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Despite what Chrissie Hynde once sang, there is still a downtown in Akron, Ohio. I went to college there, in what turns out to have been something of a golden age. Most Fridays, we'd pay a $5 cover to see bands at a club called the Lime Spider—every month or two, it was the Black Keys. Other times, we stayed on campus to watch basketball games featuring a local prep phenom named LeBron James. Actually, it was a lot like going to the Moda Center this week.
(Click on image below for a larger version!)
The JAR
373 Carroll Street
In Akron, people ask where you went to high school into your 40s, which is why LeBron still reps hard for St. Vincent-St. Mary. But the Catholic school's gym was too small to accommodate crowds for his games by his junior year, which is why he mostly played at the University of Akron's 5,500-seat arena, named for James A. Rhodes, the governor who in 1970 famously sent the National Guard to quell hippie unrest at archrival Kent State.
The Lime Spider/The Lockview
207 South Main Street
Akron's greatest-ever concert venue had a big chalkboard list of fancy beers and the best grilled cheese sandwiches in town—which, it turns out, are a lot more profitable than rock shows. Same owner, same rooftop patio, but the stage where the Keys played their early gigs is gone.
LeBron's milk-crate basket
Somewhere on Hickory Street
LeBron has fond memories of shooting his first hoops through a milk crate along Hickory Street, where his grandmother lived. Nike actually made shoes with "Milk Crate Technology" in honor of his basketball beginnings.
The Rubber Factory rubber factory
Somewhere off Seiberling Street
The abandoned General Tire factory, where in 2004 the Keys recorded their third and finest album, has been torn down.
105 North Main Street
This classic pizzeria is open until 4 am on Friday and Saturday—and on the right night you might find LeBron, Pat Carney and Dan Auerbach seated inside. The walls are covered with sepia photos of Jazz Age semi-celebrities, and the house salad comes topped with 2 inches of shredded mozzarella.
40 South Hawkins Avenue
The westside location of the drive-in famous for its Galley Boy burger is beloved by both the Keys and LeBron, who Instagrammed his trip there in 2012 after winning his first NBA championship with a Florida-based team, calling it "the first place I have to stop."
333 Rampart Avenue
The Black Keys' alma mater churns out doctors, lawyers and artists at an impressive rate, but has very little success in athletics outside of swimming. The school is best known for the Keys, Judith Resnik (astronaut killed in the 1986 Challenger disaster) and having Aerosmith perform at its 1974 homecoming dance.
GO: The Black Keys play Moda Center, 1 N Center Court St., with Jake Bugg, on Friday, Oct. 31. 8 pm. $35-$65. LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers play the Portland Trail Blazers at Moda Center on Tuesday, Nov. 4. 7 pm.
WWeek 2015