The San Diego references in Cameron Crowe's memoir
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Cameron Crowe's memoir "The Uncool" is packed with San Diego shout-outs. It tells the story of his adolescence and the beginning of his career, all of which happened in San Diego.
Here are a few of the many, many local references we spotted. There are probably plenty of others we missed!
San Diego Sports Arena: A teenage Crowe attended some of his first concerts at this 1970s staple.
- In fact, his first concert was here, when he went with his mom to see Elvis Presley.
- "Elvis had been on stage 47 minutes," Crowe recalled in an email to Axios. "His riveting and deeply goofy performance was filled with karate moves. My mom and I drove home from my first concert in stunned silence."
- Sports Arena is also the setting for scenes that inspired "Almost Famous," like when he tried to get in to interview bands like Black Sabbath and the Allman Brothers.
- Crowe shot scenes from the movie there.
Golden Hall: The venue for Crowe's second concert, Eric Clapton's band Derek and the Dominos, which he also attended with his mom.
- "I can still feel that night," Crowe wrote. "The private thrill of a committed audience, linking up with a committed performer."
The San Diego Door: Crowe started his journalism career writing music reviews for this underground paper.
University of San Diego: Crowe lived in apartments overlooking the university and wrote that his mother told him regularly he would attend law school there.
- That never happened.
San Diego City College: Crowe's mother was a professor there. Her depiction by Frances McDormand in "Almost Famous" ("Don't take drugs.") is apparently extremely accurate, according to "The Uncool."
Lester Bangs: The music critic played by Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Almost Famous" lived in El Cajon and also sometimes wrote for The Door.
Claire's thought bubble: I also read in this story that Crowe loved the pizza spot Filippi's.
- Please let there be a signed Cameron Crowe Chianti wine bottle somewhere in there.