The history of rock’n’roll is full of legendary venues, studios, clubs, and even streets that many music fans only ever dream of knowing. From Abbey Road, in London, to the CBGB, in New York, to the Hacienda, in Manchester, many of these places make frequent appearances in movies and TV shows, but they’re usually just reconstructed versions of the actual thing built inside a studio or an easily disguisable bar. And, as any die hard rock fan knows, reconstructions just aren’t the same as the real deal. If there’s one show that understands the need to see rock’n’roll history for what it truly was it’s Prime Video’s Daisy Jones and the Six, a vaguely Fleetwood Mac-inspired tale about the rise and fall of a folk-rock band in 70s LA. From the Sunset Strip to the Whisky to Sound City Studios, many of the places that appear on the show are actual headliners of the history of the Los Angeles rock scene. If you’re watching the show and want to know more about all the little (and big) joints that basically created music as we know it today, here’s a list of all the real life rock spots in which Daisy Jones and the Six was filmed.
The Sunset Strip
The 1.7-mile stretch of the greater Sunset Boulevard in which the titular Daisy Jones (Riley Keough) had her rock’n’roll coming of age is a staple of Los Angeles since the 1920s. Back in its early days, it received visits from stars like Fred Astaire and Jean Harlow that could be found in jazz spots such as the Strip’s Players Club and the Café Trocadero. But it was the late 60s that the Strip became the place that now inhabits our collective imagination. Home to clubs and bars like the Whisky a Go Go and The Six’s first LA venue, Filthy McNasty’s, the Sunset Strip was the place to go to if you were an aspiring rock musician or just fan.
Since its heyday, however, the Strip has changed a lot. Nowadays, it is mostly a tourist spot and doesn’t gather as many rock’n’roll figures as it once did. Still, the Daisy Jones and the Six crew insisted on shooting at the real place instead of replicating the street inside a studio. “Our team was like, 'Just give us a block, and we will take it down, and we will make it look like it used to look. Then the DP and the lighting people had to figure out how to shoot it, like, 'We have to shoot this way because that billboard's not going to work’”, Scott Neustadter, one of the show’s creators, told Entertainment Weekly.
The Whisky a Go Go
More commonly known simply as The Whisky, this classic Sunset Strip club is the address of one of Daisy’s first forays into the LA rock scene. The club has been home to many legendary acts, from The Doors to Led Zeppelin to more recent bands, such as Soundgarden and Oasis. Much like the Sunset Strip, the spot in which go-go dancing was born also received a retro makeover to appear on the show. Since the club is still up and running - you can take a look at the upcoming shows at their website -, the Daisy Jones crew only had about 24 hours to work inside it, according to production designer Jessica Kender.
Filthy McNasty’s
Of all the rock’n’roll joints that make an appearance in Daisy Jones and the Six, Filthy McNasty’s is easily the most important. After all, it is there that The Six finally scored their first LA gig, back when they were still known as The Dunne Brothers. Located in the very same block of the Sunset Strip closed by the production crew, the place that once received visits from Elvis Presley and Mick Jagger also changed a lot over the years. Heck, it even changed its name! Nowadays, Filthy McNasty’s is known as The Viper Room. The bar received its current name in 1993, after a stint as The Central. In that same year, it also became infamous as the place in front of which young actor River Phoenix tragically lost his life to an overdose.
The Troubadour
While The Whisky was the go-to spot for rock’n’roll fans, The Troubadour was the perfect place for folk music enthusiasts - that is, people that were into the Daisy Jones sound. Out of the Strip, down on Santa Monica Boulevard, the club first opened its doors in 1957. It was there that The Byrds first performed their now classic version of Bob Dylan’s “Tambourine Man” and that Buffalo Springfield made their live debut. Much like Daisy Jones, Neil Young and Joni Mitchell also performed for the first time in LA behind the Troub’s doors. Still open, The Troubadour is the Daisy Jones club that changed the least over the course of the years according to Jessica Kender, with the front bar remaining pretty much the same as it was in the 70s.
The John Sowden House
Though not exactly a classic rock’n’roll location, the mansion in which Daisy and Simone (Nabiyah Be) attend a Hollywood party in Episode 3 has a history of its own. The house that represents a turning point for Simone’s career was designed in 1926 by Lloyd Wright, son of the legendary architect Frank Llloyd Wright (who, while we’re on the subject of folk rock, served as inspiration for a Simon and Garfunkel song). Wright, who, at the time, worked as a set designer for Paramount Pictures, was inspired by ancient Mayan buildings to create the home of John and Ruth Sowden. If you’re curious about the mansion, you can actually take an online tour of the place at their website.
The Continental Hyatt House (a.k.a. Riot House)
Daisy Jones and the Six isn’t the first 70s rock’n’roll-inspired story in which the Continental Hyatt House, better known as Riot House, makes an appearance: the hotel was also featured in Cameron Crowe’s 2000 film Almost Famous. This is no simple coincidence: founded in 1963, the hotel served as a temporary home for classic rock bands such as The Who, The Rolling Stones, and Led Zeppelin during their stays in LA. The now famous picture of the Zeppelin’s Robert Plant in his golden god pose was taken on one of its balconies. In the Prime Video show, the hotel appears in the very first episode, when we see young Daisy dealing with the aftermath of a sexual assault in the middle of an uncaring crowd.
Sound City Studios
Last, but not least, if you ever want to take a Daisy Jones and the Six-inspired tour of Los Angeles, don’t forget to drop by the Sound City Studios, where Daisy, Billy (Sam Claflin), Karen (Suki Waterhouse), Graham (Will Harrison), Eddie (Josh Whitehouse), and Warren (Sebastian Chacon) record their first hit single, “Look At Us Now (Honeycomb)”, as well as their album, “Aurora”. Just don’t expect to make it past the front door, though — not unless you have an appointment for a recording session. Founded in 1969, the studio was home for many folk and rock acts, from Neil Young and Bob Dylan to Nirvana and Rage Against the Machine. More importantly, though, Sound City Studios is where Fleetwood Mac recorded their masterpiece album, “Rumours”, featuring timeless bangers such “Go Your Own Way” and “The Chain”. If there’s a place in this list that absolutely could not be missing from Daisy Jones and the Six, that place is Sound City Studios.