Hey, thanks to Dangerous Minds for sharing a link to my Krautrocksampler post from 2006. It’s paid dividends in the form of new readers, Facebook “fans” and Twitter “followers”. Plus a few friends have taken time to e-mail me cool Twitter mentions from the likes of Stephen O’Malley and Stuart Braithwaite. Maybe people aren’t shouting out to me by name, but at least they’ve promoted the blog. I’m super-grateful for that. If anything it proves that if I keep blogging, people will notice. It’s only taken me six years to get this far!
(Note: I haven’t gotten very far at all)
Last week I responded to an article published by The Complex about the ten douchiest bars in Los Angeles. And at that time I thought a better idea for a list would be the ten bars that have gone the furthest downhill since I moved to Los Angeles. Here’s that list:
Ten Los Angeles Bars That Have Gone Downhill
10. The Short Stop – This might just be because Justice left. Either way, it doesn’t seem like as much fun as it used to. Way too many fights on Wednesdays after the kids from Barragans venture up the street to close out their night with some sweaty dancing or photo booth tomfoolery. You could still meet cool people here as recently as this summer, but ever since then something’s changed. Nate thinks it’s because the best part of going there used to be getting a giant bear hug when you walked in the door. I just looked at him and laughed when he said that.
09. 1739 Public House – This one should have an asterisk because I don’t think anyone ever really liked Public House. But I remember getting free pizzas there at Happy Hour and they would pour you a full beer. Now they just pour you semi-full beers in their tip glasses and you find dirty quarters and dimes at the bottom of your beer once you’ve consumed it. Also I had a bartender tell me it was their policy to leave an inch of space at the top of each pint to save money. And if you ask for onion on your cheeseburger it’s one dollar extra, even if they forget to put the onion on the burger. The best way to sum up 1739 Public House would be to say it is sad when you’re more excited about never having to return to a pub than you are that you just won Wednesday night pub trivia.
08. The Entire West Side of Los Angeles Except The Abbey – And sometimes even the Abbey sucks, like when you’re chatting with a cute girl and her gay besties think you’re a rapist trying to lure her into a dark alley. I’m not always down on WeHo and all points west, but I definitely have found myself driving out that way less and less as my life here has progressed. There are some really cool spots beyond Hollywood. But the area as a whole has become less of a destination than a black hole in recent years.
07. Big Wangs – At first I didn’t like this place for personal reasons, then I got used to it and started to enjoy it, but then the entire crowd changed and now it’s just weird. It’s fine if you’re just passing through on your way to another bar if you want a Wanger Banger or something, and there aren’t too many better spots east of Hollywood to watch football on Sundays (except Rustic) but to spend any measurable amount of time at Wangs isn’t a good sign for your night.
06. Harvard & Stone – This place went downhill starting the first time I stepped foot in the doorway. So I guess it was never “up” to begin with. Harvard & Stone doesn’t really belong on this list, but I can’t resist any opportunity to make fun of how bad this bar is! Even if I never step foot in there again (and, God willing, I won’t have to endure another birthday there) I’ll always have that awkward confrontation with the bartender to reminisce about.
05. Beauty Bar – Maybe it’s an age thing, but the entire Cahuenga Corridor has gone to shit in the past five years. Over the holidays this year my roommates and I dropped into Beauty Bar and there were only two or three people sitting at the bar. I remember as recently as ’08 or ’09 coming here and the place would be packed. We hit Wangs, Beauty Bar and Burgundy Room during a Mousemas Eve crawl a few years ago. It was a great time! Now there are three people at the bar on a weekend night. Pathetic. The bartender felt so bad he poured us really stiff drinks to try and keep us entertained but we split and headed elsewhere.
04. That After-Hours Spot I Don’t Want To Refer To By Name – I’m just gonna go ahead and throw this one out there. Maybe it’s just because I’m not partying as hard these days, but there seem to be an inordinate number of creepy dudes here. Then again, it’s within walking distance from my front door (which is nice when you’re coming down at 7am) and it’s one of the better after-hours spots on this side of town, so considering the options it’s not that bad. This used to be a place you could go to after the bars closed to give you a few more hours to pick up girls, but now it’s turned into the kind of place where everyone wants to stay up until noon taking drugs. To me at least, there’s a slight difference between those two vibes.
03. Footsie’s – When I first got to LA I’d come to Footsie’s every week. Sometimes multiple times per week. My friends and I would stop in at El Atacor #11, grab some potato tacos and stroll into Footsie’s, where I’d proceed to pound bourbon until it was time to stumble home. The jukebox was great, the room was always empty, and the back patio made it smoker friendly (for my roommates and friends, not me). I think the last time I was there was over the summer, and it had definitely gotten loud, crowded and a bit obnoxious. Isn’t the charm of a “dive bar” the fact that no one goes there? It all started when management changed three or four years ago. It’s been downhill ever since. Which is a shame. I really, really loved this bar.
02. Little Joy – Remember when we used to drink at Little Joy just about every night? Or at least we’d end up there on Mondays after the Echo or Spaceland. This was back in ’07 when my roommates and I didn’t have real jobs. We’d work, like, three days a week and just party the rest of the time. The good ‘ol days. Then relationships and jobs and crack and meth happened. For awhile Little Joy was literally a meth den. Which I think added to its charm? But then ownership changed, it turned into a ritzy hipster club, and now who the hell knows what’s going on there.
01. The Gold Room – The dishonorable distinction of being on both the “douchiest” list and this one. This place went from being dingy to being cool to being un-fucking-bearable. I think it started around the time Paul left. Maybe when Big Nate got fired. Either way, the new bouncer suck, the crowd his horrible and they closed the smoker’s lounge. Fuck Gold Room.
Prurient – Lord Of Love [MP3]
