80s night at the Bowl

You know how there are artists that you like a bit, know one or two of their songs (maybe three or four at the most)?  And then you come to understand that there are scads of folks out there who somehow really know those artists' music and really love it?  That was kind of my night on Thursday night at the Hollywood Bowl.  No, this is not a bad thing, just kind of interesting to see.

To be fair to me, most of the music on Thursday dated from my tween and early teen years, a time when I was just stepping into grown up music and away from, say, ABBA, whom I loved when I was in grade school (and still very much like).  By around 1983 or so, I was starting to buy 45s and spending my money on Eurythmics and Duran Duran.  I'll also further qualify things by saying that small town radio in northern BC tended more toward classic rock rather than new wave or British alternative music.  It was later - sometimes much later - that I discovered 80s acts that may now be considered as classic.  And even then for many such acts it really was only the hits.

All of this is to say that I enjoyed Thursday evening at the Hollywood Bowl but wasn't deep into it after the first set.  Ah, but Van?  And so many people around me?  Oh, they were.  And good for them!

We caught the shuttle

from near Pasadena City Hall over to the Bowl, grabbed some cans of wine from a Bowl venue, found our seats

(not too bad - not super close, but middle-ish), and devoured the fried chicken dinners Van had picked up for us.  While it was still light out, Alison Moyet began her opening set.

Confession:  when Van told us about the concert, I think he was mostly high on seeing the headliner.  Me?  I wanted to see Alison Moyet.  The former lead singer of Yaz(oo), I first heard her in the mid 80s when she released the song Invisible.  To my teenage ears, it was a big no thank you, sorry to say.  The turning point?  This will be funny to say, but Columbia House did it.  Yep, I signed up for that in the 90s when I was trying to build out my CD collection, and I had a good experience with it, hearing a lot of music that was new to me that way.  One CD I bought was a greatest hits album by Alison Moyet, and that introduced me to a bunch of her hits.  And that was how I came to enjoy here music.  In the early 2000s I stumbled upon her Hometime album, and I really enjoyed that, too.  All that is to say, I was excited to see and hear her live.

Alison delivered.  Hands down the best of the show, in my opinion.  Don't believe me?  The Bowl was pretty darn full for her opening set, and people were cheering and dancing for the hits of old. 

She didn't need light shows or effects on the screens, she had her magnificent voice.  And she also had years of performing that really shone through.  The way she knew that she had the cameras on her, projecting her to screens around the Bowl, her expressions and postures - she's done this before. 

Even more clear?  She was having a really good time.  40 minutes, and I wish it had been double.  So good.

An intermission, then up next was Soft Cell. 

I was honestly surprised that they (well, really, it's Marc Almond) had a prominent role on a tour.  One hit, right?  Oh, it's a great one:  Tainted Love.  But one hit.  Ah, no, Peter.  A check of Wikipedia when I got home showed that Soft Cell had a handful of top 5 hits in the UK.  And, according to Van, there is a new album due out imminently.  So, shame on me for underestimating Soft Cell.  That said, although I liked the energy and vibe of a few songs (and yes, Tainted Love closed the set to huge applause), the singing was only ok, and I found that to be a little off-putting.  The set was fine enough, I guess, but it just left me wishing for more of Alison Moyet.

Another intermission, and then the headliners:  Human League. 

For me, they sit in the middle in terms of my knowledge of their music.  I think I know 4 of their songs, and I even had a 45 of one of them ("Human") when I was a teen.  That's more than I knew of Soft Cell but less than I knew of Alison Moyet.  As with Soft Cell, they used a lot of graphics.  They also had long intros and outros to their songs, which allowed for costume changes (in a 70-minute set!) and (sorry, but I think this may be true) short breaks for the members.  Phil Oakey, the make lead singer, is 70 after all, and he was scooting around the stage a fair bit.  Van was happy with how they were, and given that they were the main draw for him, that was good.  I enjoyed it, I was there with some 15,000 other people shouting/singing out the chorus to Don't You Want Me.  We did, however, head for the shuttles during the encore.

Our first time at the Hollywood Bowl this year, and it was fun.  The 80s were alive (and yeah, the crowd was a fairly mature one) for one night.  And even though I knew not nearly enough of the music shared, I was thrilled to hear some familiar, welcome, old hits. 

