Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
261
Tips
A Note on Smoking
In 1998, California enacted legislation that banned smoking in all restaurants and
bars. Despite repeated efforts by opponents to repeal the law—and willful disre-
gard by some proprietors—it's more widely enforced every year. If you're looking
to light up in clubs, lounges, and other nightspots, better check to see what the
locals are doing first.
The crown of Downtown and home to the Lakers and Clippers pr o basketball teams
is the
STAPLES Center,
1111 S. F igueroa St. (
&
213/742-7340;
www.staplescenter.
com). Along with the ne w 7,200-seat
Nokia Theatr e
(www .nokiatheatre.com), this
combination spor ts/event stadium is the city 's primar y concer t v enue. P art of the
$4.5-billion, 4-million-squar e-foot
L.A. LIVE
complex (www .lalive.com)—which
opened late 2008 and early 2009 adjacent to STAPLES and the Los Angeles Convention
Center—the Nokia Theatre hosts star-studded award ceremonies and more than 150 live
annual performances a year.
Amphitheaters are the staple of national rock and pop concert tours. Los Angeles's two
main warriors are the outdoor
Greek Theatre
in Griffith Park, 2700 N. Vermont Ave.,
Los Angeles (
&
323/665-1927;
www.greektheatrela.com) and the indoor
Gibson
Amphitheatre
(formerly Universal Amphitheatre), Universal City Drive, Universal City
(
&
818/622-4440
), each seating about 6,000. Both ar e among the most accommodating
and comfortable facilities for big-name acts. N early as beautiful as the H ollywood Bowl,
the Greek books a full season of national acts ranging fr om The White Stripes and Robert
Plant to Al G reen and M elissa E theridge. After a r ecent multimillion-dollar r enovation
project, the G reek is nicer than ev er. Be advised that getting out after ward can still be a
problem, as cars are stacked in packed lots, making exiting a painfully slo w process.
Gibson Amphitheatre has one advantage over the Greek: It has a roof, so it can book
year-round. It's not as aesthetically pleasing, but it is quite comfor table and none of its
seats are too far fr om the stage. F or some ev ents, the “Party in the P it” offers a general
admission section next to the stage. I n addition to pop stars fr om The Strokes to Kid
Rock, the Universal has booked such theater events as
The Who's Tommy.
While the neon
jungle of Universal's CityWalk doesn't appeal to ev eryone, it does offer plenty of pr egig
dining and drinking options.
Orange County's
Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
(formerly Irvine Meadows), 8800
Irvine Center D r., I rvine (
&
949/855-8096;
www.verizonwireless.com), which holds
15,000 (including a general-admission lawn
way
in the back), hosts KR OQ's often-
spectacular summertime “Weenie Roast” and KIIS FM's “Summer Jam” each year, as well
as a plethora of touring rock acts, including recent shows from Dave Matthews Band and
Coldplay. If you're going fr om L.A. on a w eekday, get an early star t, because I rvine is
located at one of the most heavily trav eled freeway junctions in the countr y.
Another popular venue is the
Honda Center
(formerly Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim),
2695 E. Katella Ave. (1 mile east of I-5), Anaheim (
&
714/704-2500;
www.hondacenter.
com), a combination spor ts/event stadium that's gaining momentum as a primar y con-
cert venue. It's about an hour from Los Angeles via the always-cr owded I-5 freeway, but
it's convenient to Disneyland-goers (about 8 min. away).
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