new club joins l.a.'s revitalized core

Charlie Amter reports in today's Los Angeles Times that a new downtown-L.A. club, Versus, is set to open next week in the space that used to house another dance club, the Stock Exchange. The three-story spot at West Sixth and South Spring streets is poised to host DJs, including Skribble, during its inaugural months, but a spokesman tells the Times that it will also be a cultural center that features jazz and plays. Loft-dwelling residents -- most of them new to the area -- are concerned about noise, crime and disruption sometimes affilated with alcohol-fueled establishments.

With two huge club nights -- Avaland at Avalon Hollywood and Giant at Vanguard -- monopolizing just about all the up-tempo DJ talent the L.A. market can handle (not to mention one-offs), it's unclear how Versus will differentiate itself and avoid the fate of the hip-hop-driven cheese emporium Stock Exchange became.

Extra credit: Amter notes that another downtown club, Crash Mansion, a much-hyped venue for live rock and DJ-driven music that was the sister to a club in Manhattan, has closed. The spot, the scene of a fatal shooting, also apparently had its liquor license suspended before its doors closed. That Januarary shooting took the life of a 19-year-old, and there were witness reports that underage drinking was happening at the venue.
[Los Angeles Times photo of the Versus big room by Lawrence K. Ho].