Hooray for (the) Hollywood (Bowl)

It’s against my nature to compliment Los Angeles, but every city should have a Hollywood Bowl.

This past weekend I had the pleasure of seeing one of my favorite bands, Bright Eyes, perform with the LA Philharmonic. In addition to dovetailing perfectly with my new habit of telling people I like classical music, the Hollywood Bowl made the experience that much better by letting the audience bring their own food and drink, including alcohol.

How rad is that? I’m fairly new to So Cal so maybe its well known that you can picnic while you listen at the Bowl, but for me it was a most pleasant surprise. Tickets were a little pricey, but not much more than any other large venue. To not be additionally gauged at the refreshment stand was a lovely change of pace. The music industry is losing control of its bodily functions trying to find out why they’re losing money. Obviously most of that is music downloading, but making the overall experience of following a band feel more like a fun night out and less like you’ve been shaken upside down by your ankles for your pocket change might be a nice place to start.