Last Thursday, I caught Dave Alvin and the Guilty Women at the Santa Monica Pier Twilight Dance Series, and, yee-hah, it was a hootenany of a good time.  I went *under protest* because I’m not a country + western music fan (Lyle Lovett being an exception).  I parked in one of Santa Monica’s plentiful and cheap parking structures along 2nd and 4th streets, but, due to the huge crowds near the Pier, I picked the farthest one away (between Arizona and Wilshire) and traded congestion for more walking.

Sorry for the lack of camera, but I can report that the Pier was packed (although many people were no doubt taking advantage of the mild weather and were not necessarily there for the music), as was the Pier’s parking lot. I did not get up to the stage area on the Pier, but rather, went to the sand just below and South of the Pier.  There must have been thousands of people on the beach, spread out on blankets, with food, drinks (and, based on the smell, lots of pot), and candles.   It took a few text messages back and forth to locate my gang.  How did people at Woodstock find each other?
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BOTTOMFEEDERS GUIDE TO LA: Local staycationers looking to have some fun on little to no cash will want to check out the schedule at the Santa Monica Pier Twilight Dance Series. For one thing, it’s one of the cooler locations in LA, temperature-wise, and for another thing, it’s free. The Bonedaddys open the season next Thursday, and the entertainment through the summer runs the gamut from the Spanish Harlem Orchestra to Michele Shocked to Toots and the Maytals. And it being Santa Monica, there is of course a bike valet.

The inimitable Julia Scott has several lists of other options for free music, free events, and free museums in her Bargain Hunter site, a must-bookmark for any websurfing bottomfeeder.

(Oscalito‘s pier picture used through a Creative Commons license.)