Sniffing Singer Sweat at the Bowl

My friend - he thinks it was a date, oops - had comped Row 2 box seats at the Bowl for yesterday's Belle & Sebastian show with the L.A. Philharmonic. My goodness. I've never been before but it was quite an experience.

Row 2. This bears repeating. Row 2.

We were one row away from the monitors and microphones. We were closer to the stage than the large amplifiers were, and you could hear the performers making sounds and drinking water in between songs. I didn't even know what the Bowl looked like (a hemisphere, or rather, "quarter-sphere") until I went to go to the bathroom and then got to take it all in from a distance.

Let me say this: I am not a big indie music fan. In fact, it really gets on my nerves. A lot of high-pitched wailing and feel-good hill-billy-esque tunes. Eh. But it was an unreal experience. I had to go through 3 ticket ushers to get to our very elite section, where they serve complimentary tea and coffee during the intermission between acts. I was parched and didn't want to stand in the long-ass line for "Refreshments" and I got one of the waiters to bring me a glass of ice water. (I tipped of course).

At the end of the concert loyal fans rushed the stage and our elite section but of course we, being the gracious aristocracy we were, deigned to allow their presence. The funniest thing was watching fans ricocheting off the bouncers. No one lasted on stage beyond 20 seconds.

Afterwards, we went to the exclusive afterparty and I got the lead singer to sign my ticket, "Love, Stuart."

Had I known the seats were that good I would have arrived earlier and caught the Shins, who opened for them. (I arrived late because I wanted to avoid exposing myself to the horrible sound that is the Shins minus their New Slang song. I am a little sad I missed New Slang though.)

I had never seen so many hipsters in one place in my life. Big ups to big-name indie acts at the Bowl for drawing more hipsters than all of San Francisco.