Tonight was my final last night at the Hellywood Bowl. I know I post an end-of-season blog every summer, but this year, I'm through. I believe every experience in life teaches us something. And I've learned everything this place will ever teach me, so I'm off to bigger and better things.
However, I did make one interesting observation tonight. Let me begin with some background information. Tonight was reggae night. This show is one of the few that gets sold out. All 18,000 seats get purchased... And this makes strange thoughts go through my head. It makes me wonder how 40 ushers, 10 supervisors, and 2 managers can keep the peace in a place that seats 18,000 utter fools. And as soon as I start getting bored, I start pretending I'm some kind of government appointed police officer in a small country under dictatorial rule. I look people up and down and I say who stays, I say who goes. I say cigarettes must be put out and where and when. I send people to the dungeon and they will not see daylight for 15 years.
But during a show like reggae night, you need to be on your guard. The People are unhappy with the way things are; they don't like being told what to do. The People are oppressed. And the government pays no attention. There are uprisings, revolution lurks around the corner... until... INTERMISSION, when all hell breaks loose and anarchy is prevalent. People everywhere, no order, no lawfulness. People from section U think they belong in the Garden box seats and they protest when they are told that they do not belong there. They say that we need to "chill" and it doesn't matter that they've paid 15 dollars for their tickets. They should be able to sit in the 200 dollar boxes. And you can't exactly win an agrument with these people when lyrics like "get up, stand up, stand up for your rights" are blaring in the background. This is the anthem of the oppressed. It is the anthem of the People.
I feel like I have finally discovered the truth. I've followed this road for a long time now. It's been bumpy and winding, but I kept going. And I've finally reached a state of enlightenment. The Hollywood Bowl has never been a silly seasonal job, as I am just now discovering. It's been an alternate reality where I enforced the rules of a small nation somewhere in the Twilight Zone. For a short period of time, people from all over southern California, and even the world, came together and settled in The Republic of Bowlia. Welcome, weary traveler...
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