Yes, it’s a sad day for fans of Chapel, the hipster/sometimes kinda gay lounge located in the rear of an old funeral home at Melrose & Pine. (Fun Fact: Bruce Lee’s Funeral happened there!) Today, Wednesday, August 31 is its final day of business but they are going out in style with a Good Bye/Limbo Island Karaoke Party starting at 8pm.
The Chapel is closing… we know… sad.
We are throwing a Island / Limbo party for our last night of Karaoke!
THINK Gilligans Island, Copacabana, Beach Boys “Kokomo”, B 52’S “ROCK LOBSTER”!! AND Gidget!!
There will be intense rounds of limbo…. and the stick may or may not be on fire.
I’ve only gone to Chapel ONCE in the few years it’s been in existence but it was a memorable visit. I went with friends of mine, a straight couple, who were also my next door neighbors…to protect their identity, we’ll call them Boo and LaLa Buffet. We drove down from top of the Hill and parked a few blocks away and got ourselves nicely settled in a balcony seating area with some friends of LaLa. Eventually, Mr. Boo and I went outside for a smoke and while standing around shooting the shit, a young man approached us, said hi, and gave Boo his I.D. The kid thought Boo was the door guy. Boo sagely glanced at the I.D. and handed it back to the kid and said, “You’re good.” The kid then proceeded to walk inside the door to immediately be confronted by the real doorman wanting to see his I.D. The kid stammered, “But, I already showed it to the doorman outside!” The real doorman wasn’t amused, and came outside to chew out Boo, threatening to 86 us from the premises. Boo naturally defended himself; “Hey, I didn’t ASK the kid for his I.D.! He volunteered it…is it my fault you weren’t out here doing your job?”
Surprisingly enough, the dude didn’t kick us out and we went back in to consume more fancy, expensive cocktails. After a relatively short period of time, we were somewhat pickled and at one point, though this is vehemently denied by Miss LaLa, she got tipsy enough to tumble off the ottoman she was sitting on, with her skirt flying up over her head. (LaLa: “That did NOT happen! I wasn’t even WEARING a SKIRT that night!”)
Eventually, the night wound down and we left Chapel. Walking back to the car, Boo revealed he got revenge on the club by swiping a martini glass which enraged his wife and things got a bit rocky as they bickered. We got in the car, Boo driving (Note: he wasn’t drunk…well, maybe a tad, but he had a higher tolerance than his wife and myself). The quarreling between the two intensified and in the short time it took to drive 4 blocks to Olive & Broadway, things were heated enough for the occupants of the car next to us at the stop light to shout encouragement at Miss LaLa: “You tell him off, Girl!”
By the time we made it to the top of the Hill, she was royally pissed, and started jumping out of the car before it was even done parking, and started screaming, “It’s over Boo Buffet! It’s OVER!” Then proceeded to kick MY front door, which opened and scared the crap out of my brother. This sobered her up slightly and I think she stormed inside her own apartment to quickly pass out go to bed.
Happily, Boo and LaLa are still together to this day, and now have 23 beautiful children and a mortgage. (I exaggerate…slightly.) And, Miss LaLa denies to this day, the “falling off the ottoman/skirt flying over her head” incident. Sadly, Chapel, like Bruce Lee, is no more.
A toast to Chapel and all its many ghosts.
