It was nearly three months ago that Paris Hilton stepped into the big box located adjacent the 405 to launch her singing career with a CD signing. This time the big draw will be Dave Navarro, of the band Jane's Addiction, not to mention the television reality franchise Rock Star.
Indie 103.1 FM has been promoting the event on air all weekend, announcing that Navarro will be at the Best Buy on Monday night in anticipation of the midnight release of Guitar Hero II for PlayStation 2, a video game that makes the air guitar look as ridiculous as it ever was. Instead of hacking away at an imaginary Gibson, players of Guitar Hero use a controller shaped like a guitar to actually shredd riffs and play the part of a rocker like, well, Navarro.
It's obvious why the makers of Guitar Hero II would want to promote the release of the game with Navarro, who decided to pursue a career in rock after hearing a Jimi Hendrix song at a skate park (skate park = cool). But it raises the question of whether we might one day celebrate the career of a rocker who sets his life on a musical path after meeting Dave Navarro at a West Side Best Buy.
Atmosphere used to count for something.
Names as big as Navarro used to seek out places pre-qualified as cool, which often meant Tower on Sunset Blvd. And although Tower is now history, must it be replaced by a big box store that, in addition to CDs and video games, sells $1,100 washing machines and $500 vacuum cleaners?
Perhaps the location was chosen because it's uncool.
Maybe courtesy is the new cool. After all, the building is out of the earshot of homes. And Navarro, a fellow Gen-Xer, is about to turn 40 next year. Enough said.
Regardless, welcome home to the West Side, Dave. Rock on!
Next time, if there's enough room in the Mini Van, would you mind bringing Rock Star co-host Brooke Burke with you?
