Chelton Miyazon and Mario C. had a rhinestone party the night before the Sept. 1st show the Beyonce Renaissance tour.
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Ashley Balderrama
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for LAist
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Topline:
Beyoncé kicked off the LA leg of her "Renaissance" tour to a sold-out crowd on Friday night, the first of three shows in Inglewood. LAist.com caught up with fans at SoFi to capture their fabulous styles on their way to see the Queen.
The backstory: Beyoncé had clear instructions for fans headed to the shows this weekend — to decked out in their “most fabulous silver fashions” in celebration of her Sept. 4 birthday.
And so... We oblige. Check out the photos and inspirations behind the Beyhive's outfits.
Virgo season was in full effect Friday night at SoFi Stadium.
Beyoncé kicked off the L.A. leg of her "Renaissance" tour to a sold-out crowd, the first of three nights in Inglewood. The Queen was in top form. So, too, was the Beyhive.
Fans, heeding the call to don their "most fabulous silver fashions," descended on SoFi covered in glitter, silver, chrome, and in some inspired cases, flashing lights.
Cory Brunwasser of West Hollywood said the concert went beyond just being “a safe space for queerness" and was "more like a celebration of queerness, and a celebration of freedom of expression. So it almost doesn't make it safe, it almost invites you to be whatever version of yourself.”
We asked Brunwasser and other fans to strike a pose and tell us what they were most excited about as they came to "slay in silver."
Check out the gallery
Phillipp Cao
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Ashley Balderrama
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LAist
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Phillipp Cao from Los Angeles said he was looking forward to “Just celebrating with everyone" and being "a human disco ball with everyone."
Miss Ramonne
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Ashley Balderrama
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LAist
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Miss Ramonne, of Manila, Philippines, said she had her "whole life flashing" before her, and she was "excited to see the epitome of the best performer of our generation.” She said she got her outfit at For the Stars Fashion House.
Chelton Miyazon and Mario C.
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Ashley Balderrama
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LAist
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Chelton Miyazon, from Orange County, and Mario C. had a rhinestone party the night before the show. “I just love Beyonce’s energy," Miyazon said. "This is my third time seeing her Renaissance tour… I love the representation that she brought to the queer community, especially the Black queer community.”
Tara Woods, Regina Jackson, Christian Demearitt and Chelsea Balentine
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Ashley Balderrama
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LAist
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Tara Woods, Regina Jackson, Christian Demearitt and Chelsea Balentine were there to celebrate Regina's birthday together with Beyoncé. What are they most excited about? "Everything!"
Jesus Rivera
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Ashley Balderrama
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Jesus Rivera of Compton shows off his disco cowboy hat. “I had a whole separate outfit planned, but she said silver and I had to do silver.”
Flicia C., Silvia L, Shavawn L.
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Ashley Balderrama
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Flicia C., Silvia L., Shavawn L., all from Los Angeles, were most looking forward to seeing Blue Ivy and the disco horse entrance. About her outfit, Shavawn said, "The sparkle — I wanted to look like Beyoncé. The cowboy boots were an homage to her.”
Brett Karabinos
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Ashley Balderrama
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LAist
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The details.
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Ashley Balderrama
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LAist
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Brett Karabinos was excited to see Beyonce in person, calling her an "ethereal goddess." "I feel like I naturally have a western aesthetic," he said, "so the fact that Beyoncé has kind of been using cowboy hats and stuff, I wanted to play off of that. And when mother says ‘Wear silver’ baby, you figure it out.”
You needed to see the bottom half of Karabinos' look, so we delivered. “I feel like Beyoncé is such an ethereal goddess, seeing her in like human form, in person, it's like seeing God," Karabinos said.
Sean Verbitsky and Cody Tegtman
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Ashley Balderrama
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LAist
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The makeup looks that Sean Verbitsky and Cody Tegtman were wearing for the first night of Beyoncé Renaissance tour at SoFi Stadium.
Olivia Jones
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Ashley Balderrama
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LAist
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Olivia Jones of Orange County shows off the chrome jacket that she had to get last-minute when Beyoncé asked everyone to wear silver to the show. Olivia said her cousin, Shiona Turini, is one of the stylists on the Renaissance tour, and she emphasized how proud the family is of her.
