John Williams Returns to the Hollywood Bowl, Sept. 3, 4 & 5, 2021

[Dr. Know 346]

Thanks for posting.  How was it?  I’m going tomorrow.

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Nice to see Adventures of Han getting another run!

[PokeDocMatt 60]

JW looked spry and anticipating the orchestra and music rather than following. (I last saw him in Chicago and Boston about 3 years ago and he looked fatigued/distracted.) Typical recent concert fare. Three encores. The highlight of the evening was the ‘84 (?) Olympic theme set to recent highlights of winter and summer games. This was truly phenomenal video editing and synchronization. The audience loved it. I would love to see it released. 

[Jay 38,747]

Did the audience applaud when Simone Biles appeared? They did at Tanglewood

[PokeDocMatt 60]

1 hour ago, Jay said:

Did the audience applaud when Simone Biles appeared? They did at Tanglewood

Simone was the biggest. But a lot of them got significant applause/cheering, actually. Bolt. Phelps. The Williams sisters. You could also tell the audience really connected when the music got intense towards the final build up when the athletes were showing their preparation and nervousness before starting. Awesome stuff. 
 

Being from Wisconsin, I whooped when they showed the gold medal winning curling team. Probably startled/confused the locals. 

[Jay 38,747]

Yea, I'm generally not a fan of video montages at film music concerts, but that Olympics one was definitely well done 

[Remco 687]

Someone told be JW got so excited during the first piece that he lost his baton. Can someone confirm?

[Tom 4,944]

2 hours ago, PokeDocMatt said:

Simone was the biggest. But a lot of them got significant applause/cheering, actually. Bolt. Phelps. The Williams sisters. You could also tell the audience really connected when the music got intense towards the final build up when the athletes were showing their preparation and nervousness before starting. Awesome stuff. 
 

Being from Wisconsin, I whooped when they showed the gold medal winning curling team. Probably startled/confused the locals. 

Kobe was not the biggest?---shame on the LA audience.  

[PokeDocMatt 60]

31 minutes ago, Remco said:

Someone told be JW got so excited during the first piece that he lost his baton. Can someone confirm?

Yep it went flying and he finished without it! And then joked around a bit. I didn’t catch how or when it returned to his stand, but he turned around and there it was. 

8 minutes ago, Tom said:

Kobe was not the biggest?---shame on the LA audience.  

Kobe was mentioned prior to the piece in a brief, loving statement from JW and that’s when the audience went wild. They definitely reacted during the clip of him, but it was less celebratory if I recall correctly. 

[SteveMc 2,675]

Around what time did the concert end?  Hope I can catch an Uber back home tonight.

[Steve 608]

So still no "Rise of Skywalker" performance? Weird. This program is quite boring I have to say... but these days one welcomes whatever is conducted after 16 months without live music.

[PokeDocMatt 60]

2 hours ago, SteveMc said:

Around what time did the concert end?  Hope I can catch an Uber back home tonight.

10:30. 

[SilverTrumpet 642]

Bummer we didn't get Adventures of Han at Tanglewood. That's one of my favorites in recent years. 

 

How was the tempo on it? He conducted it very slowly at the previous Tanglewood, and I don't know if that's his age or because it's just a scorcher in general. He looked so much more energetic this year that I'm wondering if it was faster. Everything was a better tempo this time around.

[King Mark 3,666]

Dammit he's not playing Rise of Skywalker. It's the first time he's not playing selections from his most recent SW film

[SteveMc 2,675]

Public transit is a nightmare today.  I left campus at 3:20 and still might be late.

[SteveMc 2,675]

Edit

I made it!

[pete 942]

What was performed besides Olympic Fanfare, The Adventures of Han, and The Imperial March? I'm dying to know!

[SteveMc 2,675]

All still coming!

[lairdo 737]

My sister, cousin and 6-year old niece went to the performance last night. My niece has been to the bowl before, but not to see John Williams. Her review is succinct:

 

”I had no idea idea this would be so magical. I wish this night would never end.”

 

 

[Jay 38,747]

8 hours ago, pete said:

What was performed besides Olympic Fanfare, The Adventures of Han, and The Imperial March? I'm dying to know!

 

https://www.jwfan.com/forums/index.php?/topic/33778-john-williams-returns-to-the-hollywood-bowl-sept-3-4-5-2021/&do=findComment&comment=1831662

[Taikomochi 1,184]

Encores were

Spoiler

Imperial March, ET Flying, and Raiders March

 

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1 hour ago, Taikomochi said:

Encores were

  Reveal hidden contents

Imperial March, ET Flying, and Raiders March

 

 

Did he say anything about Indy 5?

