Moving from California to Indiana, there are many things that I miss. One might assume that I miss the weather, beaches and food. Someone might imagine that I live some version of a life that you would see in a 21st-century “Grease” adaptation. I could dedicate my column to writing about what California has and what Indiana does not, but I honestly do not care that much. What I miss most about California is the people I would meet in the South Bay of Los Angeles.
I have found the karaoke bar scene to be electric. Older men drink off tap until their wives call them home at 9:30 p.m. Millennial women live out their dreams by covering “Pocketful of Sunshine” every night. Groups of guys come in every 30 minutes with Busch Light shirts to cover their favorite song: “Whiskey Glasses" by Morgan Wallen. It makes me feel young and alive.
It is usually the unassuming faces that I enjoy speaking with, and my cousins and I will go and sing the music we love. From Al Martino, to The Doors, to The Scorpions, to Pearl Jam, we love to sing songs from all of the late 20th-century music movements.
The regulars love it when a couple of young guys come in and sing their favorite tunes, and they make sure to come up to give compliments and tell you to sing to Bob Seger. A lot of the time, I get to hear about what they do for a living, listen to their life story and watch them reminisce about their favorite live performances they saw in their 20s.
Often, I encounter Hollywood ghosts: people who were in the scene but with relatively unremarkable roles. One time, I sang “Been Down So Long” by The Doors, and a man with a polo covered in Jim Morrison faces approached me and told me that he was a roadie for the band, showing me pictures of him with the band.
Another woman in her 40s showed me pictures from her 20s when she was a 2000s celebrity groupie. She would hang out with Aaron Paul, Urkel, blink-182 and other random celebrities. She also produced Lana Del Rey’s “Song of the Valkyrie” music video a few years back. I also had a very strange run-in with Manuela Arbeláez, one of the models for “The Price is Right.” I could go on, but I think the point is clear: If you go out in the South Bay, you will have unexpected, fascinating encounters.
It feels like most people are living out their glory days in these karaoke bars. They are looking for places where they might find people who appreciate them. The scene in the North has evolved and is too fast-paced for these people. The Whisky a Go Go in Beverly Hills is not a place where they go and find the next rockstars. The places they would frequent to feel like they are in the scene are dead, and it would not make sense for them to go to the clubs where most young celebrities hang out. Instead, they go to places where they can still enjoy the pop culture from when they peaked.
Often, when I talk to these Hollywood ghosts, while they speak fondly about their involvement with the scene, they regret not pursuing their own dreams or trying to be the “frontmen” of their passions in entertainment.
I spoke to one such man, Craig, who owns a character animation company. He spoke to my cousins and me about how if he could do it over again, he would have stuck with his dreams of being a drummer. He was recruited as a drummer for the 90s grunge band, Soundgarden, but decided to go off to college instead. This story of regret is common from the people who end up in the South Bay.
Although sometimes it is boring to listen to grown adults sob about their foregone dreams, they motivate me to live out my young years in a fulfilling way to avoid regret later in my life. Not only do I geek out over their partial involvement with late 20th-century pop culture, but I also get the opportunity to talk with genuine, vulnerable adults who appreciate the same media that I do.
So, if you are ever in the South Bay of Los Angeles, it is worth popping into a karaoke bar on the pier, because you never know who you might meet in the Hollywood graveyard.
Matt Baird, proud native of Danville, California, is a sophomore majoring in English and Finance. He enjoys walking, listening to music and humming.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
