The rainbow and the sunset: a dance between desire and the void
For Gabriel Glenn
Los Angeles greets you with warmth. Usually. The sun shines, the air is dry, and the sky looks convincingly like a promise. Palm trees lean in the wind as if they want to hug you. People smile. Easygoing. Los Angeles seduces you long before you know it. The moment your plane touches down and something inside says: “This is where it happens”. The sunlight hits differently here - a sweet promise. And on the surface, that promise feels real.
People talk about dreams with disarming ease. Waiters are screenwriters, Uber drivers are producers, and your barista? She is prepping for a Netflix audition. There is no shame in wanting something grand here. Ambition is not a dirty word - it is cultural currency.
Los Angeles does not force direction. It allows for movement. The absence of strict hierarchies has made it, paradoxically, one of the most aspirational places in the world. It offers access without pedigree, space without certainty, and the possibility of invention without the demand for explanation. In L.A., there is no singular way to arrive, and no prescribed path once you do. This openness is what shaped the city´s relationship to ambition. In Hollywood, it gave rise to a system that could absorb enormous numbers of people hoping to be seen, heard, hired, chosen. That structure also explains why the city has become a magnet for those outside the traditional systems of opportunity: artists, outsiders, immigrants, and anyone unwilling or unable to follow a more formal track.
Los Angeles does not provide guarantees. It does not promise outcomes. But it leaves the door open. And in a country where most systems are closed, coded, or locked by class, position and prestige, that openness is foundational. The opportunity is there. It makes room. It offers a way in, even if you don´t know exactly where you’re going. You try, and you try again.
Palm trees lean in the wind as if they want to hug you (© Edie Lou)
The History of Hollywood and the Entertainment Industry
Hollywood wasn´t always destined to be the center of entertainment. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the heart of America´s film industry was firmly established on the East Coast, primarily in New York and New Jersey, where Thomas Edison´s laboratories and studios held significant power. Edison controlled critical film patents, and he enforced them aggressively, creating barriers for independent filmmakers who found it nearly impossible to operate without legal confrontation.
As Edison´s grip tightened, filmmakers searched for alternatives. Los Angeles presented a solution. Its distance from Edison’s East Coast legal reach offered protection. The city also provided practical advantages: abundant sunshine meant longer filming hours and fewer interruptions, while land was plentiful and inexpensive. By the 1910´s, independent studios began relocating en masse, taking advantage of this geographical and legal breathing space.
Once established in Los Angeles, the entertainment industry quickly transformed. What emerged wasn´t just filmmaking - it was Hollywood, a fully integrated studio system. Paramount, Warner Bros., MGM, and Fox developed vertically integrated models, controlling production, distribution, and exhibition. Hollywood did not merely tell stories; it created cultural narratives. It manufactured stars, inventing the very concept of modern stardom, turning actors into global icons whose lives became worldwide fantasies. Through the silver screen, Hollywood didn´t just entertain - it actively shaped identities, values, and aspirations on a global scale, profoundly influencing how America and the rest of the world continue to see themselves today.
Whisky a Go Go (© Edie Lou)
Let the Music Play
Alongside Hollywood´s cinematic dominance, the music industry also found fertile ground in L.A. Initially centered in New York and Nashville, the recording industry recognized L.A.´s potential by mid-century. Labels like Capitol Records established iconic studios where Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, and the Beach Boys recorded landmark albums. Just as Hollywood continually adapted - moving from cinema to television, music vids, reality TV, and streaming platforms - so, too, did Los Angeles’s broader entertainment ecosystem. Nowhere was this evolution more vividly embodied than along Sunset Boulevard, particularly the 1.7-mile stretch famously known as the Sunset Strip. Oh we love you!
