Written by loyd
Published on September 10th, 2003

John Williams Concert
- August 29th, 2003
Hollywood Bowl, California

• Introduction
• Report by loyd
• Report by Bada Bing Jedi
• Report by Darth Havoc

This was a dream come true.

It was my first time at the Bowl and it was an AWESOME experience. The first half began with Mr. Williams conducting the L.A. Philharmonic in a medley of Hollywood themes, everything from Gone With The Wind to Titanic... Psycho to The Pink Panther. The crowd loved it as we sat under the stars just a short distance away from the HOLLYWOOD sign. He also played music from the recent CATCH ME IF YOU CAN and HARRY POTTER movies.

But most of the fans were there for what was to come after intermission - The Grand STAR WARS suite. The sold out audience was mixed with older fans who looked like regulars of the Bowl but most of it was filled with Star Wars geeks like myself (no... no one was dressed in costume).

To my surprise, there was a special guest to narrate the Star Wars story as we took a journey through the music of the Star Wars universe: JAMES EARL JONES, the voice of Darth Vader. THIS WAS SO COOL!!! The music was played in "chronological" order from The Phantom Menace to Return of The Jedi, with Mr. Jones telling the Star Wars story in his very famous voice. The crowd went nuts. Lightsabers went up into the air as he spoke the words "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away....". And as the Imperial March began, the lights over the orchestra became a deep red and Vader's breathing was played behind Mr. Jones' voice. This came just after the love theme from Episode II and he briefly described Anakin Skywalker's fall to the Dark Side and events we will eventually see in Episode III. This was great hearing it from DARTH VADER himself!!! Other highlights were Jones' quoting Threepio and Han Solo from The Asteroid Field, Obi Wan Kenobi's explanation of The Force and then leaving us with "The Force will be with you... always."

It was a very unique way to experience STAR WARS and I highly recommend seeing John Williams if you have the chance.

Feedback welcome