The Conga Room is a Los Angeles nightlife and private events location. Founded in 1998, the Conga Room's first location was on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, CA. The Conga Room is now located in Downtown Los Angeles' L.A. Live across from the

Staples Center Crypto.com Arena (originally and colloquially known as Staples Center) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in downtown Los Angeles. Opened on October 17, 1999, as Staples Center, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along F ...

and continues to be the premier destination for pan-Latino night-life entertainment and beyond.

History

Beginning in 1998 as a venue for salsa music performances, the Conga Room expanded its booking to incorporate artists in other genres: pop/rock, EDM, world beat, jazz, and hip hop. As it outgrew its old location, the club reopened on December 10, 2008 at the L.A. Live district in downtown Los Angeles. The new club, with and a capacity of about 1,000, is nearly three times the size of the old club. Designed by Belzberg Architects, The Conga Room has a VIP area with views of the

and Nokia Plaza. The club has hosted record launches, movie debuts, award shows and after-parties for various entertainment, social, political and sporting events. It hosted the press conference that announced the 2001 Latin Grammy Award winners. The Conga Room is co-owned by

Jimmy Smits Jimmy L. Smits (born July 9, 1955) is an American actor. He is best known for playing attorney Victor Sifuentes on the legal drama ''L.A. Law'', NYPD Detective Bobby Simone on the police drama ''NYPD Blue'', and Matt Santos on the political dr ...

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, Paul Rodriguez, Sheila E.,

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Baron Davis Baron Walter Louis Davis (born April 13, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player who is a studio analyst for the ''NBA on TNT''. He was a two-time NBA All-Star, made the All-NBA Third Team in 2004, and twice led the NBA in st ...

Trevor Ariza Trevor Anthony Ariza (born June 30, 1985) is an American former professional basketball player who spent 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). A small forward, Ariza played college basketball for one season with the UCLA Bruins ...

, and

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among others.

Architecture

The original venue was closed with the intention of reopening a new venue at the LA Live campus with a more space, sophistication and design. The new 15,0000 square foot venue would house a large dance floor, a stage, multiple VIP areas, three bars, and a full-service restaurant. The Belzberg Architects collaborated with Cuban artists Jorge Prado to design the famous Papaya Bar and Mexican muralist Sergio Arau to design the Surface Tattoos in the restaurant, Boca.

Notable events

*The

Carlos Santana Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán (; born July 20, 1947) is an American guitarist, best known as a founding member of the Rock music, rock band Santana (band), Santana. Born and raised in Mexico where he developed his musical background, he r ...

post-

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

party in 2000. *The 2nd Annual

Latin Grammy Awards The Latin Grammy Awards (stylized as Latin GRAMMYs) are awards presented by the Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music, Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish language, S ...

announcement press conference in 2001 due to the show's cancellation on September 11, 2001.

References

External links

congaroom.com
{{Coord, 34.04523, -118.26550, region:US-CA_type:landmark, display=title Music venues in Los Angeles