Originally a colonial-era trail connecting El Pueblo de Los Àngeles with the Pacific Coast, Sunset Boulevard evolved over centuries into a central artery of the city. Officially named in 1904 and developed alongside the rise of Hollywood, it linked the emerging film studios of the east with the more experimental, nightlife-driven culture to the west. The Sunset Strip, located in what would later become West Hollywood, gained its reputation in the 1920s during Prohibition. Sitting just outside LAPD jurisdiction, it fell under the looser oversight of Los Angeles County, creating a gray zone where clubs, bars, and speakeasies could operate with relative freedom. This legal ambiguity allowed the distinctive culture to flourish - equal parts glamour and rebellion - we can feel today.
By the 1960s, venues like Whisky a Go Go and the Troubadour were showcasing acts such as The Doors, Led Zeppelin, and Joni Mitchell. The Roxy Theatre opened in 1973 and quickly became a launchpad for experimental live performances, while the Viper Room - opening in 1993 and now closed - added a darker, more intimate edge to the Strip´s mythology. And of course, there is the Bow, the Rainbow Bar & Grill, founded in 1972, becoming a consistent refuge for musicians and industry insiders alike. In the following decades, the Strip continued to evolve, housing glam rock, punk, and the metal scenes of the 1980s, with bands like Guns N´ Roses and Mötley Crüe becoming synonymous with its late-night mythology.
Together, Hollywood, the music industry, and the cultural magnetism of the Sunset Strip thrived precisely because of Los Angeles´s openness, adaptability, and its tolerance for creative risk. The city’s unusual structural conditions - geographic spaciousness, legal permissiveness, technical infrastructure, and cultural flexibility - created an ecosystem uniquely suited to entertainment. This environment ensured that Los Angeles remained not just a city that hosted cultural production but a place that continually enabled and reinvented it.
Villa Nova, an Italian Restaurant opened in the early 1940s by Vincente Minnelli (© of the original picture belongs to the rightful owner)
The History of the Rainbow Bar & Grill
Before it became the Rainbow Bar & Grill, 9015 Sunset Boulevard was home to Villa Nova, an Italian restaurant opened in the early 1940s by director Vincente Minnelli. Known for its dim lighting, red booths, and discreet charm, Villa Nova quickly became a favorite among Hollywood insiders. It was elegant but not ostentatious - a place where producers, actors, and musicians could meet off the record. Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio reportedly had their first - blind - date there in 1952. That table is still there today. That table - my beloved table - is magical. Today it is in the Rainbow…name changed but the table didn’t. I never ask for it, but somehow, I always get seated there. There is a warmth to that corner of the room that is hard to name. It feels like home. I’ve spent long nights there, laughed, made memories that still make me smile. There is just something about that spot that holds you. But back to the story…
Villa Nova closed in 1968 and briefly reopened as the Windjammer before closing again in 1971. The Windjammer was a short-lived restaurant that occupied 9015 Sunset Boulevard between 1968 and 1971. While detailed records about the Windjammer´s theme or clientele are scarce, its tenure was brief and transitional. The buildings true cultural resurgence began in 1972 when it reopened as the Rainbow Bar & Grill, quickly becoming a cornerstone of Sunset Strip´s rock scene.
In 1972, publicists Gary Stromberg and Bob Gibson launched a new venture at the site, bringing in Elmer Valentine, Lou Adler, and Mario Maglieri as co-owners. The Rainbow Bar & Grill opened that March with a party for NRBQ, followed by an event for Elton John on April 16. The name “Rainbow” echoed the era´s ideals of peace and freedom. As we can imagine, the vibe was magical and built for longevity. It was about belonging. A place where celebrities, creatives, artists, and outsiders all collided. Chasing the same current - music, freedom, expression.
Rainbow Bar & Grill…That table…(© Edie Lou)
Through the 1970s and ´80s, the Rainbow became a fixture of the Strip´s rock culture. Regulars included Keith Moon, Alice Cooper, Nikki Sixx and Axl Rose. Lemmy from Motörhead was such a constant presence, he is practically part of the building´s architecture. He spent countless hours at the video poker machine near the end of the bar, and today, a statue of him stands there - a quiet tribute to a permanent resident. However, this was the time when the Rainbow solidified its identity as more than a bar - it was became a home base for the Strip´s music culture. The place welcomed - and still does - everyone: groupies, producers, artists, and anyone circling the industry.
