effin rad

actually way more fun than i expected. not only was the music great but the conductor was totally busting the funniest jokes and alluding to the fact that orchestras tired of playing tchaikovsky’s biggest hit centuries ago.

very dry british dude who kept saying “later in the performance we will be playing a piece whos name escapes me, but im sure it will come to me.”

of course he was talking about the 1812 overture made famous in the Bad News Bears and countless other films. and it was to be accompanied by the USC Marching Band (who were politely booed by many in attendance who graduated from nearby UCLA). and yes there were fireworks. plentiful ones. of all sorts.

best line of the night by the conductor? as he was describing what was in store for us for the 1812, he plotted out how the piece was composed, beginning with this, building with that “and then Trojans will slide in on the end.”

as mentioned before you can bring bottles of wine to the bowl and picnic baskets so everyone is plastered by intermission and they simply cant shut the hell up. theyre humming theyre talking, theyre trying to eat potato chips(!), all of which are amazingly distracting when classical aficionados like myself are trying to enjoy the nuances the LA Phil are known for.

the bowl was gorgeous. the weather was summertime perfecto. and our seats couldnt have been better for a fireworks spectacular. in fact the truest spotted the daughter of Castle two rows in front of her, but her red hair was unmistakable.

im slowly falling in love with classical at the bowl. which only means one thing: im seriously getting old.

meanwhile, how you like this video captured from my freakin iPhone.