Los Angeles Nightlife

As the world's showbiz capital, Los Angeles attracts both new and established talent, across the fields of cabaret, jazz, rock and blues and country and western. Nightclubs around town offer a mix of live bands and recorded music, and the city is home to some of the most vibrant comedy clubs in the USA.

Sunset Boulevard (with its famous 'Sunset Strip') still boasts some of the city's most famous clubs but is by no means the only hotspot. Other good nightlife areas are Santa Monica, especially along Third Street Promenade; Hollywood and West Hollywood, the latter a centre for gay nightlife. Pine Avenue in Long Beach and Pasadena's Old Town also have a good number of jazz clubs and other night spots. Admission prices for clubs and live music vary widely according to the entertainment. Entertainment listings can be found in LA Weekly (website: www.laweekly.com), a free paper distributed around town. Because of LA liquor laws, bars stop serving at 0200. The minimum drinking age is 21 years. Anyone who looks under 40 years old should carry photo ID - it's probable that you'll have to show it on the door. There is no smoking inside any public place in Los Angeles and this includes bars and nightclubs. However, many do offer outdoor areas where smoking is permitted.

Bars: Starting with the Sunset Strip, the Rainbow Bar & Grill, 90015 Sunset Boulevard, attracts the music industry and is known as the hair-metal drinking spot of the 1980s. The SkyBar, at the Philippe Starck-designed Mondrian Hotel, 8440 Sunset Boulevard, may be trading on its reputation for attracting LA's beautiful people, but it still has a great view and the same air of glamour that pervades the whole hotel chain. Occupying a former nursing home at 8300 Sunset Boulevard, the hotel bar of the Standard is less exclusive than Skybar, but equally popular. Still on the Strip, make sure you stop off at the Sunset Tour Hotel. In this splendid 1920s building at number 8358, the authentic art deco lounge bar extends out into the pool area complete with statues of pink flamingos. The Cat'N Fiddle is an English-style bar with courtyard and fountain, at 6530 Sunset Boulevard. Two other good choices are Spider Club at 1737 Vine Street and the Velvet Margarita Cantina, a late night trendy Mexican lounge, 1612 North Cahuenga Boulevard, both in Hollywood.

For LA gay life, try any bar along Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood, including the reliable Gold Coast at number 8228, or the crazy Fubar at number 7994, with drag queens and bingo nights. The biggest are probably Rage at number 8911, Circus Disco at 6655 (website: www.circusdisco.com), and Micky's at 8857. In this boys' paradise, there is a haven for lesbians at Palms, 8572 Santa Monica (website: www.thepalmsbar.com). For a mixed, hipper crowd, try Akbar, 4356 West Sunset Boulevard (website: www.akbarsilverlake.com) or here, 696 North Robertson Boulevard (website: www.herelounge.com).

The Observation Bar, aboard the RMS Queen Mary in Long Beach, is an art deco joy - a great place for a romantic martini while the sun sets. In the same area, the Rock Bottom Brewery, 1 Pine Avenue, is a good place to try handmade beers brewed on the premises. Downtown, the best views of the skyscrapers can be had from the revolving cocktail bar, BonaVista at Westin Bonaventure Hotel, 404 South Figueroa Street. With souvenir glasses, floor to ceiling windows and piped music, it's all very 1980s but hard to beat. Also Downtown, The Roof Bar at The Standard, 550 South Flower Street, is a very stylish place to check out the skyline.

Clubs: Serious clubbers will find the LA scene a little on the soft side compared to NYC and London (the 0200 curfew doesn't help), and the emphasis tends to be on looking cool and spending large, rather than dancing hard to name DJs. For serious style, long queues and sexy moves (including semi-naked dancers on glass-encased podiums), try Deep, 1707 Vine Street, on the corner of Hollywood and Vine Streets (website: www.deep-la.com). Area, 643 North La Cienega Boulevard is a swish joint with banquette seating and a spacious dancefloor. The infamous Viper Room, 8852 Sunset Boulevard (website: www.viperroom.com), owned by Johnny Depp, is a small, dark, hip hangout for rock musicians and groupies, although its club nights tend to be more funk and disco.

