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2012 September 29
Hollywood Bowl
2301 N Highland Ave
Los Angeles, CA
Saturday, 7:00

TOTALLY 80'S HOLLYWOOD BOWL

ARTIST
The Go-Go'sThe Psychedelic FursThe MotelsBow Wow Wow
About this performance:

'Our favorite twisted sweethearts return to the Bowl after 30 years! The Go-Go's pioneered a genre and inspired a generation with such albums as their 1982 smash record Vacation. Released that same summer were the Psychedelic Fur's classic Love My Way, the Motels' brooding Only the Lonely, and Bow Wow Wow's I Want Candy.'

ON THE GO!

Some nice shots of this town (is my town!)

From 2012 Sept 29 2012 Hollywood Bowl

WAY BEFORE THE SHOW



I can't believe that it has been 30 years + one month since the GoGo's played the Bowl! That is way too long.





HOW IT GOES
Before the Go-Go's took the stage, the audience was treated to a short video which pieced together snippets of Go-Go's videos, interviews and performances over the last 30 years. Fun to see their progression. They can't help but be charming.
Appropriately, the Go-Go's took the stage to Survivor's Eye of the Tiger (theme to the the Rocky movie). 
As Craig Rosen wrote in the Hollywood Reporter,  the show was a 'celebration of survival'. To read The Hollywood Reporter review of the show:  Click here
QUICK NOTES

Beautiful setting, warm night, full moon, great sound, nice lighting, for those with seats in the way back,  - super big screen TVs on the sides.  The Go-Go's were in top form and so ready to perform to their adoring hometown fans. 
Belinda performed barefoot from the get-go. She gave a shout out to her parents who were in the audience.

Charlotte commented that this was her third time on stage at the Hollywood Bowl. (Her high school graduation ceremony was on this stage).

The Go-Go's opened with 'This Town' which was so appropriate.

Set List

This Town
Vacation (complete with water skiing drag queens)


Tonite
How Much More
Get Up and go
Mad About You
Lust to Love
Stuck in My Car
Automatic
Fading Fast Cool Jerk
Cool Places
Unforgiven
Skidmarks on My Heart
We Got the Beat
Our Lips Are Sealed

Encore:
Head Over Heels


LOW NOTE
Bassist Kathy Valentine was out with a broken wrist and could not perform with her band mates. However, the very talented Abby Travis filled in for her and didn't miss a beat. 
Unfortunately it was getting late - so they were only able to do one song for the encore. Oh well. That couldn't be helped.

LA Loves Alex's Lemonade Returns Sept 29

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There are plenty of food charity events in LA, but LA Loves Alex's Lemonade is still one of the best out there with famous chefs arriving from all over the US to raise funds to fight childhood cancer.
The chefs and restaurants that participate in this event do not skimp, as evidenced by the raw bar with oysters, uni, and crab at last year's event
Michael Cimarusti from Providence was previewing his new casual restaurant, Connie and Ted's, with the best clam chowder I've ever had. I'm still waiting for this place to open so I can have this again!
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Let's Talk About Luxury: The Macallan's £10 Bar at The Montage Beverly Hills

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The names Macallan and The Montage Beverly Hills are already synonymous with luxury, but the £10 Bar is on another level. This Macallan exclusive bar is by-reservation only and has a $50 minimum per person. It's not hard to meet the minimum with the prices. The 12-year old Macallan aged in sherry oak is  £10, and the price goes up from there. Luckily I was there as Shop Eat Sleep's guest on her hosted media visit.
But I had to do a double take when I saw a $64,000 drink on the menu. Yep. I did say this bar was on another level of luxury, right? The 64-year-old Macallan goes for $64,000. That's for a glass/shot, by the way, but hey, they have the last two ounces of this stuff left on earth.
That beats the special Royal Marriage edition which was $12,000 for a whole bottle.
We sat outside since it was a nice day. Quiet, breezy, overlooking the garden and fountain. It is certainly a nice place to hang out and chat.

Of course, we had to order some Macallan. Our server told us that the sherry oak whisky tends to be smoother and fruitier. If you prefer something oaky, go with the ones in the fine oak section where the whiskies were finished in a bourbon barrel. For the smokier ones, there's the Highland Park line. So. When you order whisky here, they will bring you the four different ice options. There's the whisky soapstones, the ice cubes, specially made ice balls, and the one he most recommended - the ice ball made with Highland Springs water.

