Scenes from the Foo Fighters' Night at the Roxy

My colleague Rob scored a pair of tickets to the Foo Fighters' intimate Roxy show last Friday night, and I tagged along to see the Dave Grohl and the band up close -- really up close. The show was timed to the premiere of the Los Angeles episode of Grohl's excellent HBO series "Sonic Highways." The band played for about two and a half hours, and besides Foo Fighters hits, also covered songs like "Under Pressure" and "Sympathy for the Devil." Guests included Joe Walsh (who also appears in the episode) and Perry Farrell. I don't get to see many concerts these days (fyi i'm old) but I dropped everything to show up (thanks to my tremendously understanding wife) and I'm glad I did.


Up close


Dave, bathed in red, with Pat Smear behind him.


My right ear still is ringing a bit, days later, from being that close. No regrets.


Dave watches on as guest Joe Walsh grabs the guitar.


Joe Walsh jams.


Hey, look who made it on stage! Perry Farrell sings Jane's Addiction's "Mountain Song."


Perry Farrell, up close.


Now that's an unusual trio: Dave Grohl, Perry Farrell and Joe Walsh.


Dave on the mic


At one point, Dave made it to the other end of the Roxy and hopped on the bar. Well, he needed a shot.


Sometimes, Dave Grohl is just a mass of hair.


Dave tells us he'd love to keep playing all night long... but he does have to take his daughter to horseback riding lessons tomorrow at 9:30.


Pat Smear rocks it.


Taylor Hawkins rises from the drum kit.

Gibson Brings Music Back to the Site of the Sunset Strip's Tower Records

Tower Records is long gone, having shut down for good in 2006. But the building that once housed the chain's legendary Sunset Strip location has narrowly avoided being demolished -- and now the guitar manufacturer Gibson plans to turn the location into a rock-n-roll shrine. The L.A. Times writes:

Plans for the property, at 8801 Sunset Blvd., are in early stages, but the Nashville company intends to showcase its musical instruments and consumer electronics in a venue that will also feature live performances, Chief Executive Henry Juszkiewicz announced Monday.

"We want to reinvent this site to be the international phenomenon that its legacy deserves," he said.

Constructed in 1971, the Tower Records building was for decades a center of activity in the Sunset Strip's vibrant music scene. The store's walls were plastered with giant reproductions of album covers. Record labels routinely kicked off new releases by sending bands there to perform.

The good times ended after Tower Records filed for bankruptcy in 2006, but Gibson plans to start a new scene that pays tribute to the old one.

"We are going to honor history and take it to a whole new level," Juszkiewicz said. "We want to retain that crazy vibe of Tower Records."

Gibson has signed a 15-year lease for the rectangular one-story building that would be unremarkable were it not for the mother lode of memories it conjures for generations of music fans who remember the joys of browsing among record racks and pondering eclectic art on album covers.

Juszkiewicz said Gibson would spend at least $1 million to renovate the 8,700-square-foot building for a reopening by the end of the year.

Anything that helps bring back the Strip's glory days is a win, even if it doesn't bring Tower Records back.

Porn Billboard on Sunset: Scandal, or Yawn?

The porn site Porn Hub is making a big deal about its first-ever billboard on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood. But this billboard is mighty tame compared to plenty of billboards we've seen on the Strip over the years. Big yawn?

The 8th Annual Great Los Angeles Walk Is Ready For Its Closeup: Sunset Boulevard

It all started in 2006 as a way to celebrate my tenth year in Los Angeles. Inspired by the book "Wilshire Boulevard: Grand Concourse of Los Angeles," by Kevin Roderick (with research by J. Eric Lynxwiler), I decided to walk the street’s entire length. About 40 of you joined me.

In 2007, for an encore, I chose another downtown-to-the-ocean route: Pico Boulevard. The 2008 Walk took on Santa Monica Blvd. (via Sunset). In 2009, the event kicked off in the historic West Adams district and walked to Venice Beach via Adams and Washington. In 2010, for its fifth edition, the Great Los Angeles Walk reprised its original Wilshire journey. In 2011, Walk participants marched to the ocean via Hollywood Boulevard. And last year, we once again headed from downtown to the ocean, but this time via Melrose.



For our EIGHTH edition of the Great Los Angeles Walk, Mr. DeMille, we're ready for our close-up. That's right: We're finally tackling Sunset Boulevard.



Our 2008 walk actually began on Sunset (specifically, where Cesar Chavez turns into Sunset downtown), but veered onto Santa Monica Blvd. -- which means, believe it or not, we haven't yet marched down Sunset through Hollywood, and we haven't yet tackled the famed Sunset Strip. This year, we will!



