2021 Hollywood Bowl Trip
John WIlliams – The Hollywood Bowl – Hollywood CA – September 5th 2021
The Hollywood Bowl presents John Williams
Review and photos by Todd Johnson
Back in 2017 I had the opportunity to go to the official Lucasfilm Star Wars Celebration Orlando which is a Star Wars convention that is officially sponsored by Lucasfilm. Over the years I had always heard about it but had never went because it cost too much. However, this year I decided to go because i figured I’d regret it if i didn’t. Everyone camped out overnight for the 40th anniversary A New Hope Celebrity Discussion Panel the first night of the convention and because there were hundreds of people trying to go some people got to the actual panel and some got to be in the next room which was a big video screen of the actual panel that was in the other room. Luckily I got to be in the actual panel room and it was literally one of the top 5 best days of my life! Almost all of the stars of Star Wars: A New Hope was there. Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford were there in person. The maker himself, George Lucas, was there as well as Kathleen Kennedy. Notably and sadly absent was Carrie Fisher who just passed away a few months before. As a tribute to Carrie Fisher, we found out later that someone wanted to come to Orlando to pay tribute to the beloved actress. That person was John Williams. So at Star Wars Celebration Orlando, John Williams conducted the Orlando Symphony Orchestra with several works from that first Star Wars movie that changed everyone on that stage’s life and the lives of all the fans in that audience. It was one of the greatest days of my life and if anyone tells you I got a tear or two in my eye from being so moved, they are dang liar 😉
Cut to 2021 I see a notice that everyone on a certain Facebook group was buying tickets for John Williams – Maestro of the Movies in concert at the Hollywood Bowl (which I found out after the fact was a yearly tradition before COVID stopped it.) Without batting an eye, I bought tickets for the concert, not knowing if I could go to it, let alone afford it, but I knew i couldn’t risk not getting tickets.
The concert at the Hollywood Bowl was nothing short of amazing. The place itself is legendary. I had only been to L.A. 1 1/2 times before and the Hollywood Bowl wasn’t a place I was lucky enough to see previously but it is a beauty! The lighting changes depending on the song and the Hollywood Bowl was doing this type of lighting well before it was trendy. The night started off with an opening act by composer David Newman. He set the night up by playing the Star Spangled Banner and went on to play works from the movies “Lawrence of Arabia”, “An American in Paris”, “the Godfather” and “Casablanca.” He also did a tribute to Audrey Hepburn. Strangley David Newman conducted the LA Philharmonic’s version of “Harry’s Wondrous World” from “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” instead of John Williams. Although I’m guessing that is more David Newman’s homage to John Williams. After the intermission came the main event. The man, the myth, the legend from a galaxy far, far away….John Williams. Because John Williams has such a large catalog of musical scores that he has done over the years, it would be impossible to please everyone’s wishlist of selections for him to play. We saw several people wearing “Jurassic Park” T-shirts, but that score wasn’t played during the concert. Personally I was hoping he would play his soaring and heartbreaking theme from the movie “Born on the Fourth of July” but he didn’t (but I assumed he wouldn’t have played that because it is a little more obscure than other works.) He did play his ‘Olympics Fanfare Theme’ that Mr. Williams composed for the 1984 Olympics and had a companion video that showed footage from the current Olympics as well as previous ones. Mr. Williams did play music from the movie “The BFG” which was surprising since the movie didn’t do very well at the box office which he actually acknowledges jokingly to the audience. Of course, everyone was waiting for Williams to finally conduct selections from the Star Wars films which he did starting with “Adventures of Han” followed by “Yoda’s Theme” and then “Star Wars Theme/The Throne Room and End Title”. That last selection had everyone, including myself, enthralled and spellbound. I had goosebumps and chills going up and down my spine hearing it live. No matter what your age was that night, you were automatically transported back in time when you were a kid first hearing the theme while watching your first Star Wars film. It is hard to put into words what a moving experience it was. After a very brief break, Williams followed that with another Star Wars selection “The Imperial March” also known as Darth Vader’s theme. Then another movie selection that gave me goosebumps is the “Flying Theme” from “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial”. It was such an amazing treat for the ears you almost expect to look up and see Elliot and E.T. flying in front of the giant moon above you. The grand finale was end credits music from one of the “Indiana Jones” films which was a perfect way to ride into the proverbial sunset. The night was a dream come true for this John Williams fan (although it would’ve really been a dream come true if I would’ve been lucky enough to do the impossible and got a photo with John Williams which I wanted to do since I was a little kid.) Seeing a legend like him playing his music in person would be like seeing Mozart or Beethoven in their prime. It really is the stuff that dreams are made of.
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