Cory Brunwasser
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Ashley Balderrama
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LAist
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Cory Brunwasser of West Hollywood said he was most looking forward to being "really gay" as the crowd danced to every song. “Beyoncé said that she wanted the room to look like a human disco ball, and I think I took her direction a little too literally. But honestly it's an opportunity to be a little extra and a little fabulous, and light up the room with fun and excitement. So why not wear that, like from the inside out?”
Christopher Baker
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Ashley Balderrama
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LAist
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Christopher Baker of Los Angeles was most excited to see Blue Ivy and hearing "Break My Soul." Christopher said his outfit was inspired by “'Daddy’s Little Girl,' from Lemonade. I love that country vibe… I just really had to take my own interpretation of it.”
Angel Estrada
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Ashley Balderrama
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LAist
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Angel Estrada of Los Angeles was most excited to hear Beyoncé's voice in person. About the outfit, he said, “I was actually inspired by old Studio 54 photos that I found. And they were like head-to-toe silver paint. So I just wanted to bring back the old club culture." Asked why this concert is so culturally impactful, Angel said, "It's important for a light to shine on that community. Since there really wasn't one before. It's been more of an underground thing, so for it to be on such a big stage like Beyoncé."
Johnjario Garcia
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Ashley Balderrama
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Johnjario Garcia of the San Fernando Valley ordered this unique corset from London specifically for the Beyoncé Renaissance tour. When asked what he was most excited about, he said, "Her!"
Crews prep a replacement pipe following a water main break that flooded streets in West Hollywood, and shut down a portion of Sunset Boulevard.
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Myung J. Chun
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Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
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Topline:
A portion of Sunset Boulevard reopened overnight after LADWP crews finished repairs on a water main break in West Hollywood that shut down the area for more than a week.
The backstory: The 110-year-old water main ruptured on Thursday, flooding streets and damaging businesses.
What's next: LADWP says crews will need to be back to finish up work in the coming weeks.
A portion of Sunset Boulevard reopened overnight after LADWP crews finished repairing a water main break in West Hollywood that shut down the area for more than a week.
The water trunk line broke more than a week ago on Thursday, July 16, flooding streets and opening a sinkhole on Sunset Boulevard. LADWP says crews will need to return in the coming weeks to complete permanent paving and other work.
LADWP also said it's accelerating the installation of a new trunk line to replace the 110-year-old pipe. The infrastructure project, which was originally scheduled to begin installation in 2031, is currently “60% designed” and will take approximately four years to complete.
The historic Westlake Theatre across the street from MacArthur Park opened in 1926 and closed in 1991. A group seeks to revive the space with input from community members.
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Semantha Raquel Norris
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The LA Local
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An L.A. nonprofit theater company wants to buy the century-old Westlake Theatre near MacArthur Park and transform the shuttered movie palace into a community arts and nonprofit hub.
The org: Strindberg Laboratory led about 50 people — including representatives from the Koreatown Youth and Community Center, Homies Unidos, LA Commons and other groups — on a flashlight tour of the vacant theater recently, pitching a shared civic center that could host performances, film screenings, neighborhood council meetings, workshops and office space for nonprofits.
Why it matters: The Westlake neighborhood has few public gathering places, and the proposal would revive a 1926 landmark that has sat largely unused since it closed as a movie theater in 1991 and became an indoor swap meet. Preservation advocates see a chance to restore a historic building while creating badly needed community space.
Armed with flashlights, dozens of community members stepped into the darkened Westlake Theatre on Thursday, sidestepping puddles and broken glass as they imagined what the century-old movie palace could become.
Inside, much of the theater looks frozen in time. Dust coats the staircases leading to the balcony, while rows of worn seats still face the stage beneath peeling painted ceilings and decorative plasterwork. Above the auditorium, a faded Anthony Heinsbergen mural offers a glimpse of the theater’s past.
Los Angeles nonprofit theater company Strindberg Laboratory hopes to change that.
The organization wants to purchase the historic Westlake Theatre and transform it into a community arts and nonprofit hub. Their proposal calls for preserving the space while adapting it into a shared civic center that could host live performances, film screenings, neighborhood council meetings, lectures, arts workshops and office space for community organizations.
