Support for LAist comes from
Local and national news, NPR, things to do, food recommendations and guides to Los Angeles, Orange County and the Inland Empire
Stay Connected
Listen
🗳️ Voter Game Plan: We're here to help you make sense of your ballot

Share This

How To LA

The Conga Room Will Permanently Close Its Doors After 25 Years

A view looking up at the large sign for The Conga Room at LA Live with the name of the nightclub written in all capital white letters that light up at night, set against red and gray conga drums, trimmed at the bottom with what looks like yellow flames.
The sign for The Conga Room at LA Live, its second location in Los Angeles. The nightclub closes March 27 after 25 years.
(
Diana Connolly via Flicker
)

A place to discover Latin artists and dance salsa or bachata all night, the Conga Room, founded by entrepreneur Brad Gluckstein, became a Los Angeles institution, backed with some major star power.

Jennifer Lopez, Sheila E., Jimmy Smits, and Paul Rodriguez were among the initial investors and at least two of them occasionally performed in the space.

A smiling light-skinned man in jeans and a sport coat stands between smiling actor Jimmy Smits, tall with a graying beard and dark hair and also wearing a sport coat, and smiling comedian Paul Rodriguez, shorter and wearing a dark suit and a black fedora hat.
Conga Room founder Brad Gluckstein stands between early investors in the nightclub, actor Jimmy Smits and comedian Paul Rodriguez
(
Eddie Sakaki
/
Conga Room
)

The backstory

Other Latin music clubs existed in L.A., but the vibe of the Conga Room was new to the city in the late 90s. The L.A. Times described it as having “two things most [salsa clubs] didn’t: money and taste.”

Support for LAist comes from

It first opened on Wilshire Boulevard in 1998 with Celia Cruz headlining the intimate venue with the hit “Que Le Den Candela.”

An older woman with light brown skin and blond curls to her shoulders stands on stage smiling with a microphone in front of drum cymbals and a lit up sign that appears to spell out "Conga Room"
Celia Cruz performs at the Conga Room
(
Courtesy of the Conga Room
)
The Brief

Attendees over the years could catch acts ranging from Tito Puente to Ivy Queen to Bad Bunny, and performers of other genres also came across the stage. The venue shifted from salsa club to pan-Latin and world music.

In the 90s, you might have seen South African trumpeter Hugh Masekala, as well as Prince play the Conga Room. Private events included the post-Grammy win party for Carlos Santana, where a dinner of 125 attendees sang “Las Mañanitas” to Edward James Olmos for his birthday.

The space was “old Havana for the new millennium,” Gluckstein says.

By 2008, the Conga Room had outgrown its Miracle Mile location and moved to a larger space, downtown, at LA Live. More artists, including Black Eyed Peas rapper and producer will.i.am were brought on as investors. The new venue was nearly three times as large, with a VIP area, and a lot more parking. Food was “nueva Latina” cuisine and the “pan-Latin” interior was designed in collaboration with artists Jorge Pardo and Sergio Arau.

Support for LAist comes from

The venue was all the rage.

“You get 1100 people in a room listening to some beautiful Latin sounds…It's going to be more than lively,” says actor and Conga Room investor Jimmy Smits with a laugh.

How To LA logo (graphical text) with LAist Studios logo (graphical text) with 6th street bridge in the background; with red to orange vertical gradient as background color
Listen 12:21
#257: Today, we’re saying goodbye to a space with a storied legacy in this city — the Conga Room. The Latin nightclub opened in 1998, and brought in artists ranging from Celia Cruz and Tito Puente to Maluma and Bad Bunny.  The club’s star studded list of investors included Jennifer Lopez, Sheila E., comedian Paul Rodriguez, and actor Jimmy Smits.  This week, the Conga Room is closing its doors. 

The Conga Room was a place to be in L.A. LAist’s Cynthia Covarrubias, senior human resources generalist, says she would go to the Wilshire location as “a young, professional Latina trying to find [her] place in the club world.”

Besides, her roommate at the time “really wanted to meet Jennifer Lopez.”

Why it's closing

The reasons this beloved venue are closing are two-fold.

Support for LAist comes from

As Gluckstein puts it, some of the reasons behind the venue’s closure are obvious — the effects of the pandemic and the economy. Rising rents at LA Live coupled with changes in music booking trends also meant the Conga Room wasn’t seeing the numbers it was used to.

“A staple of our venue was being able to attract international artists in a small venue,” says Gluckstein. But post pandemic, Gluckstein says, “royalties and other means of survival for the artists were tougher.” Artists who would normally stop by the Conga Room couldn’t afford a smaller stop on a tour, and there weren’t enough private events coming through the space to make it profitable.

The venue will be closing up in style, however, with a friends and family celebration on March 27th, hosted by Smits and Paul Rodriguez. The music-filled event will include performances by Salsa legend Gilberto Santa Rosa, and a jam session led by Jerry Rivera, Andy Vargas, and Reggaetón sensation BLESSD.

“I opened the Conga Room because I was a salsa aficionado, you know, I lived and died for it,” says Gluckstein.

A large band with several percussion instruments — conga drums, cymbals,  snare drums — performs on stage with a light skinned man to the side of the band, with gray hair in glasses and a dark suit, singing.
Tito Puente performs on stage at the Conga Room
(
Courtesy of the Conga Room
)

Despite the sadness and nostalgia conjured up around the closure, Gluckstein is still finding joy in salsa, and in bringing music to classrooms around Southern California.

There’s a passing of the torch with the non profit Conga Kids, also founded by Gluckstein in 2016.

Support for LAist comes from

“We're into this thing called the Conga Kids, which is serving many Los Angeles schools with bringing music and culture to young people,” Smits says. “So it's like another generation passing down to another generation.”

A group of eight elementary school aged children, most with brown hair and light brown skin, stand together in a line wearing different colored t-shirts — light green, yellow and turquoise — in front of a sign that says  "The Conga Room" set against black and red conga drums
LA students that are part of the Conga Kids program
(
Eddie Sakaki
/
Courtesy of the Conga Room
)

What's next

Conga Kids brings music and dance from the African diaspora, where Latin music has roots, to 18 school districts across Southern California. That includes dances and genres like merengue, cumbia, salsa, and hip-hop. It’s got programs specific to 4th and 5th grades but includes school assemblies and family workshops for students in both elementary and middle school. Schools can request the Conga Kids program online through its website.

Working with the dancers, musicians, and artists in the Conga Kids program means “it's hard to be sad,” says Gluckstein.

And Smits adds that the Conga Room will "live on because music lives on, and music transcends everything.”

Take action during our fall member drive!
During this critical election, we’re spending less time fundraising, but we can’t raise less of the vital funding needed to keep trusted local news strong. Donate now to return to uninterrupted coverage sooner.
Most Read