lprew

Hi, I am travelling from Vancouver to LA in June/July and was hoping for some suggestions for good live music venues and good local cafes in the cities along the way. Preferably music venues that are likely to be open all week because i am not sure where we will be on the weekends. Looking for the indie, alt country type of music.
Also coffee, not to keen on chains so any good ones especially in Portland and Seattle that are independent and who maybe know how to make a flat white!
Thanks

lennyba

Where will you be in Seattle? I like this place http://www.candpcoffee.com/ if you'll be in W. Seattle. Also good: Javabean, Uptown (several locations), Hotwire.

Wellvis

There are literally hundreds of live performance venues between Vancouver and Los Angeles, almost as many as there are coffee shops (and the list overlaps frequently). If you do a Google search for "live music <city" where <city> is your planned stop, you'll get a lot of suggestions.

As far as specific recommendations in the San Francisco area, the Freight & Salvage in Berkeley (http://www.thefreight.org) is a great place to see anybody, no matter who's playing.

One suggestion is to take a local band that you've heard of, see if they're on tour, then see where they are playing up and down the west coast. Then check out the venue where they are playing and see who else is playing there. That should give you a good idea of what's worthwhile.

I wish I could be more specific, but that's just too broad a request.

happytrailstoyou

Jazz Alley and the Triple Door are two great places among the dozens. For news of what's happening, see The Weekly and The Stranger:

http://www.seattleweekly.com
http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Home

HTTY

suze

Seattle: Crododile, Tula's, Noc Noc, Neumo's, Chop Suey, Showbox, in addition to the two more traditional clubs mentioned above.

There're independent coffee shops everywhere in Seattle, though I confess I don't know what a "flat white" is -lol!

Supercilious

If you come down I-5 into California, there's the Palms Playhouse in Winters which is right on the interstate. It's kind of the Freight and Salvage for UC Davis.

http://www.palmsplayhouse.com/

Independent coffee places are hard to come by in most of the Bay Area. We are pretty much dominated by Peet's, Starbucks, Whole Foods, etc.

Another venue on I-5 is the Britt Festivals in Jacksonville, OR. You would probably need advance tickets though.

http://www.brittfest.org/performances

lprew

Thanks suze i think we will try and see if there is anyone playing at Crocodile Cafe the night we are there and then hopefully check out a couple of the tohers too.
A flat white is a strong white coffee. For some reason they are a NZ and Aus thing i think.

Surfergirl

Freight & Salvage is very good for coffee and folk music, but indie . . . ?!

For Los Angeles, there's not really too many places that play all or nothing style of music. Best bests are The Music Box at the Fonda (almost across the street from the Pantages on Hollywood Blvd, east of Vine); the Wiltern at Wilshire & La Brea; Viper Room on the Strip.

Let's see. There's the Catalyst in Santa Cruz, Cafe du Nord or Fillmore in SF, Coach House in San Juan Capistrano -- all very eclectic in terms of what kind of music is being played at any given time.

nanabee

California -- Silverlake District has the best coffee in So.CAl, check out Intelligentsia Coffee on 3922 W. Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90029 (323) 663-6173 www.intelligentsiacoffee.com

Portland is NOT a chain coffee city . Pretty much where-ever you go you will find wonderful independent coffee shops.
Neighborhoods: Stumptown Coffee in Southeast Portland, Belmont
3356 SE Belmont St
Portland, OR 97214
(503) 232-8889
www.stumptowncoffee.com

astro27

For Seattle, Vivace on Capitol Hill or next to REI downtown has incredible coffee, since moving from Seattle I even have beans shipped to NYC! As for indie music, Seattle has tons. In addition to all those venues listed, there are many festivals, so checking out the stranger for the date you are going to be there is a good idea.

sunbum1944

I guess you will be coming through Eugene- there are several places that have pretty good live music- Sam Bonds is one -

Full City coffee os a popular place - with fresh baked goods too

DelorusP

Not sure if you'll be going the coastal route but if you pass through Astoria, OR, check out the Rusty Cup on Commercial Street. We came across it last summer, it's really small but incredibly friendly and sells great coffee. It also sells bagels to die for! We loved it!!

lprew

Thanks everyone, i think i have Seattle planned for the two nights we are going to be there, will try and make it both Crocodile and Tractor Tavern.
Also thansk for all the coffee suggestions, i have had a look at a couple of the websites and they look really nice

stevefrench

Coffee in Portland:

Stumptown Roasters
SW 3rd & Oak
SE Division & 42nd
SE Belmont & 32nd
SW Stark & 10th, inside the Ace Hotel

Tiny's Coffee
NE Martin Luther King Jr. & NE Tillamook
SE Hawthorne & SE 7th

Blend
E Burnside & NE 24th

Extracto
2921 N Killingsworth

Bipartisan Cafe
SE Stark & SE 77th

Crema
SE 28th & SE Ankeny

(And if you want to experience the rather amusing height of Portland coffee elitism *chuckle* visit Barista in the Pearl, as it is run by coffee darling *snort* Billy Wilson. He makes a nearly flawless drink, but with the personality of a brick.)

What sort of live music are you looking for? Portland has a thriving music scene, with just about any genre you might want to take in. Doug Fir, Holocene, Dante's, Hawthorne Theater, Ash Street Saloon, the Crystal Ballroom, and the Goodfoot are all popular spots for live music, but there are a number of blues bars, jazz clubs, and the like all over. To get a good idea of what sort of music is playing in the area, try www.portlandmercury.com's music listings.

Scarlett

This is a good paper for seeing who, is playing where,in Portland..plus other Stuff.

http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/Home

and don't forget the Willamette Week

http://wweek.com/

iamq

The Boom Boom Room is a great blues/roots club in San Francisco.