Where should I go in L.A.?

[Sean]

I'm off to LA on business in a coupe, of weeks and will be at a loose end with a really good drummer from Virginia who is visiting there for the first time.

I fancy some music store shopping, music related museums, venues, gigs etc. we're also going to be popping down to San Diego too.

Any suggestions for good nights out most welcome.

Thanks
Sean

[steve-bbb]

no walking mind!

[url="http://youtu.be/R_UpLtGEWoY"]http://youtu.be/R_UpLtGEWoY[/url]

[ambient]

I was there for about 3 days 10 years ago, I didn't like it, found it very scary.

Don't go east.

The place is huge, something like 80 miles by 40 miles, downtown LA is about 20 miles inland.

[Josh]

Having been a fair few times over the last couple of years I can safely say L.A. is very overrated and quite a nasty place when you really look at it. It's cool to do the sunset strip once to have a look in all of the guitar shops but thats about it. There's one major downtown strip with the Hard Rock Cafe and where they film the Letterman show and that's about it. Be careful where you do wander off though, it really is a dangerous place.

One place I highly recommend if you enjoy astronomy is the Griffith Observatory which is on the hills around L.A. It's absolutely stunning at night.

San Diego is nicer but a bit scarce of things to do other than it's main strip of shops and restaurants. San Diego Zoo is pretty awesome though if you fancy it.

If you can I'd say go to San Francisco, now that place is somewhere very worth going

Edited April 23, 2014 by Josh

[ambient]

[quote name='Josh' timestamp='1398285945' post='2432603']
Having been a fair few times over the last couple of years I can safely say L.A. is very overrated and quite a nasty place when you really look at it. It's cool to do the sunset strip once to have a look in all of the guitar shops but thats about it. There's one major downtown strip with the Hard Rock Cafe and where they film the Letterman show and that's about it. Be careful where you do wander off though, it really is a dangerous place.

One place I highly recommend if you enjoy astronomy is the Griffith Observatory which is on the hills around L.A. It's absolutely stunning at night.

San Diego is nicer but a bit scarce of things to do other than it's main strip of shops and restaurants. San Diego Zoo is pretty awesome though if you fancy it.

If you can I'd say go to San Francisco, now that place is somewhere very worth going
[/quote]

I totally agree with San Francisco, I really loved that place. Monterey is great too, brilliant jazz festival every September which is what I was there for.
There's a bass store in San Diego .

[ambient]

I never even felt safe in Anaheim which is where Disneyland is .

[Josh]

[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1398292977' post='2432704']
I never even felt safe in Anaheim which is where Disneyland is .
[/quote]

Such an ironic place to put a land of wonder and happiness

Stay out of Compton though! First time I went to California we got diverted off of the freeway through west Compton...that was a gnarly 20 minute wait in traffic.

[Damonjames]

I went to LA in the 2001, and I remember telling everyone back home that if I had to spend a drug and alcohol fuelled 4 day bender then this would be the place. It has a strange and very hollow feel
To it, almost like you can feel the broken dreams as you walk the streets. I stayed in a hostel a couple of streets off the strip not far from the greyhound station, and can honestly say I never felt unsafe, but was always wary as any traveller should be. I would definitely make sure you know where NOT to go though, avoiding east LA and South Central are obvious enough. The strip is pretty lively and don't regret my time there, however I'm in no rush to go back! Check out Venice beach too, it's a short bus ride out and is very cool especially if you like the doors!
Sand Diego is like LA's sensible brother, there is not a lot to do to be fair, and as already stated SF was a town I really enjoyed.

Have a blast mate!

[TheGreek]

Mel's diner - as used in "American Graffiti"[list=1]

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Edited April 24, 2014 by TheGreek

[jacko]

loved LA 2 years ago and would go back at the drop of a hat.
theres the Mesa boogie store on sunset blvd and, if you like cars, head down to the Petersen Auto museum (not too far from the labrea tar pits).
For a great night of relaxed music i'd recommend The baked Potato on cahuenga blvd heading up to the valley.
If you like planning ahead see who's on at the Greek theater in griffith park and book a dine-and-drive.
hire a car and head up laurel Canyon to soak in the sheer hippyness(visit the canyon country store), then carry on over the hills and head west. Watch the sun setting over the pacific.

[KK Jale]

Santa Monica is a nice (and safe) trip out and easy to get to. In fact it's a good place to base yourself for a day or two. Hotel Carmel is the one I use. There's a bunch of mainstream shops, plenty restaurants, a blues club I never found. A beer with nachos on the end of the pier is cool. Truetone Music is a particularly visitable guitar store.

