The USA.

mudslide73

SF - very lovely and tolerant. Alcatrazz is worth the price of admission alone never mind all the music stuff. 

keithf

sounding like sf is the place 

olafgarten

Nashville is the obvious place for Music, especially if you like County Music, also you can visit the Gibson Factory. 

axisus

I'm perturbed. Not only did your thread title include an unnecessary comma, but also there was a space before it. 

Sambostar

http://www.gravedigger.com/

Poplar Branch, North Carolina, especially in summer.  there isn't anything else around.

Failing that

http://www.davidlindley.com/cgi-bin/dltourdates.cgi

bluechargeboy

I have been to quite a lot of places in the US (with work) and Seattle is the place I would go back to. I've never been to SF though, so I will defer to the popular opinion!

Other nice places where driving is not needed:  Denver, Portland, NYC.

I've never understood why anyone wants to go to LA, it's just big. And shite.

TimmyO

keithf said:

excellent,Im thinking maybe one of them multistop jobs , 4 night sf, 4la,4 vegas and home

Fuck LA.

Vegas -> Hawaii -> SF -> Home

did that trip years ago - was fantastic 

keithf

axisus said:

I'm perturbed. Not only did your thread title include an unnecessary comma, but also there was a space before it. 

Happy now?

HAL9000

keithf said:

axisus said:

I'm perturbed. Not only did your thread title include an unnecessary comma, but also there was a space before it. 

Happy now?

No. Now you've got a full stop at the end of something that isn't a proper sentence. ;-)

bluechargeboy

HAL9000 said:

keithf said:

axisus said:

I'm perturbed. Not only did your thread title include an unnecessary comma, but also there was a space before it. 

Happy now?

No. Now you've got a full stop at the end of something that isn't a proper sentence. ;-)

 
While we're on the subject, @HAL9000, could you hyphenate "post-Brexit" in your sig? Cheers. :P

HAL9000

Good one. (Sheepishly wanders off to change signature)

HAL9000

Just remembered something that could be useful depending on where you're flying from - if you fly Aer Lingus look at going via Shannon or Dublin, as you can do US immigration there and land in the States as a domestic passenger. Much more pleasant than queueing for 90 minutes at JFK before being sneered at by someone who's had their sense of humour surgically removed (probably without the benefit of anaesthetic).

olafgarten

HAL9000 said:

Just remembered something that could be useful depending on where you're flying from - if you fly Aer Lingus look at going via Shannon or Dublin, as you can do US immigration there and land in the States as a domestic passenger. Much more pleasant than queueing for 90 minutes at JFK before being sneered at by someone who's had their sense of humour surgically removed (probably without the benefit of anaesthetic).

Going to Florida with my family was terrible because I'm a Muslim. My family was randomly selected and we were questioned for 3 hours. They asked my 9 year old brother if he had recieved any Military Training. 

HAL9000

olafgarten said:

Going to Florida with my family was terrible because I'm a Muslim. My family was deliberately picked out and we were questioned for 3 hours. They asked my 9 year old brother if he had recieved any Military Training. 

There. Fixed that for you.

Evilmags

Make sure and check the weather at the time of year you are going. Winter in the US is a serious thing. 

keithf

September it will be

Fretwired

New York - lots to see and easy to get round. Pop down to Boston - a great city with lots of history.

joneve

keithf said:

September it will be

Best time of year to visit the Pacific North West, coincidently. The scenery is stunning. 

Snap

I've been to SF a couple of times and New York. Out of the 2 I'd pick New York - its just an ace place and prettyeasy to get around. Unlike SF its more or less flat everywhere, so if you are in a chair, its easier. SF has ridiculously stepp hills, and despite what people are saying, the areas to see are quite spread out. ALso, the weather in SF can be iffy - we were last there in August and it was cold at night.

New York has everything, and is surprisingly easy to manage and get about. Central Park is great - bands playing everywhere. The bars are the business, and its not that expensive really. West Village (Greenwich Village) is brill, especially if you are a musician, its just dead cool.

Having said that, Upper Haight in SF is way out there, and the area around Fillmore, Divisadero St is very cool too. HOwever, the piers are shite, and China Town is a huge dump. I just think there is more about NYC and certainly more to see.

IMHO of course.

Favourite place so far in USA is Santa Monica and Venice, loved it. I'd go there before anywhere else, and of course you have downtown LA about 45 mins on a bus away. Counterbalanced by the most amazing beach and vibe.

LoFi

Of the places mentioned, I've been to:

- Las Vegas.

Great playground for a couple of days, worth seeing for the sheer otherworldliness of it. Unfortunately, I've been there twice for work, both times for a week at a time, and after 3-4 days you're thoroughly sick of it. My one regret was not doing the Grand Canyon while I was there (time constraints meant it would have to have been a helicopter trip and a) I hate flying and b) funds wouldn't permit it). I think if I were there again, I'd splash out on hiring a Dodge Viper or something and blast out there through the desert, rather than taking a bus. Other things worth doing are the coaster on NYNY and visiting Fremont St - even ignoring the lightshow, it's a bit more real, and the limits on the tables are lower so you don't end up blowing $400 in an hour.

From a music POV, you'll hear some insanely good covers bands in the casinos, but outside of the massive shows, I'm not aware of it being a music town.

- Los Angeles.

Not really one place at all - even less so than, say, London. I stayed in Santa Monica, and really liked it - it's every California cliche rolled into one. As the above poster says, Venice Beach is well worth a visit too. We were lucky in that my gf's brother lived in OC, and took a couple of days off work to show us around (really kind, given how stingey the US is with vacation allowance). It would've been a lot harder to see all the things we did (inc. the Chinese Theatre, Hollywood sign, Sunset strip, the beaches above) in the couple of days we were there without a car, but still probably doable.

- Seattle.

Very cool place indeed, but not actually very touristy. The EMP museum is great, and there are the typical Space Needle/Fisherman's Wharf things to do. Lots of cool little bars and shops - I'd say it'd be a great place to live, but wouldn't recommend a visit on its own (fine if combining with other places). You'd definitely want to get out of the city, as others have said, as the surrounding countryside is breathtaking.

- Hawaii.

Insanely beautiful, great food, great people, but it's a 6 hour flight from the west coast...

- San Francisco

Easily my favourite place in the US. Felt much more European than all the others (may not be a good thing, depending on your point of view), compact enough to walk around, loads of things to do and see, amazing bars and music scene. Can't recommend it enough (it is f***ing hilly, though).


None of the places mentioned are really well known for their music (you could argue about Seattle and LA, but I'd suggest that's history), but I think the best plan would be a SF-LA-LV trip (harder without a car).

If I were to do another trip, I'd do NY-New Orleans-Austin, TX, as a road trip, purely for the music aspect and because I'd really like to tick those places off.