Linkin Park Proves Popular Headliner As People Pack SSMF

Sunset Strip Music Festival Linkin Park — Thousands pack the Sunset Strip Music Festival for Linkin Park.

Los Angeles is the music capitol of the world and the Sunset Strip is the music capitol of Los Angeles.

So to block off the world-famous street and hold a multi-day festival with a near-constant lineup of bands is a great way to showcase the area’s culture and heritage.

It works. The Sunset Music Festival drew huge crowds. Particularly on Saturday night for the event’s headliner, Linkin Park, as more than 10,000 people attended throughout the day and night. The highly popular band had people packed by the stage at Sunset and Doheny for two-plus blocks, standing shoulder-to-shoulder and jamming to the tunes.

But that wasn’t the only place to find people. The renowned bars – and some not so renowned bars – along the blocked-off area of the block party were at or near capacity. My friend and I managed to squeeze into the Roxy by virtue of our VIP wristbands (that’s the biggest benefit of the VIP admission, by the way), stood in a friendly line for 15 minutes to acquire a pair of Stella Artois draft beers and squeezed into a small space on the floor to hear Warren G.

Sunset Strip Music Festival — Good times are all around the SSMF in the beer garden.

Sunset Strip Music Festival VIP — There was enough room to enjoy beers in the VIP section while Linkin Park played.

Sunset Strip Music Festival Warren G — The world-famous Roxy was packed for a performance by Warren G.

Frankly, we should have stayed at the Rainbow Bar & Grill, the funky bar/restaurant with Christmas lights inside, a maze of stairs leading to an upstairs bar and dance floor and out to a patio, where you could get a Budwieser, Bud Light or Shock Top from a portable bar in a matter of moments. As well as mingle with lots of people from all over L.A. Ironically, we ran into friends from where we came from, Hermosa Beach, further proof that the South Bay is everywhere!

Then again, the designated beer garden was also fun. It could be argued – and let me stand in the front of the line to do so – that the SSMF would be much more fun if you could grab a beer and take it out onto the street to hear the bands. But, alas, you can’t, so you have to have your drinks in the bars or in the beer garden.

The beer garden, however, is like a Vegas lounge with couches and it’s so large that even when crowded, you are not. This, too, is an excellent mingling spot. It was here I ran into a blogger friend, Tom of TomsFoodieBlog.com.

We would up our festival at the Hustler shop. We were not there to look at adult movies or material, or even do a little naughty lingerie shopping in case we met someone of interest at the festival, but because we heard they had a bar! And in fact, that proved to be the case.

While the doorman at Rock ‘n Reilly’s across the street rather tersely informed people that nobody was getting in the place (there was no line and a few people were coming out of it), we were downing Bud Lights in the comfort of Larry Flint’s sexy emporium.

Back out on the street, thousands were rocking to Linkin Park.

The Sunset Strip Music Festival takes place each year the first weekend in August. For more, go to PubClub.com’s full event review: www.pubclub.com/LosAngeles/sunsetmusic.

Cheers!