On April 1, 1972 there opened a new establishment at 9015 Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood, California. This establishment was to become a major hangout for the rock and roll elite. This hangout was to become the icon of cool rock clubs – matched by no other. This establishment is the Rainbow Bar & Grill.
It was a long 23 years of my life before I ever set foot in the Rainbow. For three days in 1996 I had the time of my life hanging out there while on vacation in Los Angeles.
Why do I love the Rainbow so much? Let me count the ways…
As a native New York state resident, I am a long-time fan of the New York Yankees. The building that is now The Rainbow was once called the Villa Nova and this is where Yankee Joe DiMaggio met Marilyn Monroe on a blind date. Early on, one of the greatest love stories ever told began at what was to become the Rainbow. This fact alone establishes a grand romantic legend in the aura of the club.
All through the 80s I heard about this incredible club in this mystical far-away dreamland they called “L.A.” Being 3,000 miles away from the Sunset Strip living in a small town of about 25,000, my young mind conjured up images of an idyllic rock and roll paradise. The club was featured in music videos by Guns ‘N Roses and the like – bands that were my rock and roll heroes. I was a “band-aid” in my heart (approach your local video store and rent “Almost Famous” if you don’t know what I just said!), and longed to hang with the rockers. The Rainbow represented the kind of place where “hanging with the rockers” was not only allowed, but the norm. At least in my young mind, the Rainbow on Sunset was THE place to be. Rock and Roll HEAVEN, and I longed to walk my skinny ass in there and be a part of the coolness.
In 1996, thanks to a cool boyfriend, I got my long-awaited wish. I was not disappointed. The first night we went to the Rainbow I fell so in love with it that we came back the next two nights. THREE nights in a ROW of the same club. All I can say is it’s a good thing I don’t live in L.A. Though if I did I am sure it would lose it’s sparkle in my eyes. Maybe.
I love the Rainbow because upstairs they have the coolest dance floor ever. It’s a bit small, but it’s enough. Late 80s metal, spun by a dj, blares through the speakers and you are SUPPOSED to be dancing to it. The idea was unprecedented by anything I had experienced in upstate NY. Three nights in a row I went dancing because of this.
I love the Rainbow because the VIP room above the dance floor is just visible enough to know there are people up there. I loved watching people go up there and trying to figure out if they looked familiar. Sometimes they may be “nobody” to you, but the mystery sure is fun!
I love the Rainbow because it is always filled with the long-lost breed of long-haired rocker-boy (and rocker-chick) that died out when grunge hit. I don’t know where they all live, but they come out of the woodwork at The Rainbow. You know the video for “No Rain?” The one with the Bee Girl finding her “Bee People,” where she finally finds happiness and people she fits in with? That was me at the Rainbow, but hopefully 100% less dorky-looking. Surrounded by like-minded people, i.e. people that worshipped rock and roll the way I do, I felt as if I had finally come “home.”
I love The Rainbow because of the extreme cases of long-lost rocker boy and chick that are a small part of the norm. Where else can you see a guy who still wants to believe it’s 1987 – and still looks halfway decent in spandex, leather, ripped jeans, eyeliner, BIG hair? Where else can you see a chick that looks like a washed-up porn star searching for meaning in her life? Their drama, their tragedy, is beautiful. Their sadness is poetry before your eyes. I’m not saying I enjoy the hardships of others – just that it is vivid in some of the people there, and living poetry has a certain tragic beauty to it.
I also love the Rainbow because some of the people that look like long-lost rockers are NOT suffering hardships - they are being themselves. They are going against the grain to be themselves, and that, my friends, is true beauty.
I love the Rainbow because anyone can show up there at any time. At any given moment, a rock star of some caliber or another can walk in and change your night completely. That just does not happen in my town – only once have I ever seen it happen. This is excitement of proportions that are rare in my neck of the woods.
I love the Rainbow because a nauseating guy can hit on me by saying he’s going to be in a WB sitcom. This actually happened to me and was revolting. But I love it because there is no other town (except maybe NYC) where you could say something like this and have it be remotely believable!
I love the Rainbow because a crazy and sweet old (homeless?) man outside told us we belonged together. He said he knew because he had psychic ability or something. As it turns out, he was WRONG, but the memory is a nice one. The Rainbow even had a friendly bum!
I love the Rainbow because a few weeks prior to my trip, VH1 had aired a countdown of hair metal hosted by Bret Michaels from the Rainbow. At the time I was jazzed to sit my ass down in a barstool that Bret Michaels had sat in a few weeks before. I love that I was that innocent with regards to professional rockers at the time. A part of me that would become more jaded in the following two years.
I love the Rainbow because of all the fantastic photographs on the walls.
I love the Rainbow because I’ve never seen more hair in one bar EVER.
I love the Rainbow because it’s a legend and the number of stories that have come out of there are endless. From Led Zeppelin to Guns ‘N Roses – there are so many stories that should be told someday!
I love the Rainbow because even I have seen Lemmy there!
Mostly, I love the Rainbow because I could truly be ME there and was not looked at harshly or judged. I expected to feel inferior in La-La Land, the land of plastic and paint, and especially in the Rainbow – where rocker chicks were also the norm. My experience was just the opposite. I fit in, I was liked (or, at least, not actively hated). I got a lesson in self-esteem: feel good about yourself, because there’s a place for everyone in this world!
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