In the late 90s and early 2000s, there simply was no better club night in Los Angeles than Firecracker. There were many things that made it magical, and I have so many good memories from there I cannot even begin to list them. Not only was it the early stomping grounds for many seminal LA artists like Dilated Peoples, Daedalus, Jurassic 5, Beat Junkies and even the Black Eyed Peas (before they had Fergie), it was also the first club to seamlessly mix hip hop with all forms of electronic, from D&B to two-step to house. And it was the first joint to unite all of LA’s disparate cultures — every other Friday night (1st, 3rd and 5th Friday of the month) it was a sea of Latinos, Asians, blacks, whites and everything in between packed like sardines into a sweaty dancing madness. Oh, and the girls were gorgeous. They even had a jazz band downstairs made up of all old Asian dudes. The place was awesome, and single-handedly ignited Chinatown as a party destination (its home, the Grand Star Jazz Club, grew with the club, evolving from a crappy degenerate Chinese restaurant into a fully remodeled night club). Well after 11 years Firecracker is coming to a close tonight, and it will be a sad day. Sure, the last couple years are just pale echoes of what greatness it once was, but it’s still sad to see such an institution turn off the lights. The Firecracker crew will still be throwing occasional events, but it’s leaving the place it’s called home since its birth in 1998.

Farewell Firecracker, thanks for making LA a better place…