In Santa Monica, Gotham Hall, 1431 Third Street Promenade (website: www.gothamhall.com), with its clubby look and bustling billiards hall, is populated by pretty boys and girls. The sophisticated Club Cohiba, 110 East Broadway (website: www.cohibalongbeach.com), Long Beach, features a cigar and billiard room, a Martini lounge and a rooftop terrace. Swing-dancing is making a comeback in LA and the Derby, 4500 Los Feliz Boulevard, is the best place to jive - also featured in the film Swingers.

A former 1920s speakeasy Boardner's, 1652 North Cherokee Avenue, Hollywood (website: www.boardners.com), is home to the B52 Club where dancers grind to everything from goth to funk to erotica. Run by the same man (Ivan Kane) as Deep is Forty Deuce, 5574 Melrose Avenue (website: www.fortydeuce.com), a sultry cabaret-style lounge-bar, complete with burlesque. A bit further out in Santa Monica, but equally good, is The Space, at 2020 Wilshire Boulevard.

Comedy: The Comedy Store, 8433 West Sunset Boulevard (website: www.thecomedystore.com), is a good starting point as it features three rooms, which offer a variety of acts, from mainstream to fledgling. In the past, it has seen the arrival of people like Robin Williams, David Letterman, Whoopi Goldberg and Gary Shandling. The Laugh Factory, 8001 West Sunset Boulevard (website: www.laughfactory.com), is a smaller venue where you may see famous names, like Neal Brennan or Rodney Dangerfield, testing out their routines. Groundlings 7307 Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood (website: www.groundlings.com) is another premier venue where several Saturday Night Live members (Laraine Newman for example) got their start.

Live Music: The House of Blues, 8430 West Sunset Boulevard (website: www.hob.com), features not just top blues performers, but everything from heavy metal to hip hop and folk music. Harvelle's, 1432 Fourth Street, in Santa Monica (website: www.harvelles.com) is another good spot for blues.

Top jazz entertainers perform at the packed Catalina Bar & Grill, 6725 West Sunset Boulevard (website: www.catalinajazzclub.com). Booking is essential. Another good spot, the Jazz Bakery, 3233 Helms Boulevard in Culver City (website: www.jazzbakery.com), offers up world-class music most nights of the week. For something a little quirky, head to The Dresden, all white leather upholstery and cork walls, at 1760 North Vermont Avenue (website: www.thedresden.com). Resident jazz performers Marty and Elayne attract a mix of in-the-know movie buffs (the lounge featured in Swingers) and fans who just appreciate the music and cocktails.

Two venerable rock clubs, hosting fairly mainstream acts, are The Roxy (website: http://theroxyonsunset.com) and Whisky A Go-Go (website: www.whiskyagogo.com) at 9009 and 8901 West Sunset Boulevard. The Staples Center, 1111 South Figueroa Street (website: www.staplescenter.com), is the venue for mega-concerts and events such as the Grammy Awards. Located nearby is the 7,100-seater NOKIA Theatre, 777 Chick Hearn Court (website: www.nokiatheatrelalive.com), which also hosts well-known bands and award shows. The Cowboy Palace, 21635 Devonshire Street, Chatsworth (website: www.cowboypalace.com) is the undisputed king of the city's country music clubs, and patrons can even sing up for lessons to keep up with the latest dance crazes.

Los Angelenos are often pictured as cultural lightweights, obsessed with TV and the movies, but as in any multicultural metropolis, there is a diverse and thriving cultural scene that encompasses music, theatre, dance and opera. The city's leading light is the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County otherwise known as Music Center, 135 North Grand Avenue (tel: (213) 972 7211; website: www.musiccenter.org). In the heart of Downtown, Music Center is made up of four separate venues: the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion (host for many years to the Oscars ceremony), the Mark Taper Forum, Ahmanson Theater and the Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 South Grand Avenue (tel: (323) 850 2000; website: www.laphil.com).

