Alex Webb. Young men playing soccer in The Old City. Panama City. 1999
We’ve all got our little things, haven’t we? For Betsy, it’s the whales of instagram (and their ability to potentially crush her during spawning season); for Meredith, it’s berets, full stop; and for me, it’s the United States Men's National Team (the one that plays soccer). We’ll dive deeper into mammal flops and felt accoutrements in later posts, but for now we must focus on my personal thing, because the U.S. is hosting the World Cup in 2026 and the European domestic leagues are now getting underway. It is, in other words, the perfect time to familiarize yourself with the world’s game and America’s stars within that firmament before America suffers a humiliatingly early exit (or not!) in the upcoming tournament. And if or not actually occurs, it’s sure to be the stuff of corny YouTube lore for years to come.
Los Angeles has plenty of places that broadcast soccer (I once watched a game at the Culver City Dave & Buster’s—and that is certainly a place!), but very few that merit a commute. The ideal soccer-viewing experience should provide a blend of cosmopolitanism and hostility, and that’s legitimately hard to cultivate. But I’ve got a few for you to consider, and if one of them strikes your fancy, maybe I’ll see you there for the upcoming games against South Korea and/or Japan. And if not, well, I’ll see you when all this soccer hysteria subsides (2027/never)!
Soccer on the East Side (because I’m not going to fight through traffic just to get to somebody else’s television)
No one asked, but the greatest moment of my soccer-watching life came in the year 2002, when I saw the US beat Mexico in the dead of night, in a basement. I have rarely felt more connected to the wider world than I did at that moment, despite being profoundly alone and also in a house where I may or may not have been technically trespassing. (A friend had said that I was welcome to come over “any time” for the games, and I took him at his word. (Thanks, Jon!))
On that basis it is perhaps unsurprising that the soccer experiences I treasure the most are communal yet lonely, dark yet hopeful affairs. New York City bars during Euro Cup, for instance; or, alternatively, the back room at Zebulon (a New York transplant to LA), whereI watched the Champions League Final a few months ago. That, in fact, was the perfect experience. The room was packed, the sound was on, and everybody was there for the same thing, which we all duly received: a global sports reckoning, avec sauce.
But there are other, non-back room options as well: The Greyhound in Highland Park becomes a Tottenham bar during the Premier League season, and it’s proximate to some viewing alternatives (Highland Park Bowl, for instance) if the place gets too packed. But the class of the Euro locales has to be The Red Lion, where nothing further needs to be said. (If I had to say more, however, I’d say that the sausage is a legitimate rival to the chicken wing as an ideal game-day snack, but both have their virtues.)
There are certainly other, non East Side, non-Euro centric spots, but these are where I’d start if I were looking for non-frivolous soccer-watching in the coming months. One final note, however, is that the folks behind the York Manor soccer joints are also now things real at the Cat and the Fiddle in Hollywood, if that’s proximate for you, or if you’re dedicated enough for them.
Soccer Elsewhere
The internet (aka Reddit) has already covered this, so I’ll just post a link here. Also, just a reminder that MLS and NWSL are both in season as well if you’d like to actually attend a match.
With that said, please accept my apologies for the foregoing, and let’s get to the cultural contents!
-Dan Harmon
Cultural Events
Clockwise from L to R: ESG; A Good Used Book, The Cortège; Red Lion Tavern; Bisa Butler:Hold Me Close; Sunday Afternoon Concerts In The Dome.
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All Month - Betsy (Altadena) Bernee was open for 31 days before the fires tore through Altadena, and although the restaurant survived the fire, it was the only building left standing on the block. In the aftermath of the fires, some people left, of course, but many others dug in: owner Tyler Wells was in the latter camp. Bernee has been rechristened Betsy (great name, if I may say so myself) and officially reopened at the end of August. So book a table for what will surely be a delicious meal and a homecoming worth toasting. (BK)
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All Month - A Good Used Book (Echo Park Village) You can’t judge a book by its cover and all that jazz, but I don’t think it’s a terrible idea for publishers to slap a great design on a book to try to move a few more units. And if certain used bookstores can repackage (by which I mean shrink-wrap!) retro titles to make them more palatable for a new generation of readers, I’m all for that as well. Long live the mass market paperback! (And AGUB also hosts some cool weekly markets—so check out their website to stay apprised.) (DH)
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Sept 6 - USMNT vs. S. Korea (See above) “Friendlies” (ie, games that have no impact on anything and where players strive above all else to avoid injury) are not a great feature of the world soccer scene. BUT! International soccer teams rarely get to play together, so you take what you can get, match-wise—and what we’re getting this month is two games against legitimate world cup opponents. So if you want a sense of how our own national team is trending, it’s either games like this or tea leaves. Is that an endorsement? No. But will I be there, watching with full attention while also somehow staring deeply into my tea leaves? Yes, and with bells on. (DH)
