Heavy metal parking spots

(Credit: Stefano Paltera /For The Times)

One thing the current recession has not affected is the perpetually rising cost of concert tickets. Even the most ardent music lover has to be increasingly selective when it comes to laying down hard-earned money for a show. Living in L.A., insult is added to injury when you have to pony up even more simply to park your car.

After years of driving to the busiest concert spots around town, one thing is certain: Any myths about super-secret free parking spaces are completely false. (Even if there were such hidden gems, they've by now been discovered and parked in.) To get free parking in this town, you've got to earn it. Nothing free comes easy in L.A., and for some, the payoff isn't worth the trouble. But for the rest, here's a guide to how you can save that $10-$20 you allocated for parking. Instead, put that money toward a really awesome concert T-shirt or, better yet, buy your patient co-pilot a drink.

Case the joint
Once you arrive at your concert destination, drive around the surrounding few blocks. Get the lay of the land. For those born with positive parking karma, you might even find a stray spot during the initial approach—but don't count on it.

How's the neighborhood?
As you're checking out the area around the venue, be observant. How sketchy is the area where you're about to leave your precious Scion xB? If you are indeed on a side street as opposed to a larger, metered street, take stock of who's out and about. Locals don't always take kindly to concert folk snatching up their home parking. Be discreet, and keep any tailgating to a minimum.

Set your boundaries
Just how far are you willing to walk? As you're casing the blocks around the show, expand your search by the distance you're comfortable covering on foot. If it's just a bunch of dudes who see the walk as more time to pre-party, go a few blocks outside the general area and you should be good to go. Finding a free spot at a meter is generally a breeze at that point. But if you're in a posse of girls teetering on high heels, that radius will get much smaller. For those on a date, this will require a frank conversation. If she's not feeling your frugal ways, you might just have to drop the coin on parking—or consider a lower-maintenance date next time.

What else is around?
Finding a free parking spot by the Music Box is compounded by the Bally's gym on the same block. The freshly renovated Palladium is close enough that a show at both venues on the same night will likely affect the ease of scoring parking. There are all sorts of mitigating factors that affect your ability to park for free. Be mindful of them.

What time is it?
In the end, free parking is usually the reward for much patience. You might have to drive around for a while before that treasured stretch of street opens up. Trying to land a spot five minutes before the headliner is scheduled to go on is just not going to work, so don't try it.

Always read the signs!
This is a most crucial element to any free parking endeavors in L.A. Make sure your space is indeed legit, and for the correct amount of time. Spending $15 for parking pales in comparison to the hundreds it costs to recover your ride from the pound.

Scott T. Sterling is Music editor for Metromix Los Angeles, and he hates to pay for parking.