One hundred years ago today — July 11, 1922 — the Hollywood Bowl officially opened.
The Los Angeles amphitheater has gone on to become one of the world’s most iconic venues. It’s hosted countless concerts and many famous live albums have been recorded there, including notable ones from The Beatles and The Doors.
ABC Audio chatted with a few well-known artists about their own experiences performing at the historic venue.
Steve Miller, who has played the Hollywood Bowl multiple times, says, “[I]t feels iconic when you get there and you look out…It kind of feels like the ’40s or the ’20s in California…It has a real traditional feel to it, so it’s special for that reason.”
Country-rock pioneer Richie Furay recalls that his old band Buffalo Springfield played a particularly exciting show there early in the group’s career, opening for The Rolling Stones in 1966.
“I mean, we didn’t even have a record contract. That’s how new it was for us,” Furay remembers. “I think we were playing maybe at [the famous LA-area club] the Whisky a Go Go, and…that’s all we were doing…And here, all of a sudden, man, the management got us on that show. So…it was pretty cool.”
Furay adds that performing at the Hollywood Bowl was “like going onto the Grand Ole Opry stage or [playing] Carnegie Hall…It was a ‘wow’ experience.”
Jim Messina, meanwhile, will be teaming up with his old musical partner Kenny Loggins for two reunion shows at the Hollywood Bowl this Friday and Saturday. The concerts will mark the duo’s first performances at the venue in 50 years.
“It’s a wonderful venue to play at,” says Messina. “And it’s in our alma mater, being up in Hollywood, where we both started out our careers.”
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