Holly Trolley’s Back… And Free!

[tags] holly trolley, ladot, clubs, nightlife [/tags]

The Glorious Holly Trolley Returns May 3rd. Credit TinCanOrange via Flickr

Ever wonder what it would be like to ride around Hollywood on an orange feux trolley car that would take you to all the select locations of the bustling historic Hollywood? Take you to see where the who’s and what-have-yous party and dine and deify themselves with alcohol and TMZ videos? Well wonder no more for the one and only Holly Trolley has returned, and for the month of May, it’s free!

For those of you who are not aware of this entertainment wagon on wheels let me briefly explain. Last January Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti decided the best way to get people out of their cars and into the streets was to create a shuttle that would escort all of Hwood’s party elite (and not) from club to club and venue to venue. This would in turn cut down on Hwood’s weekend party traffic and make the city in general more of a transit/walkable place to party. Or he just had an extra $300k burning a whole in his pocket (pdf). But what Garcetti might not have expected is that this burdensome trolley, with the weight of the Hwood club scene on its shoulders, was against all odds from the off set. I remember watching some local news one night when this jovial bus was in marketing phases and the publicity it was getting was that of well intox’d bums yelling about how its just going to be a drunk wagon. Imagine that, even the inebriated street vagabonds weren’t feeling the poor Holly Trolley. But Garcetti didn’t let that get to him and on January 12th 2006 a new age was born.

If any of you readers were lucky enough to have ridden the Holly Trolley during its first run you all now know true entertainment. It was like a spring break booze cruise but we were on a novelty bus in a city where the drinking age is twenty-one instead of a novelty boat in a town with four “Wings” surf shops where the drinking age is anything you want. However, two wonderful things were the same. Loud ass music and drunk ass people dancing. For you see, the Holly Trolley was not as Garcetti imagined, nor as the bum, instead, it was a perfect combo of both. An orange club on wheels. Transit and alcohol together… finally.

Now this is not to say alcohol was encouraged and sold, of course not, but I couldn’t imagine a more happening club in all of Hwood than this one. From the moment you get on and are welcomed by a behemoth of a doorman, also known as a bouncer, you can feel the energy of a bustling Friday night. He takes your money and tells any and all they have to lose any “colors” before boarding. I’m not sure if that was a city ordinance or he was just playing it smart, but no matter, people listened. There were a couple guys that weren’t all about taking their hats off but once they saw the dance party going on in the back, they had no choice, free fun was to be had. Well not free, but a dollar to ride all night was much cheaper than any club was going to be. The DJ was the Mann Chinese Theatre character, Lil Wayne, and she, yes she, spun all the blaring Sierra and Missy tracks an ass could shake to. And boy did those asses shake. The aisles were full and the ass droppin’ was a plenty. I felt like I had been transported to another dimension. That I couldn’t really be on an orange bus filled with wasted ass club goers grinding the absolute shit out of each other in the aisles, unpleasant pale fat rolling out of the silk, while Lil Wayne and Michael Clarke Duncan looked on. The poor driver looking forward and wishing he’d bought that plot of land in Montana several years back.

This went on for about twelve minutes for I was sadly only on the Trolley for three songs and my friend had to get off for a smoke (technically it was also our stop) but I could’ve seriously ridden that thing all night. That is to say, until 4am when it stopped. I had no plans after all and I could think of nothing in Hollywood as entertaining as what I was a part of that night. For you see the Holly Trolley was much more than a boozing club on wheels, it was a sociological experiment. One could write books on the happenings of the Holly Trolleys clientele and the insanity LADOT offered to all of LA for approximately 6 months. Why it was canceled I don’t know, probably lack of rider ship or someone got rufied and run over, I don’t know (and am not insinuating) but what I do know is that when it was canceled I was heart broken.

That is to say, heartbroken ‘til now. For this week, THIS weekend, TONIGHT. The Holly Trolley returns. And boy oh boy it’s better than ever. Now, not only is the Holly Trolly cheap as fuk ($1) it’s practically free for any and all. From their press release:

Trolley drivers will accept movie theater stubs and receipts from bars, restaurants and nightclubs as fares, or just show them your parking garage ticket from the Hollywood & Highland or the Arclight garages. In turn, you will be able to use a receipt from the Holly Trolley at the Arclight and at Hollywood & Highland parking garages and receive a discounted $6 nightly rate.

I of course don’t agree with that last part, promoting people driving at all, especially since they’ll most def be intoxicated, but whoever’s idea this is, is a genius for no girl I see out clubbin’ is about to start counting quarters. And if the girls aren’t riding then neither are those boiz. However, the big problem I still see is the frequency. Lets face it, every 12 minutes just isn’t going to fly. Granted it would and does for many who take Metro, but a club going audience is not one to stand at a bus stop as precious mix3d drinks, lines, and remixes of Fergie trax are passing by. Though I could be wrong, after all, the party doesn’t stop when you got on the Trolley, it only gets better.

For more info, check out Holly Trolley and don’t forget to ride.