The Golden Bear
Huntington Beach Califirnia
For people that have been to Golden Bear, the club is accurately described and labeled as Historic, Legendary and a musical venue Icon.
It was magical. Just Google the name and you will see a lot of interesting articles. I can't possibly tell the history of The Golden Bear in the blog, just want to tell you about my experience.
The club had decades of history opening in 1929 and closing in 1985. Bands such as Jimi Hendrix, Grateful Dead, The Doors and hundreds of famous names have all played there. It was a small club that only held 300 people. The building was old and poorly maintained and when it rained we putout buckets to catch the leaks. You can see a partial list of the bands that appeared there over it's history. Walking in the club you can feel the magical atmosphere, even when empty. I was fortunate to work there for about three years. Three years was only a drop in the bucket for the decades it was open but wow, what a three years it was. Still so many memories. It also changed my life as I went from working for several years on the production side to a music executive by starting to promote and book bands.
When I moved from Seattle to Huntington Beach I used to drive by The Golden Bear and used to see famous bands playing at the club at it amazed me as I can see it was a small building. The club being located on Pacific Coast Highway I would see the club all the time when riding my bike up and down the bike path and boardwalk.. One afternoon I saw the side door open and a truck with a few guys unloading equipment. On the marquee i saw that Al Stewart was playing the day and figured it was their crew loading in and I was right. I peddled up to the stage door only dressed in my shorts, visor and sunglasses and I said in a raised voice, " can you tell me who is in charge?" . A guy said he was, his name was Billy. I asked if they needed help and he said I had great timing because they did need help. One of the lighting guys and stage crew just got hired by Van Halen.. He asked if I was exerienced and I replied extensive experience in all phases of live music production. He said great, go home and change and be back in one hour. WOW, my opportunuty just fell in my lap, no application or nothing. Just a go home and change and come back.