The effort is in its early stages.
The building has not been purchased, no major funding has been secured and organizers say community input will help determine what the project ultimately becomes before fundraising begins. The group’s proposal estimates acquiring and restoring the theater would cost between $6 – $8 million.
“This is just the first gathering,” Michael Bierman, founder of Strindberg Laboratory, told The LA Local. “It’s not an exclusive club. We welcome everybody and anybody. Everybody has something to input in their community.”
Bierman wants to create a coalition to see the project come to life. Several organizations have already expressed interest, he said, and about 50 people attended Thursday’s tour, including representatives from the Koreatown Youth and Community Center, Homies Unidos, LA Commons, the Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation, Central City Neighborhood Partners and other community groups.
The Westlake Theatre opened in 1926 as a 1,949-seat vaudeville and movie palace overlooking MacArthur Park, according to the Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation. It operated as a movie theater until 1991, when it closed and was converted into an indoor swap meet. The city’s Community Redevelopment Agency bought the property in 2008 with plans to restore it as a live entertainment venue, but those plans stalled after the agency was dissolved in 2012.
In 2018, the property was sold to 634 Alvarado LLP, an entity controlled by Jamison Properties and today, the ground floor houses a swap meet with small businesses, including clothing vendors, tailors and a barbershop, while the historic auditorium remains unused.
Bierman said the next step is forming a steering committee before seeking philanthropic, local, state and federal funding. If organizers can secure enough partners and financing, he hopes the coalition can purchase the theater by winter. Restoring the building, he said, would likely take several years.
An interior view of the historic Westlake Theatre, which has been closed for at least three decades. The space is vacant on July 23, 2026.
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Semantha Raquel Norris
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What neighbors want to see
For many who attended Thursday’s tour, the proposal was also personal.
Aurora Corona, a former Pico Union Neighborhood Council member, remembers visiting the theater as a child.
“It just brings back memories of the glory of the way it was,” Corona said. “The history is here. So for me, revitalizing and bringing back to what it was is like a dream.”
She said she hopes the restored theater could host performances, international films, festivals and local artists while reflecting the surrounding community.
Sara Zapata Mijares arrived in the Westlake neighborhood from Yucatán in 1969, when she was 17 years old. She remembers when MacArthur Park served as a gathering place for families in the neighborhood.
How to participate
The coalition’s steering committee is expected to meet in the coming weeks to discuss the project’s next steps.
Residents and organizations interested in joining the effort can email Strindberg Laboratory to participate in the discussion.
“This used to be a park where my dad and I used to come and have picnics and he would play ballgaming here with a lot of families,” she said. “I remember coming to the park and coming to watch movies here.”
Zapata Mijares said reviving the theater could also help nearby businesses. Visitors to the nearby Mexican Consulate, she said, could help boost the local economy if they stayed in the neighborhood to shop or eat after their appointments.
The idea to transform the theater into a community hub grew out of Strindberg Laboratory’s own search for a permanent home after rising rental costs made it increasingly difficult to continue working out of the Frida Kahlo Theater. But after touring the three-story building, Bierman realized the space was too large for a single organization.
“We dreamed of a community public space that also is a hub for culture and arts and theater and films and education and newspaper and all those things that every single community needs,” Bierman said.
What happens to the swap meet?
The effort faces practical questions beyond raising millions of dollars. The proposal would have to address the future of the businesses already operating inside the building.
Sofía García, who has sold clothing inside the swap meet for about a year, said she hopes a restoration would bring customers back to the space.
“That would be good because it would improve the atmosphere here,” García said in Spanish. “By improving the theater, there would be more people and therefore more sales.”
García estimated her sales fell sharply after parking was removed outside the building and nearby street construction made it difficult for customers to visit her business.
Bierman acknowledged that vendors will have to be part of the conversation if the project moves forward.
“They are part of the community,” he said. “We’re not going to just come in and take over and boot them out. We need to talk to them and see what they want.”
Jesús Sosa Guerra, who recently opened a tailoring business inside the swap meet, said he supports the proposal but worries existing tenants could be displaced.
