Okay, I'm rooked in. I can't resist telling my story! (Long for a forum post, but worth it!)
It was my last night, and my plane was leaving the next morning, but I couldn't leave without seeing the Rainbow and Whisky, so I crammed both into an evening.
First I went to the Rainbow. There was a $5 charge to get in, but you got a free drink with that, so I had a Jack & Coke and went to the patio. No Lemmy at the rock n' roll trivia machine that night, unfortunately.
I asked a waitress, where did Led Zeppelin sit? She said she didn't know, I should ask the old guy in a suit at the door. I couldn't believe they didn't cover that at orientation. The guy pointed to a booth in the middle of the place and said, "Right there! Those were some wild days!" (After I got home I later read there was actually a private club upstairs where they partied, but whatever!) I told him, "You must get asked that every 45 minutes, huh?," and he said, "Not really." Why not? The whole reason everyone knows the Rainbow is that picture of Zeppelin hanging out there with Lori Maddox, right?
As I was talking to the guy at the door, Ron Jeremy walked in. He has his own brand of wine there. I didn't approach Jeremy because I figured, what was I going to say? "You ruined a lot of porn for me in the `80's?" Plus, I couldn't shake his hand. Who knew where it had been?
I went upstairs and peed, excited that my urine was probably sprinkling the same bowl John Bonham once peed into after a pint of ale!
Planning my trip I knew I wanted to see a decent band when I went to the Whisky. The best band all week appeared to be
this Buckingham-Nicks pair (link). They were indeed really good. I stared at the stage thinking, "Van Halen stood on this stage as a local band. And Jimi Hendrix! Jim Morrison took off from THIS VERY SPOT!"
The other bands ranged from decent to extremely iffy.
Then I saw some older guy walking across the floor. I thought it was Lee Ving. I'd seen him in Dave Grohl's Sound City movie, so I recognized him as an older man, but it seemed weird no one else was doing a double take or approaching him. What if I was wrong? I had to confirm if it was indeed Lee Ving!
I went over and tapped him on the arm and said, "Excuse me..." He didn't seem to notice, so I tapped again, and he turned. "I don't want to bother you, but I just had to confirm. Are you...," and he seemed to smile in anticipation of the question, "...Lee Ving?"
He got a big smile and said, "Yes I am!"
"HELL YEAH! AWESOME!," I exclaimed.
I asked him why he wasn't on the stage? I came there thinking maybe FEAR would be up there! He laughed and asked me my name and where I was from. I told him Atlanta, and he said he had a show coming up here. He asked if I'd heard of this local Atlanta politician, and I had, and was surprised he knew of him. He said that the guy was a friend of his and he was coming here to do a benefit for him soon, and I should send him an e-mail and he would get me in. This was an unbelievable way to cap off my trip! (I e-mailed a month later...didn't hear anything. I tried looking up the benefit online and didn't see it. Maybe it was super private, or I missed it? Maybe I got stuck in his spam filter. He's about 70, so, you know. I think he was sincere, though.)
He seemed like he would've chatted more, but I was afraid to reveal my knowledge of FEAR was thin outside of
Decline, "Bomb the Russians," and seeing them on USA Night Flight in the `80's, so I just thanked him and went out the door.
Earlier in the week on Hollywood Boulevard I heard Black Label Society soundchecking at the La Fonda Theatre. The mix was so good and the playing so smooth it could've been a CD, but it was about 3 in the afternoon and so loud you could hear it on the sidewalk, so I think they were jamming.
I saw Conan O'Brien tape, and his musical guest was Jack White, who did two songs. As I suspected, Jack White's just not that great. I think his Edward Scissorhands look is what puts him over. I was most thrilled to see Andy Richter.
Also got to see Craig Ferguson tape
The Late Late Show at CBS (guest: Bob Sagett). His presence off camera impressed the hell out of me. You could just see in his stride and the way he carried himself that if not a TV star, he would at least be the regional manager for a luxury department store chain. Very focused and ambitious guy.
Watched four hours of open mic night at the Comedy Store, where my hero David Letterman started. Jeff Ross from
The Burn, which had just been canceled, dropped in.
And I saw Adam Carolla tape his podcast at the Ice House comedy club in Pasadena (guest: Paul Rodriguez) and got my picture with him. Earlier that same afternoon, I went to Las Lunas Street and saw the childhood home of Eddie and Alex Van Halen, as well as other notable Van Halen sites!
That was June of 2014, but I'm STILL high off the experience!
This song sounds funny today, but was scary as shit in 1985:
"Bomb the Russians" (link)
Then I saw this on USA Night Flight and was totally weirded out...and intrigued!
FEAR at 26:07
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8m8KfNdpR5E#t=26m08s