senoritafish (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
senoritafish) wrote2011-06-27 04:07 pm
senoritafish) wrote2011-06-27 04:07 pm
Concert...
So, backtracking a couple of weeks (I just haven't had the time/access to sit down and make a proper post), ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
runsamuck and I were gifted with two tickets to see Star Wars in Concert at the Hollywood Bowl. John was initially reluctant because 1) he'd seen something similar on TV once, and 2) when I mentioned taking the bus up there, he thought I meant getting on the regular LA Transit bus, with a stop every block. No, no, I assured him, it was an express bus run by a company that just runs shuttles straight up there. I tried to buy tickets online the day before (I couldn't), and when we went to Lakewood to board, it turned out they stop selling a couple of weeks before the event, presumably so there are enough for the people who just show up - like us; something to remember if we ever get tickets for something up there again. John had never been to a concert at the Hollywood Bowl before; I think I went there once before to see Garrison Keillor. I can't think of the place without remembering the Bugs Bunny cartoons with the opera singer.
We picked up some picnic type stuff, dropped the kids off and after standing in line for a good half hour, managed to get seats on the bus, although we were the last two to board that particular one and had to sit across the aisle from each other. We got up there quickly enough, and it's true, from what we could see around us, parking at the Hollywood Bowl is absolutely insane. We wandered up the hill towards the venue; there were lots of families with a lot of little kids and not few adults dressed up as characters. We found an empty bench to consume our deli sandwiches and people watch before the show started. Apparently box wine comes in two glass sizes now; John didn't bring a glass for me so I wound up just sipping out of the box.
It was a long walk to our seats; I don't mind walking, but I'm actually kind of glad the Bowl has some escalators, as the hill is so steep. Our assigned seats were in the upper back, and were already being sat in, but no worries, we just moved to the last row across the aisle, which was a bench with just two seats; how cozy! The music had already started by the time we sat down, but we didn't miss much, we could at least hear everything before we sat down. The show was basically sort of a video/musical summary of all the movies, interspersed with character pieces, all moved along with Anthony Daniels coming out and narrating between each piece (and how old was he in the first movie? He looks pretty good even now!). The video was projected not only on screens on the stage and around the Bowl, but also on the stage shell itself; occasionally a laser show added to the action. Like so (beware, piss-poor video footage ahead - I should remember to steady my elbows on my knees or something):
What I found funny was every time the Darth Vader theme played, all these different colored light sabers all over the audience came out and waved in time to the music, as if they were all conducting (just a tiny snippet below, the camera card ran out of room).
Anyhow it was a lot of fun, although we only had 20 minutes to get back to the bus, so John made us leave before all the curtain calls were over. *Sigh* Sometime I would like to stay until everyone actually leaves the stage (although he's not quite so bad as the person I read in Dear Abby one time, who had never seen the last act of a play or the end of concert, because her spouse always HAD to beat all the traffic out of the parking lot). I did make him pause to get a shot of the cool Art Deco sculpture/fountain at the entrance...
But there was quite a crush getting down the hill to the buses, and I'm not sure Angus, if he'd come, would have liked the congestion in the tunnel under the road. There was a guy at the end drumming on a 5-gallon bucket (ala the beginning of Green Card, if you've ever seen that movie); I could tell he was a talented drummer, but the sound reverberated so much in the tunnel I had to put my hands over my ears. We finally made it to the bus, getting a seat together this time for the ride home. John thanked me for making him come, he actually enjoyed it quite a bit, and it was a lot different than he'd been expecting. And it's been a long time since we really had a date night (I think our anniversary came and went with just an exchange of cards - well, I gave him a pocket briefcase, too, 'cause I know he likes pulling out index cards to jot down measurement and stuff at the hardware store - hey it was on sale!). Something we really need to do more often.
runsamuck and I were gifted with two tickets to see Star Wars in Concert at the Hollywood Bowl. John was initially reluctant because 1) he'd seen something similar on TV once, and 2) when I mentioned taking the bus up there, he thought I meant getting on the regular LA Transit bus, with a stop every block. No, no, I assured him, it was an express bus run by a company that just runs shuttles straight up there. I tried to buy tickets online the day before (I couldn't), and when we went to Lakewood to board, it turned out they stop selling a couple of weeks before the event, presumably so there are enough for the people who just show up - like us; something to remember if we ever get tickets for something up there again. John had never been to a concert at the Hollywood Bowl before; I think I went there once before to see Garrison Keillor. I can't think of the place without remembering the Bugs Bunny cartoons with the opera singer. We picked up some picnic type stuff, dropped the kids off and after standing in line for a good half hour, managed to get seats on the bus, although we were the last two to board that particular one and had to sit across the aisle from each other. We got up there quickly enough, and it's true, from what we could see around us, parking at the Hollywood Bowl is absolutely insane. We wandered up the hill towards the venue; there were lots of families with a lot of little kids and not few adults dressed up as characters. We found an empty bench to consume our deli sandwiches and people watch before the show started. Apparently box wine comes in two glass sizes now; John didn't bring a glass for me so I wound up just sipping out of the box.
It was a long walk to our seats; I don't mind walking, but I'm actually kind of glad the Bowl has some escalators, as the hill is so steep. Our assigned seats were in the upper back, and were already being sat in, but no worries, we just moved to the last row across the aisle, which was a bench with just two seats; how cozy! The music had already started by the time we sat down, but we didn't miss much, we could at least hear everything before we sat down. The show was basically sort of a video/musical summary of all the movies, interspersed with character pieces, all moved along with Anthony Daniels coming out and narrating between each piece (and how old was he in the first movie? He looks pretty good even now!). The video was projected not only on screens on the stage and around the Bowl, but also on the stage shell itself; occasionally a laser show added to the action. Like so (beware, piss-poor video footage ahead - I should remember to steady my elbows on my knees or something):
What I found funny was every time the Darth Vader theme played, all these different colored light sabers all over the audience came out and waved in time to the music, as if they were all conducting (just a tiny snippet below, the camera card ran out of room).
Anyhow it was a lot of fun, although we only had 20 minutes to get back to the bus, so John made us leave before all the curtain calls were over. *Sigh* Sometime I would like to stay until everyone actually leaves the stage (although he's not quite so bad as the person I read in Dear Abby one time, who had never seen the last act of a play or the end of concert, because her spouse always HAD to beat all the traffic out of the parking lot). I did make him pause to get a shot of the cool Art Deco sculpture/fountain at the entrance...
But there was quite a crush getting down the hill to the buses, and I'm not sure Angus, if he'd come, would have liked the congestion in the tunnel under the road. There was a guy at the end drumming on a 5-gallon bucket (ala the beginning of Green Card, if you've ever seen that movie); I could tell he was a talented drummer, but the sound reverberated so much in the tunnel I had to put my hands over my ears. We finally made it to the bus, getting a seat together this time for the ride home. John thanked me for making him come, he actually enjoyed it quite a bit, and it was a lot different than he'd been expecting. And it's been a long time since we really had a date night (I think our anniversary came and went with just an exchange of cards - well, I gave him a pocket briefcase, too, 'cause I know he likes pulling out index cards to jot down measurement and stuff at the hardware store - hey it was on sale!). Something we really need to do more often.