July 18, 2006

Day two... another long day. Probably longer than the day before!

Wendy and I woke up and on our hotel doorstep was the LA Times with a 3 page article on The Go-Go's. Weeeeeeeeee! Tonight is the show!!

We got dressed, had some food and headed to The Beverly Center to do a little shopping. I found a store that had some really great retro-ish polka dot dresses for under $20 each. I LOVE AMERICA!

Then we hit RFD for some lunch. We didn't see any famous people...But we did eat some good food. Wendy had a grilled tempeh salad with a vegan caesar salad. YUM!I went the healthy macro route and had a giant plate of YUM! Beans, rice, kale, seaweed, roasted veggies, raw coleslaw. YUM! YUM! YUM!Then we met my buddy Carol from The Twisted & Jaded Go-Go's message board and she took us on a "History of The Go-Go's " tour.

First we hit the fountain that The Go-Go's dance around in for the video "Our Lips Are Sealed" We also drove through Beverly Hills just to look at houses. Yikes. Brandon Walsh's Dad must have had mad cash to live in this area.
Swimming pools... movie stars...Then we hit Hollywood Blvd for more of a Go-Go's tour.
Carol took us to The Canterbury which was the apartment the ladies lived in when The Go-Go's first formed.The apartment was just a block and a half away from The Masque which was a punk hang out where they shared rehearsal space with bands like The Motels and X. The Go-Go's debut performance there was in 1978. It was down a little alley off of Hollywood Blvd and smelled a little like urine. :)Then we headed back to the hotel for a snooze before the big concert. On the way back to the hotel we drove by The Kodak Theater. It looks much smaller than it does on tv...

Got back to the hotel and ended up going for a swim rather than a nap. Got ready and then headed to Truly Vegan for dinner. I was a little weary when we walked in... it looked clean but the decor was kind of yucky and I thought it might end up being a yucky hippy food type place. Was I ever wrong...

I had pancakes and "chicken". Only in America can you order pancakes and fried "chicken" as a dish. YUM! Probably the best fried "chicken" I've EVER had...Ever. EVER!!Wendy had the Pad Thai ... which was delish. So the lesson for today? Don't just a book by it's cover. Met some of the T&J kids for drinks and food before the show...Drove up to The Greek and went to Will Call to get our tickets. Standing behind us was Jeff MacDonald (husband of Charolette and other half of Red Kross) and their daughter Astrid. Too cool!!

Wendy and I found our seats and I was TOTALLY overwhelmed by how many people were there. It was nuts. I'm pretty sure the theater was almost sold out. The Greek Theater is an outside venue and by the time we sat down and started watching Morningwood (the opening band) the sun had gone down and the temperature was perfect. A perfect summers night... Morningwood KICKED ASS! We only caught the last 3 songs (parking was hellish) but man are they ever a wicked band. I hope I can see them again soon...

While waiting for The Go-Go's to come on, Wendy and I went to buy some merchandise. While standing in line we saw Sarah Gilbert from Roseanne. Wendy thought she was shorter than me but I didn't believe her so I walked over and stood beside her (didn't introduce myself) and Wendy said I was taller. NUTS! Is everyone in Hollywood shorter than me?? It seems like it... Umm... I'm 5 foot 1 inches tall just to give you a scale to imagine with.

Our seats were decent. They weren't pit tickets (le sigh) but they were good... I don't think there's a bad seat at The Greek. I've been pretty spoiled the last 6 or so times I've seen them play. Every show I've been to I've been able to be right up front... close enough I could touch Belinda if I wanted. *laugh* So seeing them from this far away was a totally different experience. Sadly I was far enough away that I couldn't get any decent photos...But we had fun anyway.
The show was amazing. The band was TIGHT! They've been touring all summer and it showed. They played Beauty and The Beat from start to finish plus a bunch of other songs. They didn't play my fav song "Throw Me A Curve" but who am I to complain? A fantastic sweaty dance all night show... so fun.

I managed to score some "after party" passes from a friend and we hung out after the show for a while and managed to meet Gina. What a sweetheart... I can't believe I'm taller than she is!! We also saw Belinda (who disappeared after a few minutes), Wendy saw Charlotte and we also met Belinda's hairdresser who was VERY loaded and lots of fun to talk to.

Also at the after party was Chi-Chi LaRue and Clem Burke (the drummer for Blondie). My favourite overheard comment of the night was from Clem. Heart of Glass was being played during the party and he said "I can't believe they're playing this shit again." *laugh* Too funny.

Wendy and I went to bed at 3:30am. I can't even remember the last time I stayed up this late. I fell asleep before my head hit the air around my pillow.

Good night Jane.

3 comments:

KleoPatra said...

WOW! I'm living vicariously through you, Sarah. How incredibly fun! What a grand adventure. Lov reading about everything from Jane's doggies to seeing photos of the great food to how much you enjoyed the music...

AWESOME!! Stoked for you!

I have to tell ya... i can't deal with L.A. after living down here in San Diego and traveling up there so many times over the years... it's not my style. But if I got to do even 1/2 of the things you did, i would *SO* go-go!

I'm really glad the trip was delicious in every way imaginable!

Carrie™ said...

Incredible. I don't know what else to say. Sounds like a totally kick-ass trip. Thank you for sharing it with us.
(And Clem...Heart of Glass is not shit)

karen said...

What an amazing trip! You sure filled every moment up with great food, music and people...