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Live Music / Best-Music-Venues-in-the-US / Music Venues / Bob Dylan / LA-Music-Map / → All Tags

Best Music Venues In LA: Troubadour

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Standing in the crowd on any given night at LA's Troubadour, one has a fairly decent shot at witnessing music history. Since the place opened in 1957, yet-to-be-known cultural icons have done their thing inside the basement of an unassuming coffee shop. Here's a quick synopsis of the underground events that would shape American music.

60s
Police arrested Lenny Bruce for obscenity. Bob Dylan strummed his still-acoustic guitar. The Byrds came together at an open mic night. Joni Mitchell made her LA debut. Richard Pryor recorded his first album.

70s
Neil Diamond asked a young, unknown Brit named Elton John to take the stage. Cheech and Chong are discovered in the audience. Janis Joplin partied all night, and was later found dead in her hotel room from a heroine overdose. Carly Simon met her future husband, James Taylor.

80s
Both Guns 'N Roses and Pearl Jam have their debut shows.

Post 80s
Cool bands on the rise continue to play, and rockers still meet and mingle here. But without time-induced nostalgia, noting that Franz Ferdinand and Coldplay have performed at Troubadour seems less exciting than witnessing an unknown Elton shock a stateside audience for the first time with huge sunglasses, platforms, and a rousing rendition of "Bennie and the Jets."

Related Stories:
· Best Music Venue San Francisco: The Fillmore [Jaunted]
· Travel Stories in LA [Jaunted]
· Troubadour [Official Site]

[Photo: Wikimedia]

Los Angeles / Food / Restaurants / → All Tags

Marouch Restaurant - All Delicious, All the Time

One could order anything on the menu at Marouch with confidence, knowing that it will be delicious.  The Lebanese restaurant is located in a dank, dark strip mall in a sort of scary part of East Hollywood, but it manages to overcome its surroundings.  The owners have done the best they can with the interior space, putting in fountains and fake flora from the Middle East.  It's kind of kitschy, but it works.  If you're lucky, you'll be seated at one of the window tables, which are the more atmospheric in the restaurant, with low-slung couches placed around a hammered tin table.  Vey charming.

There are meze platters available, or you can order a la carte from the appetizer menu that's longer than the entree menu.  Even something as simple as pita is exciting, since it comes hot from the clay oven and is almost as fluffy as naan.  If a dish is listed as the chef's special, order it.  It'll induce the happiest food coma of your life.


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