Pulp at the Bowl

A little over two years ago, I met up with Allison in Glasgow to see Pulp headline the first day of the TRNSMT festival.  I thought then that it would be the only opportunity for me to see them live, having spent the group's 90s heyday in northern BC, a place where few musical acts ventured.  But no, I got to see them, and they sounded very very good.  Allison and I had a great time reliving the music of our twenties that day in Scotland.  And I was content.

And then I learned that they would be playing at the Hollywood Bowl. 

And, what?  It was scheduled for the two days after my return from Hawaii?  Yes, please!  Conrad and Van had planned to be away on a road trip this past week, plans scuttled by Conrad's surgery, so I bought one ticket and was thrilled to get to go.

At Chris and Allister's wedding late last month, I was seated at a table that included a couple I hadn't met before.  The wife, Uda, is a member of the same book club as Chris.  The husband, Aidan, told me that he was coming to LA for a concert and more.  What concert?  Why, the same one as me.  To be fair, he was coming because he is a big fan of the actual headliners, LCD Soundsystem (and I still shake my head that they were the headliners because even today, a day after the concert, I am not).  So we exchanged numbers and said we should meet up, and hey, we did! 

A drink on the Bowl grounds before the show, and then to our seats, which weren't that far from each other.  Aidan and I found each other at the break between acts, and since I was in a better location (not by much, but a little better) and since no one had claimed the seats on my one side, he simply moved to enjoy LCD Soundsystem next to me.  Curiously, he left after several songs, giving me a hug and saying good night.  He made it to his hotel fine, though, so I'll chalk it up to exhaustion or something and hope he enjoys the rest of his time in LA.  

I stayed through most of the set, but I bailed a few songs early to get a jump on the crowds that would be exiting and heading for the shuttles.  The LCD Soundsystem stuff was fine,

I moved a little, but the guy just didn't work the crowd (and maybe he didn't need to), and I felt like it was an odd fit with Pulp.  Ah well.

But Pulp!  As the opener (co-headliner?), they had a little over an hour and gave us a dozen songs.  Three from the new album, which I've been enjoying a bunch, and the rest of them familiar hits.  Of course it all culminated with Common People, and of course I knew all the words to sing along.  I thought they did a great set, truly. 

Oh, and yes, I bought a tshirt - I also got a lot of compliments on the one I wore to the show!

Van and I have a show later this fall, a group he's into, and I'm happy to go along.  The three of us have Herb Alpert (yes, he's still performing!) and Chanticleer later this year as well.  I recently bought Dan Mangan tickets for February as well.  Not a super-busy line-up of concerts, but it's fun that we have some things to go to.  It does mean an occasional late night like last night, but hey, seeing Pulp again was well worth it! 

Josh Groban at the Hollywood Bowl

If only I had known that Supergrass were in town last night....

I kid!  I would have loved to have seen them again - it's been years! - but no, it was lovely to get to the Hollywood Bowl instead.  I'm not an especial fan of Josh Groban, but Van

enjoys his work, and since the three of us have never been to the Bowl together (and Conrad and I haven't ourselves been since 2022 so far as I can tell)(and the music promised to be not too hard or loud or dance-y, thereby being more appealing to Conrad), the three of us got tickets.

And then it turned out that Conrad could not go.  He's doing fine, getting better, and he was ok on his own for an evening.  Van and I

duly hopped on the shuttle that goes to the Bowl from near City Hall and made our way there.

The venue is an excellent one. 

I recently commented on the open air venue for Oasis, which was awful.  The Bowl is open air as well, filling a natural amphitheater.  It seats about 17,000, I think, and it was mostly filled last night.  Gorgeous weather, overpriced food and drink, a decent view - we were ready for a show.

Josh Groban is considered "classical crossover", from what I can tell.  I have liked a little of his Christmas stuff, but I don't know most of his oeuvre.  Van does, though, and he sang along.  I recognized only four songs, all of them covers.  But Groban has a lovely, rich voice, and he has charm. 

So what if I didn't know the songs.  I swayed and clapped and joined the audience in using our phone flashlights as lighters during one song.

Wow, I can't believe this is the first time I'm blogging about the Bowl.  Over the years I've seen Dolly Parton, Blur, Duran Duran, Bjork, the LA Phil (who performed before and with Groban),

and more at the venue.  I'll be back there in a few weeks as well, looking forward to seeing Pulp.  Yay!  I hope to be able to blog more about concerts there in the future.