“It wouldn’t be good to sideline small businesses, because we all need to hustle to make ends meet,” he said in Spanish.
Preservation advocates see the project as an opportunity to restore a historic landmark while creating badly needed public space in a neighborhood with few gathering places.
“This city is filled with talented people who are lacking one very fundamental thing, which is a place to show what they’re capable of and to make connections,” said Kim Cooper, co-founder of Esotouric, a walking tour that explores various neighborhoods around the city.
Cooper said the space could be opened up to people who have bands and want to perform, to book events, to readings, to poetry slams, to any kind of number of things.
“You could have spelling bees, like anything. You could just have a neighborhood potluck. You could have fruit exchanges. I don’t know. I mean, the neighborhood will tell you what they want to do,” she said.
Cooper’s partner, Richard Schave called Bierman’s proposal “an opportunity for a neighborhood that has had perhaps the worst succession of public policy decisions made about it to finally have one decent public policy decision made about it.”
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A Supreme Court ruling stripped Haitian migrants of their temporary legal status. Those with U.S.-born children face an agonizing choice: should they take them back to a still-dangerous Haiti?
Why it matters: By one Princeton researcher's estimate, there are 50,000 children who've been born in the U.S. to Haitian parents with TPS. The loss of those protections means a large new population of mixed-status families are vulnerable to being split apart by the Trump administration's mass deportation drive.
The backstory: The Supreme Court last month allowed the Trump administration to kick 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians out of the Temporary Protected Status program that has allowed them to live and work in the U.S. because of unsafe conditions in their countries.
SAN DIEGO — Josiane Valsaint has lived and worked legally in the U.S. since 2010. But she and hundreds of thousands of other Haitian nationals are set to lose their legal status as soon as Monday, opening the door for federal immigration agents to round them up for deportation.
The question that sends tears streaming down Valsaint's face is: If that happens, what will happen to her 10- and 12-year-old children, born in San Diego, who attend public school here?
"Who's going to take care of my kiddos?" she asked. "They're not adults yet. They were born here." Taking them to Haiti, much of which is now controlled by heavily armed gangs, is not an option, she said.
The Supreme Court last month allowed the Trump administration to kick 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians out of the Temporary Protected Status program that has allowed them to live and work in the U.S. because of unsafe conditions in their countries. There are many uncertainties now agonizing these communities, including how aggressively immigration agents — who have their addresses — will seek to detain them, and what will happen to their children, many of whom are U.S. citizens.
Guerline Jozef is executive director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, a San Diego-based nonprofit that supports Haitian immigrants. She said if the government begins rounding up Haitians whose Temporary Protected Status has been revoked, family separations are likely because most parents can't fathom taking their children back to a country largely controlled by armed gangs.
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By one Princeton researcher's estimate, there are 50,000 children who've been born in the U.S. to Haitian parents with TPS. The loss of those protections means a large new population of mixed-status families are vulnerable to being split apart by the Trump administration's mass deportation drive.
In deciding to strip Haitians of their temporary legal status, the Trump administration has said it's no longer justified because "conditions in Haiti have improved sufficiently to support the return of Haitian nationals' safely. It's also said allowing Haitian migrants to remain is "contrary to the U.S. national interest."
Haitian migrants and advocacy groups have disputed those conclusions. In fact, they say, Haiti is more dangerous now than when the Obama administration first granted TPS to Haitians after the 2010 earthquake that killed hundreds of thousands of people. Haiti's president was assassinated in 2021. Today, armed gangs control vast swaths of the island nation's territory, infrastructure and economy, and restrict the movement of citizens.
Almost invariably, Haitian TPS holders say taking their children there is unfathomable.
"They cannot take those children back to Haiti," said Guerline Jozef, executive director of the San Diego-based Haitian Bridge Alliance, which advocates for Haitian immigrants. "Not because Haiti is not beautiful. Not because there's no hope. But because right now, in July 2026, it is impossible for them to be safe there."
In late June, Haitians in the U.S. with Temporary Protected Status attended an information session at the Haitian Bridge Alliance, in San Diego, about what the loss of their legal status could mean for them and their families — and how to prepare.
