Hollywood Bowl swan song

Never before had I experienced box seats before at the Hollywood Bowl, and now I am not sure I can accept anything less. When the ushers showed me to my seat I could have sworn at first I was mistakenly shown a seat far more expensive than I could ever afford and that certainly some angry dude with way more money than me would push me out of his seat when he arrived later, but no I was definitely in the right place.
Cat Power kicked it off with some of its now familiar intimate, brooding alto voice. Since seeing her at the Wiltern last February I've been a fan. Staying true to her habit of random covers in the middle of her set she broke into a slow version of CCC's Fortunate Son.

Spiritualized followed it up with its spacey and slightly psychodelic and genre-defying sounds. As they eventually got into their faster and faster songs, the audience was pretty psyched and warmed up to get us revved up for:


He might be losing his hair but he sure as hell is not losing his touch. His gospel infused, bluesy diatribes tell mysterious stories across a rugged landscape. His imagery may be bleak, the rhythm sometimes tepid, but Nick Cave himself was furiously animated and alive. With about twenty albums to pick a setlist from I was quite happy with what was played.



This was a great concert to save for my last Bowl event of the summer. Easily worthy of the ticket price, the great bottle of wine my friends and I went through, and the high level of expectations I set. I'm left with the bittersweet feeling of being proud to have have experienced a summer full Bowl concerts, and sadness in wondering why I didn't do this years before and that the summer season is over with.

I'm ready to stick to more intimate venues and smaller artists now that I can say I've tried out so many large venues this summer..