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The Hollywood Bowl: The Icon Next to the 101 at 101 Years Old

July 11, 2023

The Hollywood Bowl: The Icon Next to the 101 at 101 Years Old

On July 11, 1922 the Los Angeles Philharmonic, conducted by Alfred Hertz, inaugurated the first official season of music under the stars at the Hollywood Bowl.

Over the years the tranquil venue tucked away in the Hollywood Hills  – and a stone’s throw from the US 101 Hollywood Freeway – has hosted some of the biggest musicians, bands, and orchestras in modern times.

From the two women in 1920 performing atop a barn door, to the Beatles and Hendrix in the ’60s, to King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard in 2023, magic has a way of happening in that natural bowl off Highland Avenue.

“The Hollywood Bowl was marvellous. It was the one we all enjoyed most, I think,” John Lennon said after the Beatles first played there in 1964, “because it seemed so important. We got on, and it was a big stage, and it was great. We could be heard in a place like the Hollywood Bowl, even though the crowd was wild: good acoustics.”

read more at: Setlist.fm

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A Banger Was Released Every Day In November

A Banger Was Released Every Day In November

November gets plenty of credit for turkey, football and the annual rush to buy a slightly larger television. The record stores deserve a little attention, too. From Nirvana unplugging to Wu-Tang kicking the door in, this month has delivered an impressive pile of albums and plenty of ways to drown out Thanksgiving arguments. Here’s one for every day.

Nirvana, MTV Unplugged in New York album coverNovember 1: Nirvana, MTV Unplugged in New York (1994, DGC Records). MTV once put musicians on television and let them play entire songs. Imagine. Nirvana used the opportunity to sidestep the obvious hits and lean on David Bowie, Lead Belly and the Meat Puppets. Kurt Cobain’s final howl in “Where Did You Sleep Last Night” makes the usual unplugged-session chatter about intimacy seem rather inadequate. Also: Megadeth, Youthanasia (1994); The Cure, Songs of a Lost World (2024).

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