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Many Haitian TPS holders, Jozef said, are just beginning to consider the impossible decisions they'll soon face. Leave their children in someone else's care? Take them back to Haiti? Try fleeing to another country?
"I think family separation is more likely," Jozef said. "To take them back with them is not even a choice."
Valsaint, whose 10 and 12-year-olds speak perfect English and sing in a church choir in San Diego, said about her plans only that, "families stick together." And then, her voice catching, she added: "We can't go back to Haiti." She said she's hoping for a miracle.
Sandra, a Haitian woman with TPS who asked NPR to use only her first name because she fears deportation, said her teen son came to her after the Supreme Court ruling and expressedsuicidal thoughts over the prospect of being sent to Haiti, a country he's never been to but whose troubles he's kept up with online.
"I cried," said Sandra, who works as an in-home caretaker in San Diego. "I'm supposed to protect them, and I feel like I'm failing."
It's not clear how aggressively Immigration and Customs Enforcement will move to detain and deport Haitians newly stripped of TPS protections, or how much capacity Haiti has to receive deportation flights. Haiti's top migration official told local reporters that based on a conversation with the U.S. embassy in Haiti, he expects about a thousand deportees to arrive on flights from the U.S. each month.
NPR asked the Department of Homeland Security how it plans to handle the U.S.-born children of Haitians it seeks to detain. In an emailed statement, an unnamed spokesperson wrote, "ICE does not separate families. Parents are asked if they want to be removed with their children or ICE will place the children with a safe person the parent designates. This is consistent with past administration's (sic) immigration enforcement."
Haitian flags at the offices of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, a San Diego nonprofit.
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The statement stressed the administration's longstanding position that Temporary Protected Status was always meant to be temporary.
"For too long, TPS has been allowed to function as a de facto amnesty program," the statement said. "The Trump administration is restoring integrity to the immigration system by ensuring that individuals who no longer qualify for TPS either pursue another lawful immigration status, voluntarily depart using the Department's available return assistance, or face removal in accordance with federal law."
In some states with large Haitian communities, such as Massachusetts, officials have published guides to help parents who want to designate temporary guardians for their U.S. citizen children. Jozef, of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, said advocates are scaling up other support systems to help Haitians make plans to protect themselves and their children in the weeks and months ahead.
On Monday, a lower federal court in D.C. is expected to implement the Supreme Court's ruling allowing TPS for Haitians to end. That would allow immigration agents to begin arrests. Advocates are exploring other legal options and urging Congress to pass a bill that would extend TPS protections for Haitians. It passed the House with support from some Republicans in April, but was blocked by Senate Republicans this week.
If you or someone you know may be considering suicide or is in crisis, call or text 9 8 8 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
J.C. Reifenberg and Jen Smith, co-owners of Scum & Villainy Cantina, who are hoping to expand to Burbank.
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Topline:
If you’re the kind of person who nerds out on Star Wars, Marvel, Game of Thrones, for the past eight years you’ll likely have found your community at Scum and Villainy Cantina in Hollywood. Now the owners are raising money to open a bar and creative culture hub in another location: Burbank.
Why it matters: For those who crave the community of other fans — or feel the desire to cosplay every weekend — Scum and Villainy hits the spot.
Why now: Owners J.C. Reifenberg and Jen Smith want to open the new location, Scum and Villainy: Rendezvous, before Avengers: Doomsday comes out on Dec. 18.
For the past nine years, if you’re the kind of person who nerds out on Star Wars, Marvel, Game of Thrones, or any nerd franchise that exists in the galaxy, you’ll have found your community at Scum and Villainy Cantina in Hollywood.
While the exterior looks like just another unassuming business on the often bustling street, walking in reveals a highly curated space honoring every facet of nerd culture down to the last detail. The design honors the Mos Eisley Cantina in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Custom cocktails allude to different fandoms with names like “Sauron Sour” and “Harley Quinn.”
Scum & Villainy Cantina's bar may look familiar.
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Most importantly, the people enjoying the space are openly expressing their love for these stories and universes, whether that be through intricate costumes or lively debate. It’s a scene one might find after (or before) a sci-fi convention, which is exactly what J.C. Reifenberg, co-owner of Scum and Villainy, intended.
