I’ve gone to the Hollywood Bowl a couple of times before but have never really appreciated it until this summer. Until a friend of mine, a longtime Bowl goer since she was a kid and her parents took her, showed me what a true Bowl experience is.

Apparently she buys batches of tickets at the beginning of the season and just invites friends to the shows. The night of the show, she tells her accompanyinig friends what kind of food and wine she’s bringing and everyone else brings whatever they want. They all meet at her place (not far from the Bowl) an hour before the show and gather their picnic baskets and bottles of wine together, as well as the all-important seat cushions, and then head on over to the secret parking place.

The first time she invited me along, it was for the KCRW World Festival night featuring David Byrne. I was thrilled. Before the show started we set up our picnic. Ate food, drank wine, people watched. The summer evening was mild and not too chilly in Hollywood. At the end of the night, the Bowl was packed and everyone was up on their feet for the grand finale as David Byrne did his rendition of Beyonce’s “Crazy in Love” accompanied by the Arcade Fire and some crazy marching band with transvestite color guard. After that experience I had to come back. And I have many times this summer. The KCRW World Festival nights are the best with the most diverse audience and interesting people-watching opportunities and those shows always end with everyone up on their feet.

This Friday I’m going back to see “A Night at the Copa” with Bowl faves Pink Martini and Bebel Gilberto. Our little party is going along with the theme and we’re planning to bring small plates and martinis. I’m in charge of bringing the martini shakers and plastic martini glasses.

I highly recommend going to the Bowl at least one night before their fireworks finale concerts September 15th-18th, or you could go to those too. It’s just the perfect way to mark the summer and you’d be doing yourself a great disservice if you don’t go at least once.

Buy some cheap seat tickets and invite a good group of friends. You can make your own picnic basket by shopping at Bristol Farms on Sunset and Fairfax or if you’re running late just pick up some combo meals from Popeye’s Chicken on Hollywood Boulevard (mmm, spicy chicken!). Make sure to bring several bottles of wine and plastic cups. For parking, since I can’t tell you where the secret parking spot is, you can go to Hollywood & Highland where it’s $2 with validation to park for up to 4 hours and there’s a Bowl Shuttle every 15 minutes. That way you don’t have to contend with the stacked parking in the Bowl lots.

2301 North Highland Avenue
Hollywood, CA 90068
(323) 850-2000
Cross Street: Odin Street
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