Air (with Orchestra) / Stereolab / Sondre Lerche (Hollywood Bowl, 26 September 2004)

Beer Rating: 2 1/2 Beers

I swore off attending gigs at the Hollywood Bowl after seeing how massive of a venue it was when I saw Radiohead there (thanks Karen). Well, I find my way back to the Hollywood Bowl to see a highly anticipated bill of three of my favorite music groups. Plus, I was just damn curious to figure out how Air is going to play with an orchestra. With my $14 "binoculars mandatory" seats, I awaited to see whether this hype was well worth it.

I missed Sondre Lerche because he actually started at 6pm. I guess, at least for the Hollywood Bowl, when they mean show starts at 6pm, they really mean that it starts at that time. No Filipino time on that one! Well, I arrived fashionably late, and was able to hear the last few words to "Sleep On Needles." It sounded like a string ensemble was playing with Sondre, but I wasn't sure. After walking from the Hollywood Metro and up several flights of stairs, I was slightly disoriented (and sweaty!).

As I was buying drinks, Stereolab came on. I missed their first two songs but caught the rest of their set. This is the first time I've seen Stereolab since the unfortunate death of Mary Hansen. It is eerie to not hear her backing vocals, and is instead replaced by horns. Stereolab were in top form as usual, playing a good amount of songs that spread their entire discography. In their last three songs, they were joined by a string ensemble. Let me tell you, you haven't lived life until you've heard "Cybele's Reverie" played with a true string ensemble. It was quite an experience.

As Stereolab ended, the crew prepared for to set-up the orchestra for Air. That orchestra was absolutely massive. The Air main set was surprisingly short and you can barely hear the orchestra's contribution to most of the songs. One notable was when they played "Remember" from their first LP Moon Safari which was full orchestra. It sounded absolutely amazing! However, after that, the orchestra was barely audible and from where I was sitting, the only way I knew the orchestra was involved was through the movements of the conductor.

During the encore, Air gave us a couple of surprises. First, they were joined on-stage by Jason Falkner (Jellyfish, Beck) and Mr. Beck Hansen himself for a rendition of . . . I'm drawing a blank. It was off of 100,000 MHz Legend but it was not "The Vagabond." See, now you know why I write these things immediately after the show rather than waiting the next day (like right now!).

Anyways, was it worth the hype? Sure. If you got better seats. But with crap seats come an advantage of only paying $15 compared to $150. Overall, well worth it for the price I paid. I just wish they would have at least played "Radio #1".