“We wanted to create the post-convention bar experience every night of the week,” Reifenberg said.
As a veteran of such conventions, he’s seen Mark Hamill (who played Luke Skywalker) speak numerous times, but he doesn’t remember any of the speeches. He does remember the people he met at the bar when the long day was over.
Revel in nerd culture (costumes encouraged) at Scum & Villainy.
"The best part about fandom is the community. That’s what people crave,” Reifenberg said. “This geek world has grown up with the kids that fell in love with it and continues to offer comfort, companionship, friendship and opportunity.”
Scum & Villainy Cantina in Hollywood.
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Reifenberg is now taking that concept and doubling down, hoping to create not just another gathering place, but a community hub for makers and creators to learn the craft.
Expanding to Burbank
For the past eight months, he and his wife, Jen Smith, who designed the interior of both establishments, have been crowdsourcing to raise $1 million for Scum and Villainy: Rendezvous, which they hope to open in Burbank, steps below the AMC 16. It’s certainly attracting interest; so far the pair have raised more than $600,000 toward the goal.
Scum & Villainy, open to people of all galaxies.
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Jim Donnelly
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Courtesy Scum & Villainy
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Reifenberg said he can’t confirm an official launch date because they’re waiting on their permits from the Department of Planning in Burbank. But they are shooting to open by the time Avengers: Doomsday comes out on Dec. 18.
“My goal is for people to watch Avengers and walk down the steps to Rendezvous with everybody in the movie theater,” Reifenberg said. “We’ll have ‘No spoilers’ signs up until the last showing of the night is over.”
The new space is 5,200 square feet over two floors. The bottom floor is for the post-convention hangs, similar to the current Scum and Villainy. Upstairs, there will be private dining and a professional podcast and livestreaming studio. Reel Rejects, the movie and television commentary channel on YouTube, is partnering with Rendezvous for live events and recording.
There’s also a multi-purpose room hosting classes taught by entertainment professionals, for which they’ll be tapping some industry heavy hitters. After running Scum and Villainy and working in film and television, including many projects with fellow super nerd Kevin Smith, Reifenberg and Smith have come to know Marc Bernardin (who wrote episodes of Batman: Caped Crusader and Eyes of Wakanda), Fon Davis (who worked at George Lucas’s visual effects company, Industrial Light & Magic), and many more professionals behind geek franchises.
“I’m connected to all these wonderful makers, and these people love to share what they learned,” Reifenberg said, noting that when he grew up in Chicago, not only was there not nearly as much of an industry for this kind of work, but any time he would share his big ideas, his peers would shoot them down as impossible. Not here in Los Angeles.
“Los Angeles is a city of dreamers,” Reifenberg said. “I remember how magical and untouchable these things were. What can I do to help inspire the next kid to do an impossible thing?”
Fundraising for it
The first five investors of $5,000 in the WeFunder campaign for Rendezvous will get to shoot their short films there, and there are plenty of bigger perks as well. Individual tiers go as high as $100,000, offering everything from lifetime discounts to being in a commercial for the space directed by Kevin Smith. (Smith invested $10,000, and has hosted numerous episodes of his podcast Fatman Beyond at the original Scum and Villainy). Then, if the total goes over $750,000 or reaches the total goal of $1 million, everyone who contributed gets extra benefits, such as 20% off merch.
The $1 million amount may seem ambitious, but in 2017, the original Scum and Villainy was just a weekend pop-up instead of a year-round establishment. After announcing it, they sold more than $1 million in tickets from April to July 2017, and they realized they needed to keep it open for the community.
The pair told me so many stories about how Scum and Villainy has changed people’s lives. Some are about couples meeting there on May 4 (yes, May the Fourth, the internationally recognized Star Wars holiday) who then proposed on a later May 4. Others are about people who came to every weekend of the pop-up in costume because it was the first place in their entire lives they felt truly safe to express who they are.
“I have worked in bars and restaurants for 20 years, and I have seen restaurateurs who don’t believe in their concept. They’re not willing to put the time and effort into massaging it to appease the community,” Smith said. “This whole place exists because the community is like ‘Please don’t close.’”
Reifenberg added: “If we build it, they will come.”