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Sept 10 - ESG (Regent) The South Bronx sister band ESG started when the siblings received instruments from their mother, who was just hoping at the time that music would help keep them out of trouble. But those instruments did much more than that, and ESG became legends in the post-punk, funk world. (And they offer further proof that you should always listen to your mother.) ESG’s propulsive, eminently danceable beats have been the background music to more late-night work sessions than I can count. And it’s a rare treat to get to see them live, so buy your tickets and bow down to these women who have been at it for almost half a century. (BK)
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Sept 11: Creatives in Conversation: Blurring Boundaries (The Mak Center) I’m majorly fan-girling on this one. Not only will this conversation cover some of my favorite topics (the origin of creativity, the benefits of interdisciplinary thought, etc.) but the curation of this particular trio of LA-based artists—Lita, Lucy & Refik— whose work spans emerging technology, body architecture, and site-specific sculpture, is exquisite. Set against the backdrop of LA’s iconic Schindler House in West Hollywood, it’s sure to be a beautiful, thought-provoking Thursday night. (MR)
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Sept 11 - 28- The Cortège (Los Angeles Equestrian Center) My introduction to The Cortège was as mysterious as its tagline: a festive funeral for our times. It started popping up on my instagram feed and in my inbox, and eventually I found myself at a private preview last month. (A friend is doing the PR, and thought it would be right up my alley—and it was!) If mythic pageantry, participatory theater, and ceremonious processions are up yours as well (alley-wise, I mean), then I’ll see you there to “mourn the loss of a world we knew.” (MR)
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Sept 13 - Opening of Bisa Butler: Hold me Close (Jeffrey Deitch) There’s nothing I love more than “back-to-school” season. For me, as an adult without a syllabus, that means gallery season, when all the blockbuster exhibitions open after a sleepy summer. And Jeffrey Deitch is always one for a banger. I’m excited to explore Bisa Butler’s quilted portraits, which in her words: “is my visual declaration that we need love over hate.… Aesthetically, you’ll see people leaning on one another, sharing moments, captured in gestures of tenderness.” Here, the medium is the message and I can’t wait to hold the work close. (MR)
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Sept 21 - Sunday Afternoon Concerts In The Dome (Mt Wilson Observatory) Do yourself a favor this month, as we enter the dog days: drive up the dramatic Angeles Crest Highway with a pre-packed lunch, and go for a brisk little picnic hike. Then, after a quick car-side costume change (my speciality), head over to the Mount Wilson Observatory for some stellar classical music inside the mountain top dome that is home to the huge Hooker telescope. (BK)
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Sept 27 - Dazed and Confused - Dazed Day! (Vidiots) Vidiots is putting on a full day of Dazed and Confused screenings (supplemented with merch, pin ball games, and the always excellent popcorn), which is charming enough on its own, but the true heads will also want to stick around for the 9:30pm showing of Led Zeppelin - The Song Remains the Same. There are other ways to keep an audience’s attention beyond a strict adherence to the three-act structure, as both movies show, but it certainly helps to have a great set of tunes in your back pocket. (DH)
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Sept 27 - Kate Berlant: Live! (Largo) You may already love her from Poog or A League of Their Own, but to truly experience the crazy-eyed, deadpan, comedic genius of Kate Berlant, you have to see her stand-up act, which, as luck would have it, she’s bringing to the Largo this month. (BK)
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Through Sept 28 - Jeffrey Gibson: the space in which to place me (The Broad) Jeffrey Gibson made history last year as the first Indigenous artist to represent the US in the Venice Biennale. Through the end of the month, all Angelenos can see it too. An exquisite statement on the radical acceptance of all people through joy and love, this colorful exhibition showcases intricate beaded sculptures, patterned textual paintings, and video works that tell stories of resilience within Indigenous communities. The gift of Gibson is that even when the subject matter is politically urgent, the joy is real and everyone is invited to the party. (MR)
I’m gonna lay my cards on the table here: this is my favorite strip mall in Los Angeles. It’s got a legit haribo depot in the form of ACE Liquor, a legendary late-night/early-morning slice joint in Dinosaur Pizza, and a solid Indian place; PLUS: a yoga studio, a vegan restaurant, and a nondescript alkaline water vendor (desert must); PLUS: Jay’s, a real sports bar (one of, like, several, in the entire metro area) which also functions as a gastropub; PLUS! a “Website Depot”, which never fails to remind me of this great scene. In a word: it’sgotitall.
One Essential Neighborhood Business: Jay’s Bar. A good Los Angeles sports bar. Miracles do exist.
Whimsy Factor: Low, in that this checks all your usual strip-mall boxes, but high, in that it contains both a dental office (always relevant) and the aforementioned Website Depot (hyper-specific to this moment in time).
Variety Level: Elite. What can’t you do within the confines of this ostensibly drab commercial space? That’s the real question. (A: mail a package, do your laundry, or legally hunt rats.)
Life Expectancy, if Forced to Take Residency for an Extended Period of Time: 9-99: You can commit ritual suicide via a flurry of hamburgers, hot toddies, and Haribo gummies; or you can seek nirvana through alklalized water, yoga, and vegan cuisine. Either way, I’ll be eager to catch up with you about your lifestyle/bowels at Dinosaur Coffee, when your schedule/bowels allow.
Quality of Life Under Same Conditions: As you like it, as noted above.