The Rainbow´s impact extended beyond nightlife. It inspired songs, featured in music videos - just think about November Rain -, served as a crossroads for many individuals. It adapted to shifts in musical taste - embracing hard rock and metal in the `80s - and managed to remain relevant till today without changing too much. It kept its identity throughout the years. Despite changes around it, the Rainbow has endured, and in 2017 it was inducted into the Hall of Heavy Metal History. In 2023, the Rainbow reached a legal settlement over past misconduct allegations - an episode that cast a brief but complicated shadow over its legacy. And while it is not untouched by controversy, its presence remains steady and beloved by many. In a city built on reinvention, the Rainbow endures by remaining unmistakably itself - a place where you do not have to perform or impress, just show up.
Rainbow Bar & Grill. Lemmy´s corner (© Edie Lou)
The Special Bow
There is that feeling like you’ve found a place that doesn´t ask you to be anything else. At least, that´s how I’ve always felt there. At the Rainbow. Like home. A place to be. Just as you are. I met soulmates there - real connections for a lifetime. That kind of connection doesn´t happen everywhere. But there it did. And it stayed in my heart. - Thinking about you Gabriel, Joan, Jeff and Bino! - But why? What is so special about that specific place?
Let´s talk about a public space that isn´t your home and isn’t work, but something essential in between. Sociologist Ray Oldenburg coined the concept of the “third place” - a public space where social life happens organically, where people gather without pretense, and where community forms through repetition, not résumé. Cafés, pubs, bookstores, and bars often play this role, but in Los Angeles - a city built on performance - true third places are rare. The Rainbow is one of them.
Its significance comes partly from its location. The Sunset Strip, as already mentioned, long before it was a cultural artery, was a legal loophole - an unincorporated stretch of county land just outside the reach of the LAPD. During Prohibition, that gap in governance became fertile ground for clubs, speakeasies, and nonconformists. And even after the laws changed, the energy did not. The Strip kept attracting those who lived outside the lines: musicians, queers, radicals, artists. People who needed a room to exist.
Gabriel Glenn, Summer, 2017 (© Edie Lou)
The Rainbow inherited that spirit and held onto it. It does not really glamorize its past. It lives in its present. Unlike most venues in Los Angeles, the Rainbow is a crossover space. It is neither underground, nor elitist, either. You will see familiar faces from the industry, but also newcomers, musicians, artists, locals and regulars who’ve been coming for decades. That mix is unusual, in L.A. and everywhere in the world, where scenes are often siloed by status and accessibility is controlled by gatekeepers. You do not need to dress a certain way, know a promoter, or be in a scene to walk in. Open and inclusive. (The open stage was a rare example of what made the Rainbow a true third place: uncurated, accessible, and centered on participation rather than performance.) You don´t need an insider knowledge to enter. And unlike many mainstream venues, it hasn´t sold out its identity for mass appeal. It remains real - and legible. You know what it is the minute you enter.
Most importantly, it remains built around a shared mindset rather than shared status. People who come to the Rainbow often have little in common professionally. But what they do share is a disposition - restless, creative, off-center, and deeply attuned to music. That alone is enough to create connection. In psychological terms, it reflects value-based homophily - a concept formalized by sociologists Paul Lazarsfeld and Robert Merton - describing the tendency to form bonds not through class, status, or occupation, but through shared outlook and emotional orientation. They feel the world in similar ways, resonate with the same moods and energy. Live music, late-night conversation, or raw artistic performance. Creativity, freedom, authenticity.
This all explains why deep, lasting connections can form in a space like the Bow: it is a social mixing zone where shared inner traits - not external markers- bring people together. And when that kind of connection happens, it lasts. The Rainbow is a cultural and emotional counterweight to the performance economy of Los Angeles. It offers continuity in a city built on change, community in a city built on ambition, and space in a city built on image.