[SteveMc 2,675]

Alas no

[Thor 8,078]

Looks like he was in great shape alright. A pic from Henry Stanny's ("Morricone" on FSM) Facebook page:

 

[SteveMc 2,675]

That golf thing he did with the lightsaber was great.

[atmicwedgy 50]

21 hours ago, King Mark said:

Dammit he's not playing Rise of Skywalker. It's the first time he's not playing selections from his most recent SW film

Yeah, was the one disappointing aspect of an otherwise wonderful show. 
Especially since we got TLJ, Galaxys Edge and Solo in 2019. 
When Newman and Williams came out both wielding sabers, I thought “this might be it!” Alas the lights came on soon after. 
Still a great experience, and I really enjoyed the selection of the non-JW scores. 

[Brando 2,044]

It was a marvelous performance!! 10/10 would definitely do again. After he finished his set he walked away 3 times before returning each time to an encore. Just seeing him on stage was magical. At one point he roasted BFG. He was talking about how he was going to perform a piece from it and he goes “it was a movie not a lot of people went to see” and everyone laughed. At one point my wife, upon seeing him walk around as he does, goes “he’s a cute old man” haha. At the end Newman brought him a lightsaber and he practiced his golf swing with it. The entire night was a blast and I’d love to do it again!

[SteveMc 2,675]

A wonderful experience of a lifetime it was for me.  Still processing it, can't quite believe it.  I saw John Williams at the Hollywood Bowl!

I love how in tune the orchestra was with JW on selections like Olympic Fanfare and The BFG.

It's like, David Newman is a very competent conductor, and the orchestra sounded great under his baton (especially Sabrina, which is a lovely score to hear live), but when John got warmed up, it was just electric.  There were moments where you felt he was getting exactly what he wanted, just the right balance during the high points of the Olympic Fanfare, clarity in the rapid intricate wind passages in The BFG (it was astonishing to see how vigorous he got at that point), and the rousing and precise end to Adventures of Han.

I love how he seemed to want the audience to really like BFG, he appears proud of the work.

 

Of course the encores were incredible.  The music itself was very familiar, but the way he drew on the crowd's excitement and love and infused that energy into the orchestra was just thrilling to be part of.  

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5 hours ago, SteveMc said:

I love how he seemed to want the audience to really like BFG, he appears proud of the work.

 

Yeah, he keeps returning to this piece!

 

Reminds me of Adventures of Mutt becoming a mainstay long after memories of that film faded.

[SilverTrumpet 642]

What film?

[Trumpeteer 302]

I was at the Sunday concert and it was a lot of fun. Of course, since I have finished my podcast, I knew there would be no new film music for me to hear, but that was fine. The Overture to the Oscars was new, I think? I have to look it up, but it sounded like the music that opened the 2002 Oscars when he was co-musical director. 

 

I enjoyed seeing JW looking so lively at 89 years old. I spoke with a woman after the show, and after I told her John Williams was five months away from turning 90, she said, "He looked like he was in his 70s!"

 

But the highlight of the show was meeting Eduardo Victoria, who was a cohost on my podcast for the "War of the Worlds" episode. It was the first time meeting one of my cohosts in person, and we had a wonderful pre-show conversation.

 

 

[Jay 38,747]

9 hours ago, Trumpeteer said:

The Overture to the Oscars was new, I think? I have to look it up, but it sounded like the music that opened the 2002 Oscars when he was co-musical director. 

 

https://www.jwfan.com/forums/index.php?/topic/34071-overture-to-the-oscars-new-jw-composition/

[BB-8 3,796]

Excellent program selection!

Hope we get something similar in Berlin!

[Brando 2,044]

In case anyone hasn't seen it, here's John practicing his golf swing!

Edit: I thought I recorded it but I guess I didn't, but at some point before this the audience was screaming for more and he made the 'sleeping' hand motion against his face and that was the sad moment we realized it was over.

 

 

[igger6 912]

Did no one at any of the concerts record OttO?  (This is the new nickname for "Overture to the Oscars," and it is not negotiable.)  Come on, people!  This is the only Williams piece performed fewer times than "The Rise of Skywalker."  We need all the video we can get to pore over and compare!