#2
Post
by Pandemonium » Mon Jan 09, 2012 1:05 pm
For the LA/Hollywood area during the 80's, I used to love going to shows at The Palace (later The Avalon) in Hollywood. I saw tons of great bands there including Big Country, The Cramps, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Nine Inch Nails, Iggy Pop, The Lords Of The New Church and Killing Joke among bands I can recall off the top of my head. Place had a great vibe, kind of like a cross between a mini Wiltern Theater and the Hollywood Palladium. It's been well over a decade since I've seen a show there so I have no idea how it is now as The Avalon.
Speaking of The Hollywood Palladium, that's also a great place to catch a show but sound can be hit or miss and it can be incredibly rowdy up front. I remember almost getting trampled up front at several shows, including The Clash (Combat Rock tour), The Cult (Love tour) and a Social Distortion/Iggy Pop show around '88. Some great shows I've seen there in the past besides the above include Stevie Ray Vaughan (several tours), The Cramps, Bauhaus, Living Colour, Ministry, TSOL/Bad Religion, Queens of the Stone Age, Big Country, Nine Inch Nails (farewell tour), and of course, Jane's Addiction on 12/19/90.
The Wiltern has been my go-to place the last decade or so. There was a period of several years around 2003 - 2006 that I'd go just to see anyone because I liked hanging out there so much. It got to the point several bartenders knew me by name and would give me a little something extra in my well drinks. The last few years, it seems something hard to put my finger on regarding the overall vibe of the place has kind of been lost. I think when I saw Killing Joke with the place only barely half full on a rainy night at the end of 2010 was the turning point. But I've seen some pretty major acts there that would normally be arena-level bands such as David Bowie and Metallica, as well as Janes ('02 NYE show), The Cult (several tours), Nine Inch Nails (last show ever), Black Rebel Motorcycle Club/Jesus and Mary Chain (great double bill), Raconteurs, Lenny Kravitz, Audioslave, Pretenders, Marilyn Manson, Moby and Bauhaus.
Other LA area clubs have their pros and cons.... The Key Club is alright although going downstairs to that weird bar/celler gives me fuckin' claustrophobia - if there's ever a fire, that place is a death trap. The Roxy is a good place to catch a show although the layout kind of bugs me and they always overfill the place. I saw a great Sonic Youth show there around '90 when they rescheduled after Neil Young whom they were supported canceled a local arena show that week. The LA and Anaheim House Of Blues clubs have ok layouts and land some great bands now and then but more often than not the sound especially at the Hollywood Hob sucks and the security are cocksuckers. I will say I've seen some great shows at the Hollywood HoB including ZZ Top, Eric Clapton, Cramps, Killing Joke, The Cult, etc.
The Music Box is basically a big concrete square room and depending on the band, the sound can be like someone's drilling into your skull with a Makita. The Echoplex generally sucks the way the sound booth cuts the room in half. One of the more strangely laid-out clubs I ever saw a band at was Canes in San Diego on the beach boardwalk. Saw Love and Rockets do a pre-Coachella warm-up show there in 2008 - place was very small (probably heald 200 people max), but had like three levels set up almost like catwalks looming almost right over the stage.
As for Club Nokia, I've only been there once, a couple years ago to see P.I.L.. Not a bad place, and it seemed easy to move around the front of the floor to get right up to the stage but having support beams blocking some line-of-sight around the bar (which serves ridiculously overpriced booze) and the fact because it's in the second floor of a flimsily-built office building made me nervous when the floor seemed to shake and flex any time the audience showed the slightest bit of excitement .
I'm kind of bummed most of the upcoming shows I wanna catch this year look to be big arena-level shows that are going to be a pain in the ass and expensive as fuck to get decent tickets for.