They actually ship water from Scotland to make these ice balls, no joke. It's supposed to be best since it's the same water used to make the whiskies. Even the "local" ice ball is no ordinary ball: it has the £ logo carved inside of the ice.

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Eating and Riding Around Knott's Berry Farm

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I've been invited to many restaurants and food events, but every once in a while something fun and different comes along, like an invitation to Knott's Berry Farm! OK, so the invite was to come to a tasting of their food offerings around the theme park, but I have to admit the opportunity to ride roller coasters was a major draw for me. Knott's Berry Farm isn't just known as a theme park, but their fried chicken and pies were what started the whole enterprise. Mrs Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant started in 1934 and attracted so many tourists that they started building shops and attractions around it to entertain waiting guests. So it really was the food that started the theme park!

The most famous food here of course is the fried chicken from Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner in the MarketPlace area, where they still serve the original recipe from 78 years ago. I actually have never had the fried chicken up until now, despite having lived in LA for almost 10 years. Verdict: they're quite good and hit the spot.
During the tasting I also tried the chicken pot pie, which also turned out to be really good. Flaky crust with creamy filling!

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Road Trip Food (Yellowstone): Cowboy's Lodge and Grille (Gardiner, Montana)

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On my last trip to Yellowstone, we flew into Bozeman, Montana and drove 1.5 hours to the North entrance of Yellowstone National Park. Feeling hungry on the road, we decided to stop in Gardiner, Montana for a bite, but most restaurants were closed in between lunch and dinner service. Luckily, Cowboy's Lodge and Grill was open.

Being cold, I had to order a cup each of their gumbo, chili, and the ranch hand stew ($4 for a cup). I've had better gumbo elsewhere but the other two were hearty and really hit the spot.
If you ever find yourself looking for food in Gardiner, Montana, I recommend the stew here!I had to order the bison steak since I was in Montana (it's on all the menus here, pretty much) but here it turned out to be pretty tough (a bit overcooked) and pretty expensive ($28), especially compared to the stew and chili!The cobbler ($3) was unfortunately disappointing, with canned peaches and mushy crust.Despite the disappointing steak and cobbler, we were happy with our stews and chili and were just glad to find a place to eat here between lunch and dinner service! Not too bad of a first meal at Yellowstone.

Cowboy Lodge and Grill
303 2nd St S
Gardiner, MT

Wood and Vine (Hollywood, CA): Monday Market Dinners and ChickenandWaffles

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Fact: Wood and Vine has one of the best al fresco dining area in Hollywood. Insist on a table here as long as the nights aren't too cold. It's a quiet escape from the craziness of Hollywood Blvd.
When Wood and Vine first opened, the executive chef Gavin Mills had to figure out how to work with the tiny kitchen and now he's got it down. The kitchen is so small it has no walk-in fridge! But that just means Chef Gavin goes to the market every morning for fresh ingredients.

At a recent dinner, I started my night with a Chai Gold Rush (chai and vanilla infused bourbon, lemon, honey, $12). This was a great cocktail, probably my favorite of the night! It's not overwhelmingly "chai"-like, just notes of spices. I hope they keep this one on the menu for a while!

Mondays are good to give Wood and Vine a try with their Monday Market Prix Fixe menu, $18 for 3 courses. There were three of us dining, so we tried one of the prix fixe menu while ordering other items to try.


The first course was a Melon consomme with basil.
This was a rather interesting first course. It was cold (good for the summer) but since it's also sweet, it was more like drinking melon juice rather than a consomme.

The entree that night was Shrimp and Grips with Anson Mills grits and house andouille sausage
The current menu has plenty of Southern items (as you'll see more below, chicken and waffles being one) and he's also doing a Southern Sunday suppers. I lived in South Carolina for high school and developed a liking to grits. I liked the shrimp and grits here, especially the texture of the grits and the addition of the housemade sausage.

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Copper on BBC America

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Copper is a new show coming to BBC America August 19th. It's set in NewYork's Five Point in 1864 and centers on a police officer/Copper who has demons of his own.We're lucky, there will be 10 episodes instead of the Brits usual 6 or 8.

I was able to watch the first two episodes and found them action packed. It's a lot like every other Cop show, only the time period allows the officers to behave in all sorts of out of the question ways today. No one is having their Miranda rights read and hey if someone dies why not help yourself to some of their stuff?

It's a pretty gritty world and just about everyone needs a bath in every episode.The class system is in full force, even in the brothels. Both the stories and the lighting are very dark, but I'll be watching to see where this show goes.

This is BBC America's first original scripted drama but hopefully with it's success there'll be more to come!