West Coasters: Tell Me About Your Town

I can't help for venues, but in Oregon I'd recommend stopping in the south in Ashland (just off the I-5). It's a great college/hippy town and the music scene is good. I'd head up to Eugene, another college/hippy town, and then over the mountains to Bend, an outdoorsy town. From there, I'd go up to Hood River, and the over to Portland. Further west, Astoria gets some good gigs as well.

Hope that helps somewhat. Have a good trip!

I have lived on both Oregon and California's coasts, but not currently.

Some ideas at: http://www.oregonsadventurecoast.com/group-travel/meeting-venues/ (I can't imagine the Motel 6 in Coos Bay could be much fun)

Santa Cruz California Callahan's is pretty divey, if it's still there.

you know of Pat's in North Hollywood?

here's an article on SF dives: http://sanfrancisco.lovetoknow.com/wiki/San_Francisco_Dive_Bars. With SF's gay scene, it might be amusing to end up booked in the wrong sort of bar entirely--like a band of all men trying to do a set in a leather dyke bar, ouch.

Also (because your question interested me) I went to youtube and tried various searches. One that finally worked was "city state bar band," like "Portland Oregon bar band" and you get vids of people performing at various bars and some of them look nasty enough to me. Might be a good way to travel, via youtube, up the coast

Good luck!

Hell, just book them in Best Western Cocktail lounges ... can't get much divier


Believe me. I know dives

Quarter note off Lawrence Expressway in Sunnyvale. It's painted matte black inside. The wooden floors, soaked with runoff from the perpetually clogged bathrooms, cheap beer, and broken dreams are cracked, warped, perilous. The air is stagnant, redolent of man-sweat and dollar-store perfume. And the most complex drink you can order at the sticky bar is vodka and redbull.