The Strokes and Tom Petty @ The Hollywood Bowl

Last night we went to our last Hollywood Bowl event of the summer (and just in time – it's getting crisp out there at night). Due to work schedules, as well as my desire to not pay $25 for closer parking (we paid $4 at Hollywood and Highland and paid ourselves $7 for each additional block we had to walk), we got to the show late. The Bowl was as crowded as I had ever seen, and it took us some time to cattle-walk with the other concertgoers up to where our seats were.

Whenever we show up early to the Bowl, we have aisle seating on the long benches. Anytime we're late, we get stuck in the center and have to beg and pardon and climb over and bump our way there, usually knocking over or stepping on whatever people put at their feet. Such was the case last night, and by the time we got settled in to our seats, we were able to hear about 2 and a half songs by the Strokes. At least we've seen them 4 or 5 times before – but never at the Hollywood Bowl.

The gentleman next to me (who must have been in his fifties or sixties) applauded at the end of the set. His wife asked, "Did you like them?" He replied, "No, I'm clapping for them to get off the stage."

So, having sat on the bench for all of ten minutes, we got up to go get drinks. We politely climbed over our bench to the row behind us, having realized that there was nobody in that one (when our own row was filled with people shoulder-to-shoulder). The concession lines were not lines at all. They were crowds. Half of the people in line were just trying to get past the lines to their seats.

One of the early-twentysomething girls behind me said, "That opening band sucked."

I couldn't believe it. How old are these kids? At twenty-two, wouldn't they have grown up on The Strokes? I feel like I grew up on The Strokes, and I'm considerably older. This wasn't just, "The Strokes played a subpar set." This was "I don't know who those guys were, but I didn't like them." Damn.

We ended up switching to a different concession stand (with a more clearly delineated line), and spent the entire 40 minute intermission standing inline for a beer and a sangria. Twenty-six dollars, please. I kid you not. Usually we're allowed to bring our own food and drink, so this was a bit of a shock.

The Tom Petty show was awesome. I don't call myself a fan, in the sense that I don't own any of his albums, but I've always liked his music, and I knew 90% of the songs they played. Jeff Lynne came out to play The Traveling Wilburys' Handle With Care. The biggest surprise of the evening was "the only honorary Heartbreaker in the world," Stevie Nicks coming out for several songs.

One thing I've noticed with both the Tom Petty show and Willie Nelson's performance a couple weeks ago is that these older bands have a real sense of showmanship. They ooze experience when compared to the youngster rock bands I usually go see. There's a distinct difference in quality – and the fact that the entire audience knows the words to most of the songs doesn't hurt.