From Santa Monica I like walking down to Venice Beach along the front, looking round there, maybe checking out the old canal area, then walking back on Pacific Avenue, two streets back from the sea... nice cafes on there, couple of thrift stores. Long day but a good one. Stay away from Venice Beach at dusk though.

Inland, maybe do Sunset Blvd, get out to Guitar Center, oggle all the overpriced vintage stuff, buy cheap accessories. There's another music store just nearby as I recall.

I quite like LA and have even gone around by local buses - you do meet the freaks though.

[Dingus]

L.A can indeed be a bit frightening sometimes , but the reality is that it isn't any more dangerous than most big urban centers in the U.S.A.

In fact, L.A visiting is probably a lot safer than a lots of cities in North America that you don't immediately think of as being particularly dangerous , like Houston, St Louis or New Haven, so I wouldn't let the threat of crime put you off unduly. The image of L.A as a violent and dangerous place is as much a problem of perception as it is of reality, the major difference with L.A being that its' crime problem is frequently represented in the media and popular fiction, so it looms large in the collective imagination of people all over the world. Yes, L.A has a problem with gang-related violent crime , but by the same token, Los Angeles also has a disproportionately huge police force that operates as a [i]de facto [/i]paramilitary organisation , dedicated to containing that kind of crime within certain areas. With the exception of the area around Norwalk/ Long Beach, generally speaking , as long as you stick to west L.A near the coast, you will be fine, and once you go down towards Orange County and San Diego there is nothing but predominantly affluent middle class suburban sprawl that is so safe that it is boring. Just use your common sense. South Central L.A is indeed pretty dangerous, and parts of downtown L.A around Skid Row are even more dangerous than that , especially at night, but they are areas it is pretty easy to avoid. Even if you do end up in South Central L.A by accident ( seems to happen quite a lot) , the chances are nothing much will happen.

As for what to do and where to go, L.A has so much to offer that it is difficult to know where to start, but the problem is that the city is so spread out it can be difficult to get around , especially taking L.A;s notorious traffic problems into account. As has already been suggested, Santa Monica is indeed an excellent place to visit, and if possible arguably the best area to make the hub of your visit. There is lots to do and see around the Third Street Promenade and the surrounding streets, and there is Santa Monica Pier to stroll round, too. The great thing about Santa Monica as well as its' many attractions is that it is easy to get to lots of other interesting places, like Hollywood, Malibu , Venice ect. And for music venues, The Baked Potato is pretty amazing in so much as on most nights you can usually see some of the very best players in the world there in a very loose and informal setting. You never know who is going to turn up there to jam or just hang out.

If you heading down towards San Diego then there are lots of beautiful beach towns that are well worth a visit, like Laguna Beach , San Clemente and La Jolla . You could also nip in and have Sunday brunch at the spectacular Hotel Del Coronado . It costs $85 for all you can eat, but the food and the location are something really special . For $85 though, take a big appetite, and maybe even a big plastic bag so you can steal some food for later.

I've never found that much to do in San Diego, except try to avoid getting dragged to San Diego Zoo. San Diego has a reputation for being one of America's most boring and conservative cities, not least of all because a very significant proportion of the population are from the armed forces and their families, by virtue of the fact that the region has a proliferation of military camps, huge naval bases and airfields. The area just north of San Diego is much more fun, in my opinion.

Edited April 24, 2014 by Dingus

[Shedua511]

I've been to LA a few times to visit Emmett and Yuta Chapman: I picked up three instruments directly from them.
That was great, but I really didn't like the place otherwise. I was almost arrested once because I was walking (nobody does that! Got to have wheels).
In another occasion I took a bus (again, nobody does that! Unless you're exceedingly poor, you have wheels) in the wrong direction and found out that I was in the very wrong side of town... waiting at the bus stop to get back on track I got to see one of the nicest tourist attractions, a shoot out.
Now I know wht I'd do in face of death: I'll freeze.! I also know what a bullet zipping by very close sounds like, which I guess is a good thing, much better than knowing what a bullet hitting you sounds.

The bass centre was nice, but I don't think it still exists... or does it? I never met the Dude unfortunately, but I did meet a lot of truly strange people, and some very nice people too. And a few gangsters of course, thank god my Spanish is pretty good.

San Diego is much nicer, San Francisco rules! And that comes from a straight guy

Edited April 24, 2014 by Shedua511

[lowdown]

It's pretty much been summed up in the Dingus post
But again,The Baked Potato really is worth a visit, usually some top, top Musicans on show.

LA is my Lady...Love the place.