talking. As always, Ayers shines with his distinct and lifting voice. In mid-July, Jaws of Love caught attention with the release of the self-titled ballad, which led to a few more track releases at a time all leading up to the upcoming release of the debut record Tasha Sits Close To The Piano on September 21st.

The record is appropriately named after Ayers’ and his wife’s pet husky, who is known to have given the initial approval of this work.

Ultimately this project swoons listeners and gives us a taste of Ayers’ deepest thoughts that didn’t have the specific place with Local Natives as a band. It was such a treat to witness a musician purely in his element—blending together some R&B with hints of melodic folk and synth.

Circling back to the factors of this new venue, I will say that I believe the response will be nothing short of positive. For one, the acoustics were flawless. Then you had two disco balls framing the stage, which shimmered from the U-shaped top of the line lighting mechanics.

The intrigue will only force itself upon fans with the first round of shows featuring Grizzly Bear, BØRNS, and our personal local favorites, The Dead Ships.

Check out more upcoming shows at the Moroccan Lounge here, and follow them on Facebook.

Words & Photography: Danielle Gornbein