LA/NAMM

Our first stop from the airport is always Barney’s Beanery at 8447 Santa Monica Boulevard.  It is one of our favorite restaurants.  Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin used to drink here, as a matter of fact; Janis Joplin’s vehicle was left here the night she passed away. 

We walked up a block to see the Alta Cienega Hotel where Jim Morrison lived in room #32 from 1968-1970.

We made time to hit our favorite store Shrine of Hollywood at 7305 Melrose Avenue.  They have some amazing rock ‘n’ roll clothing there!  And of course Shoes for the Stars.  There are so many great stores on Melrose and Robertson.

 After Melrose we went to pay respect to Dee Dee & Johnny Ramone at the Garden of Legends in Hollywood Forever at 6000 Santa Monica Boulevard. 

Day 1 of NAMM was amazing!  We met David Ellefson (Megadeth), Glen Hughes (Black Country Communication), Eric Bass (Shinedown), Charlie Benante (Anthrax), John Tempesta (The Cult), Ritchie Falkner (Judas Priest) and Bruce Kulick (KISS).

Friday night we went to the Dean Guitars 3^rd Annual NAMM Jam at the Grove of Anaheim.  Wayne Static (Static-X), Vinnie Moore (UFO), Jackyl and Testament played!  It was a very diverse sound and diverse crowd.  There was a band playing the outside bar  called Metalachi - the world’s only heavy metal mariachi band.  There was also a Coffin Case and Dean girl fashion show.  It was a very entertaining night with a great many musicians in the audience.  We finished the night off at the lobby in the Hilton.

Day 2 of NAMM was sensory overload.  There was mass line-up’s to meet Tommy Lee, Lita Ford and Rob Halford.  We had the opportunity to meet Lita Ford, Warren DeMartini (Ratt), Steve Stevens (Billy Idol), Dean Roland (Collective Soul), and Vinnie Moore (UFO) and Rikki Rockett (Poison). 

Saturday night we went to the House of Blues in Anaheim to see Steel Panther.  It was a sold out show.  We have seen them a great many times, but this show seemed to top them all!  Vivian Campbell got up on stage and they played “Rainbow in the Dark” by Dio and “Rock of Ages” by Def Leppard.  It is all over youtube! 

Back to Hollywood!

We had lunch at one of our favorite restaurants’ El Compadre.  This place has a lot of rock ‘n’ roll history.  It is across the street from the Guitar Center that has the Rock Walk.  We always stop here to see if there are any new handprints.

We then hit Hollywood Boulevard for shopping at the Hard Rock, Betty Page and a few rock shops including Hot Rock at 6717.  The shops are filled with Lip Service, Tripp, and any band t-shirt you could ever think of.  We also found a few stars on the Walk of Fame on Hollywood Boulevard – Alice Cooper at 7000, Kiss at 7080, Motley Crue at 6752, and Ozzy Osbourne at 6780.  

We went to our favorite store in the world, Amoeba!  There is always rare finds of books, cd’s, and dvd’s.  The place has 2 levels they have bands at night!    

We made a stop a block up from the Whiskey A Go Go to see the old apartment of Guns ‘n’ Roses at 1114 N. Clark and the old Motley house at 1124 N. Clark.  Then we hit the Rainbow!  It was a rockstar-filled evening as everyone was still in town for NAMM.  Members from Lita Ford’s band and WASP were there.  And of course Lemmy was there in the corner playing his game.  It was an epic night, good way to end a trip!