I saw Jimi Hendrix and Frank Zappa in Chicago when I was in college looking for someone to follow. I saw the Doors practice in the old speak-easy in the bowels of Pacific Ocean Pier in Santa Monica. I went in there afterwards and was wowed by the red velvet wallpaper and many of the light fixtures. It was a very unique place. There were concerts on the beach in Santa Monica around the time of the draft for Vietnam. Lot's of name groups playing for free to make the political point. We were pushed off the beach by the cops a number of times. Big black UPS-sized trucks with cops in full battle array pushing beach-goers off the beach because it was deemed an illegal assembly.
This was a while ago - like the 70s. The beach was clean, although there was a stream of sludge coming out of "pisser's pier." It was where the LA toilets were emptying into the Pacific Ocean. Pisser (for whom the pier was named, among the locals) was a heroin addict that would get loaded and sleep all day on the pier. His only other activity was to walk to the end of the pier and add his fluid to the sludge. I haven't been back to LA for a number of years. I'm not attracted to Disneyland anymore. I'd still like to body surf at the Santa Monica beach. But, I've learned to like the mountains more.
Not liking loud noise and crowds, concerts are not my venue of choice. I did take my then fiancee to Poplar Creek (now gone) to see Kenny Loggins back in the mid 80's. She was absolutely nuts about Kenny Loggins, me not so much. What I did not know was the other band on the ticket was America, which was fine with me. Normally an acoustic group loses something in a large arena, but Poplar Creek was parabolic, carved into a hillside, and the sound was awesome.
You certainly have found the time to frequent concerts. I bet you have some interesting stories from going to that many the concerts. I would always take off whenever I was free for even a few weeks. I spent most of my money on buses and trains across Asia. But, I do wish I went to more concerts. My last one was Stevie Ray Vaughn at the Concord Pavilion in the Bay Area. He died a year later. Must of been in the late 80's sometime.
I was traveling again during all that news. So, I never got the info. I did hear on the radio that he had died somewhere somehow. Now, it's all available like the 26 volume encyclopedia that used to sit on the shelf getting dated. Remember the encyclopedia salesmen?
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Pacific Ocean Pier in Santa Monica. I went in there afterwards and was wowed by the red velvet wallpaper and many of the light fixtures. It was a very unique place.
There were concerts on the beach in Santa Monica around the time of the draft for Vietnam. Lot's of name groups playing for free to make the political point. We were pushed
off the beach by the cops a number of times. Big black UPS-sized trucks with cops in full battle array pushing beach-goers off the beach because it was deemed an illegal assembly.
whom the pier was named, among the locals) was a heroin addict that would get loaded and sleep all day on the pier. His only other activity was to walk to the end of the pier and add his fluid to the sludge.
I haven't been back to LA for a number of years. I'm not attracted to Disneyland anymore. I'd still like to body surf at the Santa Monica beach. But, I've learned to like the mountains more.
I spent most of my money on buses and trains across Asia. But, I do wish I went to more concerts. My last one was Stevie Ray Vaughn at the Concord Pavilion in the Bay Area. He died a year later. Must of been in the late 80's sometime.
Also with Ronnie James Dio as vocalist
Also with Ian Gillan as vocalist