The number one reason I came back down to Los Angeles / Hollywood after Morro Bay was to go to one of the best concerts I've ever been to. John Williams conducts the LA Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl and it is one fabulous show. I love John Williams movie music . . . Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Memoirs of a Geisha, ET, Jurassic Park, Harry Potter, Jaws, Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, Catch Me If You Can, War Horse, Lincoln, and so, so many more!
Besides being such a great concert, the fun begins earlier in the evening. Corey and I stopped at the grocery store and picked up some picnic items and then met some of his friends at the Hollywood Bowl to have a picnic on the lawn before the concert. I loved meeting his friends! What incredibly fun people and between the three guys, I was cracking up most of the time. Jordan and Corey have been friends for about 25 years and met when Jordan was at Pepperdine University and Corey was in some of his student directed productions. Jordan has also been in a couple of movies and was a semi-regular on Saved By the Bell. Jordan's girlfriend - Theresa - also joined us. She was really nice. Another friend of Jordan's and Corey's was visiting in town, from Boston, and he came to the picnic and concert also. Andy was a complete kick and I think I could hang out with him and just truly enjoy myself. I understand Andy had a small part in the movie Fight Club and probably has done some other things but he's pretty humble. Between Jordan, Andy and Corey, and two light sabers, they were constantly cracking jokes and quoting movies. It was so much fun!!
Jordan at our picnic spot. We had so much food! The boys drank a lot of wine.
People gathering at the Hollywood Bowl and having picnics all over the place.
Over 10,000 people came to this sold out performance.
Andy, checking out the people.
Theresa, Jordan, and Andy (with the light saber).
Finally, I was allowed to hold one of the sacred light sabers!
Andy getting all excited with his light saber.
Even though we had seats pretty high up, we could see the stage perfectly, and several large screens set up around the perimeter, as well as a very large screen over the stage. John Williams is a man of humility, so he didn't just stack the program with his songs. He gave us a variety of fantastic music to listen too. The acoustics were incredible. There was a young adult choir there from Stanford, and at one point a children's choir came on stage to sing a selection from Amistad, with the Philharmonic Orchestra as accompaniment. What a thrill for those kids!! And of course there were all the favorites: music from Star Wars, Indiana Jones, ET, etc. Mr. Williams came back for 3 or 4 encores numbers because we, the audience, would not sit down or stop clapping until we hear just one more of the classic John Williams selections. We went crazy with every encore piece!
I love the Hollywood Bowl! I love the way the stage lights turn different colors with the music.
John Williams honored movie director David Lean with a tribute of two selections from his movies. This one was the music from Lawrence of Arabia. I loved the way the lights turned to desert orange on the stage.
A tribute to the Olympics and the music of the Olympics. Again, check out the stage lights.
Dry Your Tears, Afrika from Amistad, with two choirs, the LA Philharmonic, and John Williams conducting. Fabulous!! Mr. Williams told the wonderful story about the composition of this song. So cool!!
The children's choir
Seth MacFarlane (creator of Family Guy) even came on stage to do a set of old school favorites, plus one selection from his movie Ted. He has a pretty decent voice and good stage presence.
And then, of course, the Theme from Star Wars starts up and the crowd goes ballistic! So many light sabers. When the orchestra began The Imperial March, again, it was a mad house and everybody kept the beat with their light sabers. It was so cool!!!
Corey very proudly holding aloft his light saber during Star Wars
The LA Philharmonic Orchestra was phenomenal!! Their sound was exquisite. One of my favorites was the cello solo performance for the selection Sayuri's Theme from Memoirs of a Geisha.
Sayuri's Theme - breathtakingly beautiful! This performer lovingly and passionately drew every mournfully nuanced note from this piece. You could tell that he loves his instrument and the sounds he can coax it to make.
What an awesome experience. I had so much fun with Corey and his friends, and the concert was outstanding.
Earlier in the day Corey and I spent a little time in Hollywood, mostly to have lunch at the Hard Rock Café Hollywood, to find Robin Williams star on the Walk of Fame, and get me a root beer float. Perfect for a hot day!
So sad.
I can hardly wait to dig in!
Yummy! Sipping the foam off the top.
A very happy camper!!!
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