The best source of up-to-date information on cultural events is Discover Los Angeles (tel: (213) 624 7300; www.discoverlosangeles.com). Tickets can be purchased from Ticketmaster (tel: (213) 480 3232; website: www.ticketmaster.com). Other agencies that handle concert, sport and theatre tickets include Musical Chairs (tel: (310) 207 7070 or 1 800 659 1702; website: www.musicalchairstickets.com), Al Brooks Theatre Ticket Agency (tel: (213) 626 5863 or 1 800 341 2766; website: www.albrooks.com) and VIP Tickets (tel: 1 800 328 4253; website: www.viptickets.com).

Music: The Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra (website: www.laphil.org) is one of the best in the world and performs at the Walt Disney Concert Hall (see above), as does the Los Angeles Master Chorale (tel: (213) 972 7282; website: www.lamc.org). The Los Angeles Opera (tel: (213) 972 8001; website: www.losangelesopera.com) performs at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion (see above). Chamber music and performances by distinguished alumni can be heard at the Zipper Concert Hall at the Colburn School of Performing Arts, 200 South Grand Avenue (tel: (213) 621 2200; website: www.colburnschool.edu). The classic summer venue to hear music outdoors is the Hollywood Bowl, 2301 Highland Avenue (tel: (323) 850 2000; website: www.hollywoodbowl.com), with concerts by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, as well as jazz and pop artists.

Theatre: The Ahmanson Theater (see above) stages large classical productions. Smaller and more adventurous productions take place in the Mark Taper Forum, a theatre-in-the-half-round, also at Music Center.

The Geffen Playhouse, 10886 Le Conte Avenue (tel: (310) 208 5454; website: www.geffenplayhouse.com) stages classical and contemporary plays in a historic building in Westwood Village. The Pantages Theater, 6233 Hollywood Boulevard (tel: (323) 468 1770; website: www.broadwayla.org) is an outstanding art deco theatre that hosts Broadway musicals and concerts, while the Pasadena Playhouse, 39 South El Molino Avenue (tel: (626) 356 7529/PLAY; website: www.pasadenaplayhouse.org) is an incredible 1925 Spanish Colonial Revival building. The Ford Amphitheater, 2580 Cahuenga Boulevard (tel: (323) 461 3673; website: www.fordamphitheater.org) is a 1200-seat outdoor space, where works by contemporary playwrights, as well as music, dance and film events take place.

LA Stage Alliance, 644 South Figueroa Street (tel: (213) 614 0556; website: www.theatrela.org), is an association of some 150 theatres; services include LAStageTIX, a half-price day-of-the-show ticket outlet.

Dance: The Joffrey Ballet Company (tel: (312) 739 0120; website: www.joffrey.com) has its main west-coast season in the spring at Music Center (see above). The UCLA Center for the Arts, 4405 North Hillgard, Westwood (tel: (310) 825 2101; website: www.uclalive.org), is the venue for touring dance troupes, as well as the UCLA Dance Company.

Film: The historic Grauman's Chinese Theatre, 6925 Hollywood Boulevard (tel: (323) 464 8111; website: www.manntheatres.com/chinese), presents first-run movies. El Capitan Theatre, 6838 Hollywood Boulevard (tel: (323) 467 7674 or 1 800 347 6396; website: http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/el_capitan), also screens first-run films. The Egyptian Theatre, 6712 Hollywood Boulevard (tel: (323) 461 2020; website: www.egyptiantheatre.com), shows foreign films and documentaries in Hollywood's oldest restored cinema. Only in Hollywood would you find The Silent Theatre, 611 North Fairfax Avenue (tel: (323) 655 2520; website: www.silentmovietheatre.com) screening only movies from the pre-talkie era. The Pacific Theatres Cinerama Dome, 6360 West Sunset Boulevard (between Vine and Ivar Streets, with DeLongpre to the south) (tel: (323) 464 4226; website: www.arclightcinemas.com), has been refurbished in keeping with its late 1950s architecture and turned into the centrepiece of a three-level entertainment and retail centre, with 15 screens and shops and restaurants.