the bowl

Tuesday night was my third experience at The Hollywood Bowl. I drove down to D's office as soon as our staff meeting ended at 5 pm. The weather was sunny and clear; it was actually fun to drive on the highway as there wasn't much traffic (could it be due to $4.19 gas this week?) Ha. Then we drove into LA and parked near Hollywood and Highland. That is the new-ish complex with the Kodak theater (think red carpets) and walked down a stretch of Hollywood Blvd. to eat at a sushi joint with long curving hot bars (each seat has a built in cookpot, just in case you change you mind and want your sushi cooked.) No, just kidding. We had views of the downtown skyline as we ate. We shared tons of edamame and three rolls, then walked up the hill to the bowl, stopping en route at one of the three starbucks we passed for a cappucino topped with cinnamon. (It was going to be a chilly night, after all.)
Throngs of people were making their way up the hill on foot, since parking near the bowl can run up to $40 (for non-stacked spots) Most spots near the bowl lock you in until the person behind or in front of you leaves. The bowl is a huge, outdoor amphitheatre. I'm not sure the total capacity, but Sting kept saying there were 18,000 in the audience last night. We found our "bleacher style" bench seating as Elvis Costello was opening the show. Can I just say...Sting rocks. So does Stuart Copeland. I found myself drumming along with my empty starbucks cup as a makeshift bongo. He made me want a roomful of percussion instruments. They broadcast on several video screens since the actual people on the stage look like ants, but we did not lack for visual entertainment up in our section. One lady was dancing in the aisle with some HIGH ENERGY. That's all I can say about that. And two other ladies were having issues with the gentleman at the end of their row. I can only infer that it was due to them not fitting comfortably on the bench. I can only say it was not because of him that they couldn't both sit down. One ended up standing the whole time, with several raucous interludes with event staff from time to time. Every song was a dream...we got home about 11:30 pm. A fun LA night. It's kinda fun living close to the glitz of Hollywood.