The Bow is a cultural and emotional counterweight (©Edie Lou)
The American Dream and Its Edge
Los Angeles became the global capital of imagination not just because of sunlight or scenery, but because it offered something no European city could: permission without precedent. Unlike Paris, Rome, or even New York - cities thick with legacy, class systems, and cultural hierarchy - Los Angeles was unburdened by historical gatekeeping. It was a city with no single center, no entrenched aristocracy, and no memory long enough to block reinvention. Here, identity wasn´t something you inherited. It was something you authored and built. The climate helped. The land was cheap. Hollywood became an industry a myth-making money machine and a magnet for those seeking fame, financial freedom and validation.
But what truly set L.A. apart was its attitude toward identity. Unlike most European on East Coast cities, where identity is rooted in pedigree, L.A. allowed identity to be invented, performed, and redefined. You could arrive with nothing but ambition and walk into a new version of yourself. This created a creative meritocracy - imperfect but open. If you could create something that mattered you had a shot. It helped that the city itself felt like a blank slate. Unlike Paris, London, or Rome, L.A. carried no symbolic weight. There is no centuries of art or etiquette dictating what culture should be. It is a blank canvas where new myths could be written. Freely.
And let´s face this- Los Angeles is physically vast and sprawling. But more importantly, it is mentally spacious. There is room to grow, fail, reframe, and try again. No single identity dominates. The creative ecosystems are existing side by side. Industry, celebs, punk, metal, mainstream, artist, hustler. Everyone is building - and rebuilding something. The value system is build on transformation and now. L.A. is a functioning arm of the American Imagination. Freedom is intensified by pressure. In a country with limited public support systems, and a city where rent doesn´t wait, success in the creative economy becomes a survival strategy.
Making it in L.A. is not just about ambition - it is about survival (© Edie Lou)
Opportunity was the defining offer. But in America that opportunity came with real risk. The U.S. lacks many of the safety nets common in European nations: universal health care, accessible higher education, subsidized housing, etc. For many, particularly immigrants, working-class dreamers, and outsiders, making it in L.A. is not just about ambition - it is about survival. There is no fallback. Which is why the city´s sheen of glamour is only half the story. The other half is visible just blocks away on Skid Row or at MacArthur Park. They offer another portrait of L.A. - a place where pigeons rise over palm trees, and broken dreams linger beside the lake. It reminds us that Los Angeles doesn´t just elevate ambition; it also tests what happens when the dream does not land. The consequences. Are. Real. Many talents disappear silently. The American Dream is real. Beautiful, raw and brutal at the same time.
This is where the Rainbow comes into the game. This is why its accessibility matters. The Rainbow breaks with the stratified norms of the entertainment world by offering something unusually democratic: access without pedigree. It is not just a bar - it is a porous threshold into notoriously guarded connections, or viral momentum to be seen. What it offers emerging artists is not a promise of success, but a credible point of entry - a place where proximity and participation can lead to possibility. That matters in a city where most creative pathways are gatekept, and where so many talented people are one opportunity away from giving up. The Rainbow - love it or hate it - creates a visible, low-barrier space that reflects the ideal of meritocratic system. It reflects the spirit of openness. It is a space where the possibility of merit-based progress still feels tangible, even in a system that often favours the already privileged. It keeps the door cracked open. And in L.A., that can be enough to keep someone in the game.
https://www.discoverlosangeles.com/things-to-do/the-sunset-strip-the-story-of-an-la-icon
https://lacity.gov/government/history-los-angeles
https://www.visitwesthollywood.com/stories/feature-rainbow-bar-grill/
https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/boom.2012.2.4.79
https://www.thereallosangelestours.com/crime-seen-prohibition-in-la/
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249624412_Third_Places_and_the_Social_Life_of_Streets
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l37HZq_DMU4
https://www.jstor.org/stable/3709820
https://www.rainbowbarandgrill.com
https://whiskyagogo.com/calendar/
https://whiskyagogo.com/calendar/
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkFXovfm9GncfKuImfjjzlky-2NVQ-ze1