Hollywood Bowl venue questions (comments from LA residents welcome)

I visited the Hollywood Bowl for the first time last month.


I know there is a long history associated with the venue and
some of that history is detailed on the website for the bowl
but some of it may not be mentioned.

Specifically - I'm wondering about how the Bowl is USED these days.


When I purchased my tickets on ticketmaster, I was presented
with a ticket map that was much larger than what was actually
used. My seat should have been about halfway back - but
it was towards the rear.

When I walked into the venue, I thought the place looked smaller
("Why is my seat not in the middle of the place?") than expected.

I quickly noticed that there were huge potted plants behind my
section. I thought those were TREES but when I walked backed
and look at them more closely - they were definetly in big black pots
and could be moved. But they did not look like they could EASILY
be moved. The "plants" were big enough to be trees and there
were so many of them I couldn't see behind them until I walked
right up to them.

Sure enough, behind the big plants I could see a large number
of additional seats.

I can't say for sure - but I don't think the seats behind these
plants would have a good view of the stage.

My question is this... are those sections behind the plants
ever used ? I assume they used to be used - but I'm guessing
that the venue now specializes in artists that don't need
18,000 seats (which is what the web site lists)...


My mother in law (who lives in Long Beach - but is not an
expert on the venue) kept telling me that "the Hollywood
Bowl is the biggest ampitheater in the world"

That didn't sound right.

I think if she said it was "the biggest NATURAL ampitheater"
she would be correct (I think that is what I read on the
bowl's website). Red Rocks in Colorado would probably
be a close competitor - but I've never been there.


The Bowl was definetly different than most other ampitheaters
I've been to (Mann Music Center in Philly, Garden State
Arts Center in NJ, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavillion in Houston).

For example, the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavillion is a big
artificially created hill - formed from mounds and mounds of
imported dirt - covered with grass.

The hill for the Bowl was definetly there before the concert
venue. There's an interesting photo on the bowl website
of an early concert.

I previously visited the Hollywood Bowl in the last 80s.
It was a Sunday afternoon and there was no concert
but I'm fairly certain that there was no partition between
the front and back of the place - because I remember
walking from the very back to the stage.


Having thought about it now for approximately a month, I
would say that the Hollywood Bowl is much more narrow
than the other ampitheaters I've been to... probably an
artifact of it being a natural hill.... in other words,
the last spot at the top of the hill in the last section
(behind the potted plants) would be a lot FARTHER
than the last spot at the top of the hill in a venue of
comparable capacity (in terms of tickets sold).

That being said, I can see why the top of the venue
may have been sealed off (permanently) at some point.


Comments?

 

The Bowl is a great place for a rock show if you get good seats. If you score a set of cheap seats, you end up so far away that the experience is almost as if you are watching the event from afar.

The parking and traffic is a nightmare unless you can get on the industry parking list directly from the promoter.

 

Your comment about "watching the event from afar" would definetly
seem to hold true for the last section in the area behind the plants.

With the plants, the distance between the last row and the stage
is about comparable to other outdoor venues I've been to. The
difference is that most other places are much WIDER than the Bowl.


I parked at the underground lot at Hollywood and Highland and took
a $3 shuttle bus. That wasn't too bad - but I was kind of angry
that the time stamp on my parking stub was inaccurate and I was
overcharged. It was supposed to be like $2 for the first 4 hours
if you had your stub validated (I bought a CD at Virgin to get
my stub validated)... but when I left the lot they charged me for
the maximum ($10). Since I had been gone like 4 hours and 15
minutes, I griped... but the guy showed me my timestamp and said
I had been gone much longer (which wasn't accurate).

Other than that snafu, I think the bus lines are a great solution.

 

Are these seats you are referring to far off on either side? There are seats on the far sides that are definitely behind plants. AFAIK, they sell these seats as "obstructed view" but they only do this if all of the "full view" seats sell out first. Generally, Ticketmaster does not have access to obstructed view seats. Usually, only the box office can sell them.

