I’m not against friends, but I don’t have any. I’m really picky about the company I keep and I’d rather be alone than be in bad company. That’s not to say that I have people lined up at my door trying to become my friend and I’m rejecting them left and right. I’m just saying that, for whatever reason, I don’t make friends easily. Sometimes I wonder if anyone does. Like all these people that I see who have “friends,” do they really have friends, or are they just people hanging out with folks ‘cause they’ve known each other for a while (or not a while) and just tolerate each other, because they’d rather do that than be alone? I’m sure it’s a bit of both.
What I know for sure is people don’t like being alone, and believe it or not (because I’m always up to something by myself on this blog), I am one of them. But what I hate even more than being alone, or doing things alone, is not doing something that I really want to do just because I don’t have anyone to go with me. So inevitably I go by myself.
That’s exactly what I did last Friday night, September 3, 2021, when I went to the Hollywood Bowl to watch the LA Philharmonic perform movie scores conducted by the composer of many of those scores, John Williams.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, you might think that I’ve been to the Hollywood Bowl many times. I’ve passed by its exit many times off the 101 freeway, but actually attended an event there, no. Then one day this summer, sometime in July, I was like, hey, I’ve never been to the Hollywood Bowl, I think I should go. So I went to their website, scrolled through their upcoming lineup and took my pick.
There were a lot of interesting and tempting choices: There was Cynthia Erivo, who has a nice voice, but I’m not really familiar with her work other than “The Color Purple,” and that song Stand from the soundtrack of the movie “Harriet.” So unless she was singing the standards, which the website didn’t say she was, I had to pass.
Then there was Christina Aguilera, who has a strong powerful voice. While I wouldn’t mind seeing her live, I’m not a big enough fan to pay to see her, so I passed on her too.
I also saw H.E.R. in the lineup. After her killer performance of America the Beautiful at the Super Bowl and that crazy solo guitar riff ( I think that’s what you call it), she was a big contender. But then I went to YouTube and watched a concert of hers and wasn’t into it. So I passed on her as well.
Finally, I settled on John Williams: Maestro of the Movies. I mean come on: Film scores live? With clips of some of the movies? How could I resist? I love a good film score. Music is so important to movies. And if you haven’t noticed, I want to make movies.
I bought my ticket in early to mid-July, and I could not believe how many seats were already sold out, and I was only looking for one. Yet not even one could be found, except for in the higher up sections. At first I wanted to be lower, but upon second thought, I was fine with not having that option, as this was going to be my first time there (who knows, I might not even like it), I was paying for it myself (I’m cheap as fuck), and it’s an orchestra, what’s there really to see (turns out, I was really intrigued watching them play on the big screen).
So I bought my ticket – $32 ($38 and some change after fees) in section a bit above the halfway mark on the seating chart. It was front row, nobody sitting in front of me.
After making the purchase, I was both excited and nervous. Excited because, like I said, I’d never been to the Hollywood Bowl before, but also because I haven’t been to a concert in so long. Hmm, let me think, it’s been over 10 years. The last concert I went to was Ne-yo at the then Nokia theatre in February of 2011. And the only concert I’ve been to alone was Alicia Keys at the Santa Barbara Amphitheatre almost a year before that.
But also nervous, because who goes to concerts alone, besides me?
As I suspected, hardly anybody…at least from what I could see.
The Hollywood Bowl does this whole Park & Ride thing where they have locations throughout Los Angeles County where for only $7 in advance ( almost nine after they tack on the fees), you can park your car in a lot and then take a bus straight to the venue, no stops. This was a great option as it’s much cheaper than onsite parking, plus onsite parking is stacked, meaning you can’t leave until either the people in front or behind you pull out first.
Needless to say, I did the park and ride thing, and from the moment I stepped on the bus, my aloneness was glaring. Everybody was coupled or grouped up. There wasn’t so much as a single parent with a single kid, just single me. Whenever you do something alone that most people do with others, people tend to stare: some with admiration, some with pity.
Once we arrived at our destination, a Hollywood Bowl staffer hopped on to welcome us and explain that we had 25 minutes to get back to the bus after the concert was over. She didn’t say what would happen if you missed that time frame, but I wasn’t about to fuck with it.
When I got off the bus, I had no idea where I was going. There were so many people there, I just followed the herd. As usual, I did my research, so I knew to wear comfy shoes, and thank God I did, because that was a trek. And if you think that’s a challenging incline just to get to the place where you get your ticket scanned, just wait until you get in there.
May I suggest handing out hiking certificates if you make it to your seat, with a marching band waiting to congratulate you upon arrival? You know, just a suggestion, ‘cause whew. And what’s worse, I thought my seat was higher up than it was, and unnecessarily went up a steep incline and some stairs, before having to come back down.
Anyway, after they scanned my ticket, it was like a free-for-all. I wasn’t given a program ( this could be due to Covid), or told where to go – nothing, I was on my own…in more ways than one.
First things first, I looked for food.
By now, night had already fallen and lighting was dim. So I went to the first well-lit little market I saw. In the days leading up to the concert, I checked their menus to see what they had to offer. Everything sounded so good. I really wanted to get pizza, ahem flatbread (inside joke, read about it here) from Ann’s Wine Bar, but I didn’t have time, so I thought I’d pick up a sandwich from this marketplace.
That is, until I saw the sandwiches. When the website said sandwiches, I was thinking more, Pret A Manger, not stale 7-Eleven. I take that back, that’s an insult to 7-Eleven. If only I had the mind to take a picture of these sandwiches they had the nerve to sell for $12 before tax, you would know that I tell no lies. I mean the sandwiches were skinny as fuck, with limp iceberg lettuce hanging out of it, squeezed to death in plastic wrap. You literally could not see the contents, and I didn’t trust the labels.
So I left the marketplace and went over to the Pizza and BBQ line. The display menu showed pepperoni and margherita pizzas along with barbecue beef brisket sandwiches. I was going back and forth between the brisket sandwich and the margherita pizza. That is until I saw like six brisket sandwiches sitting on a warmer (I guess) waiting to go out. On the display menu, they looked to have a thick, glistening brioche bun. In person they had a small, dry, what looked to be like a Wonder Bread bun. Like what in the entire fuck? I went for the margherita pizza ($14.75) instead, and threw in a bag of kettle corn ($7) and a chocolate chip cookie ($5) for good measure.
The show started at 8pm. When I got to my seat at 8:02pm the full orchestra was already seated, the conductor was at his post and the show was already underway. White folks be startin’ on time, don’t they?
Except for a couple of sections called super seats, and the box seating towards the bottom, the Hollywood Bowl has park bench seating, or church pew seating—nothing between you and the person next to you. When I got to my seat, three seats from the end, the other people in the row were already there, crowded in my spot, so they had to make room. What’s worse, the two people on the end were fat like me – yet more round, I’m kinda flat – making it an even more tight squeeze. You would think with all the climbing to get there it would discourage fat people, and yet here we were, three in one row, all sitting next to each other.
To Be Continued…
I’m realizing that this story is going to be longer than I thought, so instead of giving you nothing, I thought I’d give you something. Be sure to come back for the rest.
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