IF YOU LOOK DOWN THE BACK OF THE SOFA OF LA YOU’LL FIND AN OLD, DUSTY, BUT INCREDIBLY PREVIOUS RARE GEM – SIDETOWN.
And there, you’d meet a friendly bunch of equally rare gems all living their best life and working hard to make that life even better.
They’re a curious bunch of misfits, dreamers, and schemers who look out for each other and look after each other.
At the centre of it all is the B-Sides bar, the beating heart and soul of Sidetown, with Viv, the tough but loving matriarch ruling the roost helped by Gus, the barman, who lives in an old airstream in the car park behind the bar.
In front of the bar, on their bench, you’ll usually find Slippery Kev and his mate, Sketch – a Riff Rat.
The Riff Rats live with, and under, the other residents of Sidetown in their own Riff Rat world. With their own speakeasy Riff Rat bar underneath the B-Side bar.
There’s a regular open mic night at the bar hosted by the slightly irregular Open Mike, who gets his name from being, well, open, too open…
Next door is the vinyl record exchange, Sounds Good, run by the couple Sheena and Debs, who also run Sounds Good Radio from the back of the store.
On the other side of the bar is Bodhi’s Taco truck where you can get the best tacos in Sidetown, that is unless ‘surf’s up’, then Bodhi and his sous chef Nacho are nowhere to be seen.
Across the road is the Sideview Guesthouse, which was famous in the 60s as a musicians’ hangout and still attracts ‘name’ bands when they’re playing in LA.
On one side of the Guesthouse is a recently developed office building which looks ideal for startups, on the other side is a rundown building ‘owned’ by the ever industrious Riff Rats.
Come and visit Sidetown, it’s a dusty, precious gem that’s ready to shine.
