The Cobalt, a relatively small venue in the suburban San Fernando Valley, hosted an unusually high number of bands that later established successful careers, including AFI, Less Than Jake, Link 80, Avenged Sevenfold, California Redemption, and Valley locals Strung Out, Second Rate, Linkin Park, Hoobastank, and Incubus.
During this period, Cobalt performances typically included acoustic music, weekly poetry readings, and an open mic night.
Additionally, the Cobalt hosted events including open mics, poetry reading,[2] and a non-denominational youth worship group.
The Cobalt was also home to several paintings and murals, with all of the art on display the work of local artists, including many from the San Fernando Valley.
After being dormant nearly six years, the Cobalt Poets group returned for readings in August 2020,[5] as the United States had become the worst hit nation for number of cases and deaths related to the COVID-19 pandemic, making the use of Zoom (the option used by the Poets) and similar videotelephony software programs a normalized option for online multi-person.