Originally Posted By vbdad55 As part of the Doors 40th anniversary celebration, the Whiskey a Go Go on Sunset strip is being feted with a a historic landmark dedication ceremony. NOTE: this is being done by the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, not a governmental organization For anyone who's never been there, this hole in the wall place is 'home' to the start or most LA bands and I have had the pleasure seeing the start of a few there....( not being a Californian, some was luck, some planned - although I did live in Newport Beach for 18 months in the early 70's) - <a href="http://robbykrieger.com/40th.html" target="_blank">http://robbykrieger.com/40th.h tml</a> Anyone else have any Whiskey memories ? Most famous band I saw there b4 famous : Guns N Roses , Motley Crue and X. I found this on one of the Doors sites ....my fave band and the first band i saw live in concert ( in Chicago though - not Whiskey) -
Originally Posted By lilprincess I've never seen anyone famous there, but have had a few friend's bands play there during the high school years, they disbanded after graduation, but it was fun then.
Originally Posted By Fe Maiden I never made it there. My wife and I stayed at the Hyatt on Sunset for a few days prior to a cruise, but unfortunatley we never made it to the Whiskey.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 still great bands going there - make it a must see next time you are there.. <a href="http://www.whiskyagogo.com/whiskysite/home_fs.html" target="_blank">http://www.whiskyagogo.com/whi skysite/home_fs.html</a>
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder Ironically, the initials CBGB stood for CountryBlueGrassBoys, because it was very briefly a country place when it opened. But the club made its name with punk.
Originally Posted By Big Thunder Hey vbdad, thanks for the heads up, if I am still in town that day I think I will head over there. I will take my daughter too, I find it cool that at 15, a my punk rocker daughter is a big Doors fan. As a Los Angeles native I've been to the Whiskey a Go Go many times. When I was younger many of my weekend nights were spent at the Whisky, Gazaries, The Starwood, the Troubadour, and other small venues. When I was 15-18 I hung out with bands, promoters, wannabes etc. I roadied for a few local bands. The coup de gras for a local band back then was getting a gig at the Whiskey, they usually started at Gazaries, who would book local unsigned bands as a "showcase" [no pay] then if they were good they would be invited back for small take of the door, if they were *really* good, they'd get picked up by the Whiskey as a week night warm up, then it would progress from there. After the days of the Doors being their house band and going on to world wide fame, the Whiskey mostly booked signed bands with agents and followings, rarely did they still take local start ups like they show in The Doors movie. In 76-77 Van Halen was *thee* popular local LA band, they played high school parties and small venues. I remember returning to LA after being away for 9 months, while cruising the strip with friends I saw "Van Halen" on the Whiskey's marquee, a huge line of scantily clad young women were waiting in line to get in. I said... "wow that back yard band is playing the Whiskey?" My friend said "dude haven't you heard, they just signed a record deal" Within a year they were major huge. I liked the Whiskey, but I preferred the Starwood. [one reason was sometimes they'd serve me] One of my Starwood favorites was when Rory Gallagher would play there. The 80's brought a whole different era to those clubs. There were more big name acts but still some up and comers. Then came punk rock, my friend invited me out there to see a band play who he said "will be bigger than the Beatles" I expected something fabulous [no pun intended] I laughed my head off when the band came out, I thought it was the dumbest thing I'd ever heard... that band was The Ramones, and they went on to make music history.
Originally Posted By Big Thunder <<"Most famous band I saw there b4 famous Guns N Roses , Motley Crue and X.">> At the local rehearsal studios where I hung out with bands as a teen, we'd stop in each studio, listen & watch and critique the new bands. One band that me and my buddy used to make fun of, was a band then called "Rock Candy". A Short time later they brought in 2 new members and changed their name to "Motley Crue"
Originally Posted By Big Thunder ^^ correction <<"A Short time later they brought in 2 new members and changed their name">> Motely Crue was already formed, Vince and Tommy were in Rock Candy, and joined Motely Crue replacing some of their original members.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 cool history Rock Thunder -- I was only a 'local' for 18 months or so, but always liked the place...it was what it was.