 

IMO the Hollywood Bowl is a huge venue and not the best setting for a rock concert. It is, however, a beautiful place with a lot of history and if you’re the type who can enjoy the music regardless of how far back you are, then a concert experience at the Bowl, even the very last P5 section, is a must.

About the seating behind the trees/bushes, unfortunately I believe these seats are still being sold for events, but with a warning of possible “limited viewing”. I was recently catching up with a friend who I hadn’t seen since a Radiohead concert in Aug this year who mentioned that he would have enjoyed the show more had it not been for the bushes that were blocking half of his view.
BTW I went to the 2 consecutive Radiohead shows at the Bowl and found that, IMO, the better “closer” seats may not be ideal for the best audio experience.
The first show seats were in the terrace section P2 or ‘promenade 2’ behind the garden seats and the second show seats further behind in P3 center or 'promenade 3', which is pretty far away IMO, however I found the concert just SOUNDED BETTER from the P3 section seats, but be advised that this section IS farther away than the seating chart may seem and you’ll require binoculars to see the performers.

 

No. Seats far to the side would be a different category.


This was a line of plants/trees running from one side of the venue to the
other side that completely sealed off promenade 3 from promenade 4.

I'm looking at the seating chart on the hollywood bowl web site
and sections P, N, M, L, U, T, R, S, Q, W, X, and V were closed.

Even more strange, if you weren't specifically aware that those
sections existed - you probably wouldn't have noticed.


My seats were in Section J.... toward the middle of the place.
Just to the let of the non-bench type seats.

 

I don't think that the original poster is talking about the same thing. He seems to be saying that for certain events, the Bowl uses potted plants to reduce the size of the viewing audience. This makes perfect sense, as venues do it all the time in many different ways (spreading out the seats on the floor, moving the stage forward, covering upper or side view seats with tarp, etc., etc.)

I've never seen this done at the Bowl, but I can imagine it. In any event, while I love the Bowl, (i) I try to avoid anything farther back than the section behind the Terrace Boxes, because it's simply too far away; and (ii) the stacked parking is a nightmare, so unless you are prepared to tell your date: "honey, here's where we get on the bus", then be prepared for a looooooong wait getting out of the parking lot.

Maybe that's why I never go there anymore.

 

I've seen about 100 shows at the Bowl over the past 30 yrs. I've never seen Trees used to make the venue smaller, even Jazz Shows that only drew a few thousand people.
What show did you go to see, Van Morrison?
I believe that show was shot for a DVD. Van drew about 7000 people, the Bowl holds 18,000. It would make sense to use trees to make the venue look full. I wanted to go to that show, but with the Cheap seats being $75 and the good seats going for $350, I decided to pass.

 

The primary use of the Bowl is for concerts by the Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra, comprised of players from the LA Phil, Pasadena Orchestra, and other off-season musicians. Seats for these shows can be had for as cheap as $1. Many people go just to picnic and have a night out. It is a cultural resource more than a 'venue', IMO. I saw Esa-Pekka Salonen conduct Mahler's Eighth Symphony last September from way high on the hill for ten bucks. People sat behind me, spead out all over with wine and sandwiches. Lang Lang's concert last July was a sell-out on a Tuesday night. It's not the best place to see a pop show, IMO.

 

I saw Brian Wilson perform the entire Pet Sounds album at the Hollywood Bowl, with assistance from the Wondermints and the Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Van Dyke Parks!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

My guess is that those "potted plants" are SO huge that they are NEVER
moved. I know I wouldn't want to be the guy handed that task. You
would have to use a fork lift - and it's not clear where you would be
able to move them to (there are that many of them!).


I can see selling some seats behind them *IF* you block off maybe
the first 20 or so rows behind the plants. Basically don't sell anything in
sections P, N, M, and L.

