The Bank

I'm looking for people that attended concerts or worked at this venue and add to this page. The Bank, at 19840 South Hamilton in Torrance, California, about 20 miles Southwest of Los Angeles, is one of the least remembered and most obscure venues in Southern California. Although it was only open for about six months in the second half of 1968, numerous fine bands played there, mostly from San Fran

cisco, suggesting some sort of connections with San Francisco rock promoters or band managers. The posters for the shows, pleasant but unimpressive, still circulate, which has been just about the only source for information about shows at The Bank. A few listings in local newspapers (such as The Pasadena Star-News) confirm some of the poster dates. Torrance, California is an industrial suburb of Los Angeles, about 20 miles South of LA. Torrance has some beachfront, but the nearby coastal towns of Redondo Beach and Palos Verdes are better known. Torrance extends several miles inland, and The Bank was on the inland edge of town, close to the intersection of the Harbor (I-110) and San Diego (I-405) Freeways. The site of The Bank had previously been a venue called The Blue Law Ballroom. For further history on The Bank (Blue Law Ballroom) check out Corry Arnold's amazing blog: http://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2010/08/bank-19840-south-hamilton-avenue.html


"The building was like a rec center, located in the heart of a typical suburban Los Angeles community. The stage had no private rear entrance or dressing rooms, and the groups that were scheduled to perform simply walked through the front door, past the people that had come to see them play, and right up the stage steps."
~ Michael Stuart-Ware of the band "Love" from his book "Love: Behind the Scenes: On the Pegasus Carousel with the Legendary Rock Group Love"


"Another popular spot was The Blue Law in Torrance. It looked like a converted warehouse with a stage built inside. The whole interior of the building was lit with black and strobe lights and people would bring florescent paint and draw psychedelic art on the floor, walls and each other. It was a high energy place and if already tripping on psychedelics, the contact high as you walked in only enhanced things even more because of the vibrations in the air. The main attraction at the Blue Law was a band called "Canned Heat." Their sound was a blend of blues, country and psychedelic rock. One night the lead singer, nicknamed Bear, a large brother weighing close to three hundred pounds with a full beard and hair down to his waist, came riding up to the stage on an elephant wearing a turban and an Indian type sari, a pretty mind blowing image when stoned on L*D with black lights and the flickering strobes doing their thing. Bands were outrageous and creative during those days because they were usually as high as their audiences and generally did things spontaneously while playing off the crowd's energy."
~ B.A. Freeman from his book "Storm Riders Messengers of Change"


"The final concert was set for Sunday evening, May 5th at the Long Beach Sports Arena, topping a bill that featured Country Joe and the Fish, Canned Heat, The Hook, and Smokestack Lightning. The media had announced that the Springfield were to appear earlier in the afternoon of the 5th at a benefit for the American Indian held at the The Blue Law club in Torrance in suburban Los Angeles before heading down to Long Beach to close the show. Also featured at the benefit were Buffy St. Marie, Big Brother and the Holding Company, The Airplane, Pacific Gas and Electric, Hunger and several members of The Monkees, who Steve admitted to having no immediate plans. However, both had already entered into tentative discussions with other as yet unnamed parties to pursue a fresh start."
~ Regarding Buffalo Springfield from the book "For What It's Worth, The Story of Buffalo Springfield" by John Einarson and Richie Furay


"Much of his inspiration came from the harmonies of Mary Ford, the Beach Boys and the Association, but the arrangements were very much Richard’s own. It was the new rock bands, however, that were receiving most of the interest at the time, and Spectrum suffered in consequence. Although they played support dates at such major venues as The Blue Law and The Whisky A-Go-Go, the band was short-lived, and Richard and Karen were soon on their own once more."
~ From Karen and Richard Carpenters Bio (www.richardandkarencarpenter.com)


"Spectrum performed at The Blue Law and, The Whisky A-Go-Go- and The Troubadour. From Carpenters Special Souvenir written by Dick Tatham Karen recalls, "At the Whisky, the customers sat and listened to us. That's wasn't what the club wanted. If you sit, you don't dance. If you don't dance, you don't get thirsty. In that case, you don't spend. Once we opened a Steppenwolf show at the Blue Law, which was a big warehouse. At first, the audience was so restive, we thought we were going to get killed. But we kept going and they shut up and listened."
~ From Lead Sister Forums regarding Karen Carpenter and Spectrum (www.leadsister/forum.com)


"Carpenters..Karen Carpenter..the saddest girl in the world with a beautiful voice..Richard Carpenter arranged most of the songs and wrote the great "Top of the World". The Carpenters opened for Steppenwolf at the Blue Law in 1968!"
~ Line 158 of Folkstation. Carpinteria Coyote Review