Largo

Largo is a nightclub and cabaret in West Hollywood, CA, known informally as Café Largo or Club Largo.

Owner Mark Flanagan. a Belfast native, founded Café Largo in the early 1990s with two partners. The club had a moment of notoriety in 1992 when the Jewish Defense League, an extremist Zionist organization with a history of violence, threatened "trouble" if a planned concert on behalf of Palestinian causes was not cancelled; for the safety of patrons, Flanagan complied. The business did not succeed and, buying out Flanagan, the other partners turned it into a sports bar, which failed.

In 1995 Flanagan's wife purchased the property and together they re-established Largo as an intimate cabaret with live music mainly in the piano bar tradition. They divorced in 1997.

Largo has barely 40 seats (full capacity: 112) and regularly sells out, with frequent sightings of celebrity musicians in the audience.

Flanagan is the business manager for musician-producer Jon Brion and persuaded Brion to take a regular Friday-night residence at Largo. Brion's extensive friendships brought more talented singer-songwriters, notably including Aimee Mann, Michael Penn, Fiona Apple, and the late Elliott Smith, but over the years including Neil Finn, Mr. E, Robyn Hitchcock, John Doe, Rickie Lee Jones, Jakob Dylan, Benmont Tench, Brad Mehldau, and many others less well known.

Former Toad the Wet Sprocket singer/songwriter Glen Phillips performs regularly and has even recorded a live album Live at Largo at the club. Andy Prieboy also developed his musical White Trash Wins Lotto at the club.

The typical Largo show involves a mix of music and stand-up comedy. Mann and Penn developed a road show called Acoustic Vaudeville on the Largo format, which they have taken to Chicago and New York. Seinfeld co-creator Larry David is seen performing stand-up comedy at Largo in his 1999 HBO special "Larry David: Curb Your Enthusiasm".

Brion names the genre celebrated by Largo as "unpopular pop", and underlines the emphasis on lyrics with "We're all song sluts here." Many of the Largo regulars have had infamous histories of albums their labels won't release. Though generally tied together by this common esthetic, performers come from many traditions including country, rock, and cabaret.

List of people to perform at Largo

 * Adam Green
 * Aimee Mann
 * Andrew Bird
 * Benmont Tench
 * Beth Orton
 * Bic Runga
 * Brad Mehldau
 * Bob Odenkirk
 * Colin Hay
 * Daniel Lanois
 * Dave Foley
 * David Cross
 * David Garza
 * Elliot Smith
 * Emmylou Harris
 * Evan Dando
 * Fiona Apple
 * Fountains of Wayne
 * Glen Phillips
 * Grant Lee Phillips
 * Greg Behrendt
 * Greg Fitzsimmons
 * Greg Proops
 * Harold Budd
 * Mark Flanagan
 * Mitchell Froom
 * Jakob Dylan
 * Jill Sobule
 * Joe Henry
 * Jon Brion
 * John Doe
 * Josh Ritter
 * Jude
 * Karen Kilgariff
 * Kathleen Edwards
 * Kathy Griffin
 * Larry David
 * Liam Finn
 * Lisa Germano
 * Loudon Wainwright III
 * M. Ward
 * Margaret Cho
 * Mary Lynn Rajskub
 * Michael Penn
 * The Naked Trucker Show (featuring Dave "Gruber" Allen and David Koechner)
 * Nick Swardson
 * Nickel Creek
 * Neil Hamburger
 * Neil Finn
 * Nels Cline
 * Patton Oswalt
 * Paul F. Tompkins
 * Peter Case
 * Rhett Miller
 * Rickie Lee Jones
 * Robyn Hitchcock
 * Ron Sexsmith
 * Rufus Wainwright
 * Sarah Silverman
 * Tenacious D
 * The Section Quartet
 * Todd Carlin
 * Tom Brosseau
 * Sam Phillips
 * Sara Watkins
 * Sean Hayes
 * Zach Galifianakis