But here's the rub: Sunset Boulevard is 22 miles long -- a bit too long for our Great Los Angeles Walk, which usually lasts between 16-18 miles. Plus, west of Beverly Hills, Sunset twists and turns and becomes a bit too dangerous. So we won't be walking the entire length -- but we'll be walking the most interesting parts. And we'll still be walking to the ocean -- but via a more pedestrian-friendly street. The full route (and afterparty location!) will be announced later.



Since we've already walked the far east side of Sunset, we're also switching things up a bit with the starting point. For the first time, the Great Los Angeles Walk won't be starting in the heart of downtown. Instead, we'll be meeting on SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23 at 9 a.m. at ECHO PARK LAKE.


(Photo via KCRW.)

That's right, the scenic and newly rehabilitated Echo Park Lake seems like the perfect place to meet up before we start our day.

Stay tuned for much more information on this year's walk via our new Facebook page, our Twitter account or the Great LA Walk website.

Retro Friday: 1940s Los Angeles, In Color

Some early L.A. color finds from the Vintage L.A. and Lost Los Angeles YouTube channels, culled from various film clip libraries.


"Civic Center in the 1940s"


"Driving in LA, 1940s style"


"Grand Hollywood of the 1940s"


"The Southland Style 1940s"


"Sunset Strip in the 1940s"

Retro Friday: Los Angeles in the 1960s

Wilshire Blvd. and the Miracle Mile, in full color at night in the 1960s. Love that Van de Kamp bakery neon sign!



Sunset Blvd. and the Sunset Strip, also in color at night.

Scenes from a Blogger Prom

Yes, there was a Blogger Prom on Wednesday night, and yes, Franklin Avenue was there to take it all in.

Well, one half of Franklin Avenue. Maria had hoped to come, and we were ready to milk the whole "pregnant high school prom goer" gag. But ultimately, it was determined that once that gag wore thin, she'd be mighty uncomfortable at the event.

So I headed by myself over to the roof of the Andaz hotel on the Sunset Strip, where I ran into a host of fellow Angeleno bloggers -- some I'd met before, others whom I've followed for years but had never met in person -- all in various wacky prom-ish attire.

I went rather simple, in a sleazy gold shirt and goofy glasses. Some went pretty elaborate; most were in 80s-theme attire. Despite the "prom" theme, dancing was at a mimimum, as it was mostly a chance for bloggers to get together -- and partake in complimentary food and drink secured by the event's planning committee.

Kudos to them for getting this thing all together. It was kinda -- and proudly -- geeky (actually, my colleague Pat, of Eating LA fame, said her daughter thought it was the "geekiest" thing she'd ever heard of), yet a lot of fun, particularly when it came to getting to know fellow bloggers.

A few shots from the event:








Metblogs L.A.'s Julia and David, along with Be The Boy's Will


Pauly Shore announces raffle winners, while When Tara Met Blog's Tara and Caroline on Crack's Caroline (in the wig) look on.


Slack Daily's Nina and Be The Boy's Will.


Green LA Girl's Siel and LAist's Lindsay


Joz Joz Joz's Joz


Thrillist's Jeff and Claudia


Eating LA's Pat, me, LA Story's Laura


Fishbowl LA's Pandora and Tina

Tower Records' Last Sunset Strip Stand

(Flickr pic by Zona Girl.)

Our friend Lizzy recently returned to Los Angeles after several years abroad. We filled her in on some of the goings on with us, as well as Los Angeles. She was most surprised, though, to learn that Tower Records was history. "Wait, all of it? The entire chain?" Yup.

For what was once a mighty chain, Tower disappeared rather quickly. Signs still adorn empty stores in some location, serving as a reminder... but it's still bizarre to think that Tower is completely gone. (Well, the website lives on, but owned by a different entity. That's like saying Montgomery Ward survives, as someone bought that name and runs a website as well.)

Now, as the Los Angeles Times reports, the building that housed the most famous Tower of all -- the Sunset Strip location -- might not survive much longer.

Writes the paper:

Preservationists complain that city leaders blocked their application to have a former Tower Records building declared a historic resource because color photographs of the brightly painted building were attached to the paperwork instead of black-and-white pictures that officials said were required.

As activists hunted for black-and-whites to add to the paperwork, a Chicago developer planning a multimillion-dollar office and retail complex at the record store site filed his building request at City Hall.

Now the iconic music industry landmark at 8801 W. Sunset Blvd. famous for its hundreds of impromptu rock 'n' roll performances and album signings awaits demolition.

Its iconic yellow facade has been repainted somber blue. Some preservationists are beginning to feel the same way.

Granted, the 1971 building isn't an architectural treasure; preservationists value it for its place in Sunset Strip and music lore. They'd like to turn it into a West Hollywood rock 'n roll museum. The developer has his own idea for how to honor that legacy:

Brian Lewis, a spokesman for Barket, said the proposed building's nod to the site's iconic past might include something like rock 'n' roll-themed decorations in the gym.

"We don't want to forget that Tower Records played a role here," Lewis said.

That's a joke, right?