The Waffle Behind the Bass: The story of Bass Waffles.

Bass Waffles is a show based in Los Angeles, California. Taking place in a small bar in Highland Park, The Offbeat Bar on York Blvd. This show is known for it's free bass, free waffles, talented DJ's, and an all accepting, quirky community.

What is Bass Waffles to the average person? Bass Waffles is a show that had been running live for 3 years before Covid and during the pandemic the show has been found online. Most of the shows have a theme like “New Years in November”, the sports bar theme that was called “Home Team or No Team”, and “Bass Waffles Shark Week” just to name a few. The creators always try to pair the waffles that are made at these shows with the theme of the show. When in doubt though, they turn to the waffle master Mac Angell also known by his DJ name Namu. As the show began to grow so did the shenanigans. Ed Renn has been known to show up in his 80`s track suit, the crew has thrown a Halloween party to die for, and my personal favorite, a burlesque dancer who covered herself in syrup. It got nothing but sticky.

What did it take to create this space for people to come together and be who they are? This show was thought up through a trial-and-error process by Ed Renn and David Westbom. Then came the resident DJ's. Originally consisting of Low-J, Pee Wee, Circadian Riff and Zero the Hero. As lives changed so did the resident Dj's, now the resident DJs consist of Kimothy Leary, Pee Wee, Pastry, Low-J, and Circadian Riff. Even with a great idea and talented DJ`s this show wouldn't be possible without the community. To get the show going members of the community like Fuzzy Puddles have come together to support and promote this show. Multiple friends have donated sound equipment and lights, friends and resident DJ's show up early for stage set up, & the money for shenanigans to purchase things like a Hennessey Rig also come from the commmunity. Squid Emoji puts together the mind blowing visuals for the show & lastly, there is also time donated at the show to cook the waffles by members of the community for all to enjoy.

The plans for Bass Waffles is to keep the local show at The Off Beat Bar. The working goal for Bass Waffles was and is to start touring with the show. The show had already made an appearance at the Subdrip show located in San Diego, CA; Wormhole in Oakland, CA and Nickle Fucking Beer Night in Las Vegas. Bass Waffles also had a stage at Love Long Beach and Northern Nights. We will be seeing more of this crew at the festivals we love as the world starts to reopen.

After listening to Ed Renn talk about the show and what it has taken to become what it is today, I couldn't help but ask, "What has this show done for you?" His response was, "It taught me a lot about my strengths and weaknesses. It has also taught me a whole lot about community. I don't know how much I believed in community in this sense before." This community hasn't only brought this lesson to Ed but to many people who were looking for connections with others like themselves. Thank you all for creating that space.

Covid didn't shut these guys down, just paused the live events. Bass Waffles can still be found the last Sunday of every month on the streaming website Twitch. Just search BASSWAFFLESLA and click the follow button.

Fuck pancakes and stay sticky!