August 23...it was a hot August night!
So we all woke up around 5ish and I and I am sure the crew were feeling as flat as a pancake in terms of energy levels. In our new found , let's plan as we go and through the schedule out the door , we decided to order up some room service and let the kids rest. So hot dogs and burgers all round and some sprite were ordered whilst I got changed , took a deep breath and thought I will not fall asleep,I will not fall asleep.
So two things happened in quick succession. The first knock on the door was unexpected , as I thought the room service could not be that quick. It was however one of the waitstaff with a huge welcome basket of fresh fruit, chocolates, nuts, water bottles etc....the kids thought it was dinner. I did grin and thought how good is the service at this place!
Time was ticking away , and apart from asking at the front desk how long it would take to get to the Greek theatre when we arrived ,hadn't given it any more thought. So it was just before 6 and I thought to myself, time to go, meaning dinner for me would have to be at the concert.
I gave my good buys as the kids were munching on the hamper , despite being told not to, however they were on holidays. DS2 was really crook though with the flu. He is such a good boy and rarely has any time off school , played every game of footy this year through winter etc and I could tell he was not well. So lots of cold and flu tablets and sleep for him in the next day or so. First time he has ever had them ( and glad we had them on hand in our little tablet box).
I headed downstairs to find not taxis waiting. Now through the day I noticed up to 5 waiting at any time. Not good. I could see a couple of people in from all dressed up and looking concert like. I asked if they were waiting and they said yes they were off to the concert and had been waiting 30m!!!!!
Oh dear.....so I asked could I catch their cab too, which they agreed and within 10m a cab arrived to drop off some people and we piled in. The two ladies were a hoot. Both from LA ( costa Mesa down in OC) hence they booked a hotel stay for the night with all the traffic issues. They were big Neil diamond fans, had seen him at least 8 times and knew all the songs. They loved my accent, asked all about Australia and actually knew where Melbourne was ( rare)! The traffic was atrocious and one of the ladies, a very outspoken one, was providing very stern and direct feedback to our poor taxi driver....he just kept saying 'of course you are right, you are the customer, but this isn't a helicoptor so I can't fly you there.... It was so funny listening to this pair go on and on and on for 30m it provided great entertainment.
We snaked through some very exclusive and mansion like areas to get to Griffith park. The park has the Hollywood sign on one side and an observatory on the other. Some where in between is the Greek theatre a 5000 seat outdoor concert venue. You basically drive up out of the mansions into national park . It feels like its in the middle of nowhere, and it's not far wrong.
The theatre is stunning, all outdoor, very intimate, and nestled up into the hills surrounded by pine cone trees. It was stunning and the atmosphere was electric. I had brought a ticket for me for this concert only a week or so prior to the concert ( DW would be going in 2 nights time, my turn then to look after the kids) and still managed for $100 to get in the middle. I don't think there would be a bad seat in the house.
I grabbed a very big corona ( 1 liter ) for a big $10 and didnt see any food so just left that bit. Seated about 10 m before the show they had twitter up on the big screens with everyone writing in about the concerts....only in the USA!
Well at about 820pm on came the man himself, Neil diamond....he had his usual band plus a brass section and also for about half the show a 30 piece orchestra....wow!
He just seemed to thrive in the surroundings, it was his 40th anniversary show - of recording the album hot august night at the same theatre- after all, and he really had the audience on their toes the whole time. I have seen him 4 times and was left in awe at this concert. He sang all the oldies and only sang 2 I didn't know. His big ones were sweet Caroline which he had the crowd singing along with and did his thank you to the band with. He then stopped and announced that a mate of his , none other than the actor jack black was in the audience and would he come up and join him. Well turns out jack black was about 20m away from where I was sitting, he leaped up, ran down to the stage , and jumped up in a flash. He was the scruffiest bloke in the theatre, tshirt, trackie dacks and tennis shoes and I honestly don't think it was a setup. He was asked to sing a chorus of sweet Caroline and he grabbed the microphone and belted it out ( I had no idea he is actually a singer as well) .
Anyhow the crowd went nuts, absolutely nuts and I reckon he sang sweet Caroline 8 times that night during that session !!
He finished up with his signature songs America , crunch granola suite, and brother loves traveling salvation tour......one word .....wow!
The best part of the concert was actually being so excited I forgot about being tired and I thoroughly recommend it to cure jetlag....
Concert done it was time to get out of there and that was easier said than done. Now in LA they just love their cars and I was amazed at the lack of public transport, no taxi rank, no buses.....absolutely zip. I figured out after looking around for 15m there was no easy answer so hopped on to the road and walked down the hill and was luck enough to grab a cab coming up the hill towards the theatre about 10m later. The taxi driver asked what was on. I said a concert ....he said who....I told him....he had no idea ....sad......he must have been 50 ........anyhow quick ride back to hotel (25m) and into bed just after midnight.......
What a cracker of a day and a once In a lifetime experience too!
I wonder what tomorrow will bring...stay tuned.....,