My guess is that people in the sections behind those sections (U,T,S,R,
Q,X,W, and V) would probably not have an obstructed view of the stage
(distance is a separate matter)

 

That was the concert.

It definetly made the place look like it was at capacity - but I'm not
certain it would have been done for just that reason.


It's possible I'm overestimating the effort it took to put those plants
in place.

I just looked at the seating map again on the Bowl website and they
have this interactive "what is the view from my seat?" feature.

I can see some small bushes in those photos - but that is not what
I'm referring to. These were very tall plants.

 

Those plants were brought in especially for those shows. Promoters, agent, venue management, production manager made it happen. Forklifts are used at every load-in and load-out. No big deal. Those plants were not at the four concerts I saw in July and September.

 

Anyone got any pictures they could post? That would be fantastic!

TIA,
Stephen

 

Not the best place to see a concert but ok. I'd rather go to the Greek.

 

that place isn't even locked up on non concert days.. me and a friend literally walked in there, up onto the stage and pretended we were Bette Midler! lol

 

The plants are definitely not standard. All other shows at the bowl make use of all the seats.

The Hollywood Bowl is a fun venue, IF you don't care about the artist you are going to see. People use it as a fun night out with the ambience of a band in the background. They're more interested in catching up, talking about the kids' soccer team, and passing the brie around than what's occurring on stage.

It's just the nature of the beast.

As for seating, this is definitely the venue where you get what you pay for. The law of diminishing returns compounds the further back you get. That, coupled with noise restrictions may have you telling the person next to you to shut up for whispering too loud. (Yes it can get that bad in the cheapo bleachers.)

There is something magical about the place.. but unfortunately the perfomance always takes a backseat to the venue, for good and bad.

 

Yes, it sounds like the Plants/Trees were brought in to make the Van Morrison show look sold out. I'm sure the plants will make it the show look better on Video, rather than 11000 empty seats. A friend told me that NPR was planning on Simulcasting the show on Radio, but that Van canceled it at the last minute. Van apparently put on a great show, sang a lot of his hits that he normally refuses to do at his regular shows. Apparently 7000 seats were sold for the Saturday show, Friday shows are less desireable due to Hollywood Traffic. The $350 price tag kept me away.

 

I'm not sure what pictures you are hoping to see.

There are some cool pics of the venue on the hollywood bowl website.

This flickr account has some pics from the concert I went to.

I didn't take these pics - nor am I in any of them.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/artolog/3019849114/in/set-72157608883475241/

 

On the weekend I watched an episode of Columbo which had a lot of its setting in the Bowl. John Cassevetes (sp.?) played the murderer who happened to be an orchestra conductor. It looks like a neat place.

 

"Wacky" is a good word to describe it. Where else can you bring in your own alcohol and food (at least for the classical shows). I remember many years back, me and some friends scored some comps in the box seats. It was Beethoven's Symphony #7 and we brought in a giant pizza and a bunch of Budweiser's. Man, what a bunch of rabble-rousers we were !

Another time I had box seats for the Playboy Jazz Festival and in the middle of the show, Bill Cosby introduced Hugh Hefner who was right down in front and he stood up with his "entourage" of bunnies as everybody cheered. That show was a trip. Nobody seemed to care about the incredible music occuring up on stage. Everybody just walks around during the entire concert.

 

One issue with the bowl is if you manage to score some box seat tickets you are most likely sharing that box with others and sitting very close to them. The 6 seat box I was in recently sat two rows of three, so the third couple had to sit with one person behind the other, instead of next to each other. Somewhat awkward.

 

I recall hearing that the original shell was demolished a few years ago. Looked it up, and sadly I was right.

The Wiki page is interesting. Check out the 30s-era photo compared to the more recent ones. Look how clean and uncluttered the whole area was. Sigh.

dan c

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_Bowl

 

There have been a few shells over the years (four, I believe), and acoustics have improved with the installation of the latest in 2004. It looks retro enough, too. No problem by me.