If you take a ten minute drive from South Pas down Arroyo, you'll reach neighboring Pasadena's famous Rose Bowl. Tonight, many South Pas residents will join more than 96,000 other people gathering here to see U2 in concert -- possibly the biggest concert in Rose Bowl history. (I'll bet Pasadena daily photoblogger Ben Wideman will be in attendance. It's just a hunch...) See that big, futuristic spire jutting out of the arena? It's part of the band's enormous, 13-stories-high set.This is one local concert where the entire world is invited: it's streaming in a live, global webcast on YouTube for free tonight at 8:30 PM, Pacific Time.
26 comments:
Forgive me, but I do not get U2. Never hear a song that really grabbed me. Oh well, that just leaves room for someone else in the Bowl!
Shoot Earl, you don't even like Wild Horses? I must have playd that tune 5,304 times when it first came out.
Wow this is a nice shot !! Nice place too !!Unseen Rajasthan
I live close enough to the Rose Bowl to be inconvenienced by the road barrier monitors blocking access to my neighborhood's streets (those kids are hard to sweet-talk, especially Steve Melman), but I'm too far away to hear the music, which is a pity as I love the Black-Eyed Peas, who are on before U2. Guess I'll have to hoof it to an overlook somewhere closer.
I will check out Wild Horses, AH. The only Wild Horses I know is by the Stones.
Thanks for the YouTube heads up... now I don't have to watch the party lights from a distance!
The mountains melting into the sky in this shot remind me why I rent in LA instead of buying a four-bedroom, three-bath house in an upscale Louisville neighborhood for $170K.
Earl, I've rarely heard a U2 song that didn't grab me!
This is for you, AH: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfJtUL7FkMo
I learned to drive in the Rose Bowl parking lot. It's hard to hit anything doing circles in a VW Bug if there's nothing much to run into.
Who's U2?
True story... a good friend of mine was entering the Formosa Cafe in the late 80s, at the same moment Bono was leaving... and he stopped and kissed her.
"in the Name of Love" has been playing in my head all day.
That was so cool, Laurie. Now I'm off to the Boho Zorthian event in Altadena. Sure to run into someone I've insulted lately. But then I'm going over to the Devil's Gate Bridge -- just in case I can hear U2 from there.
Hey Yak - a good friend's father was a bartender at the Formosa for about 40 years. He probably saw the kiss.
I suspect, Laurie, that Mr. Earl and I are just enough older to not completely get U2. They certainly have maintained their longevity, but much of their music sounds the same. And, you've broken from tradition - I think this is the first time you've posted something from outside So Pas.
Thanks for the nod Laurie!
It is going to be a fun night.
I think I saw them testing that spire last night from up above Millard canyon.
Oh, I am SOOOOO tempted to tell the story of that kiss.
Yak, thanks for the memory.
DB, was it Lindy? That was my favorite old timer bartender at The FOrmosa. Rolling Stone voted him best bartender in LA in the late 80s.
Ah youth.
Tell the story, Laurie! You can't tempt us that way!
My friend's father was named Nick. A greek guy who looked a little like Yoda. He probably retired around the late 80's.
Ben is definitely there. We've heard some of the music drifting over this way. Hiker, let us know what you hear from the bridge.
I like U2. Black Eyed Peas, too. Yak, I've had "Mysterious Ways" in my head all day. I'd love to hear that live, but I don't deal well with crowds of a few hundred, much less a hundred thousand. I don't think I could stand it.
I've changed a lot since my Zeppelin days, for sure.
I've read about transcendent experiences of people chanting in unison with thousands of others at various temples around the world and I always want to say, hey, I've had similar experiences at really great rock concerts!
I broke with tradition to post this because I'm starting a very limited series of images of things that are South Pasadena adjacent. There are several locales that seem part of the South Pasadena experience even though they are just outside the city borders. Also, the whole So Cal experience involves different communities smashed up together as one big LOS ANGELES and I'm fascinated by overlap. From time to time, if something is interesting enough, I'll include it in the South Pasadena's Neighbors series here. (Judson Studios will probably be the next one.) But never fear, this is a blog about South Pas! I just couldn't resist a Rose Bowl shot since this concert is such a big deal ... and so many South Pas folks have tickets. Wish I was one of them!
I first saw U2 when I was in high school, back in 1980 in Austin at a divey little place on the UT campus. There were only about 100 people at the show. I can't believe that was almost 30 years ago. The coolest U2 experience was when I first moved to LA and lived in HOllywood. A bunch of my friends and I got to go to the premiere of their documentary Rattle and Hum at the Chinese theater. We sat directly in front of the band during the film and ended up at the after party with U2 and all these other rock legends. Yes, these memories have sustained me during times when Little Bit won't eat or throws a tantrum. :-)
The kiss, Laurie. We want to know about the kiss!
Yes, Laurie. Mr. Earl is right - tell us about the Kiss!
Good comment about the different communities of Los Angeles. People that don't understand LA see it as one huge city that's very intimidating. In reality, it is a series of small neighborhoods with very distinct communities. I don't mean separate cities like South Pasadena, but within Los Angeles proper are hundreds of neighborhoods, all unique. Not all are desireable, but if you realize that greater Los Angeles is made of many small towns and neighborhoods all connected by common borders, it's easier to appreciate the diversity and uniqueness of this large metropolis.
Come on, girl. Tell 'em the kiss story!!!
I'm thinking of "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." I totally get U2 and I'm almost old HA!
Now children, don't pester Mommy about the old days. Actually, the kiss was all very innocent. The more interesting story of the night involved my friend following George Harrison into the bathroom just to say that he'd shared a urinal with a former Beatle. Hee!
Welcome Richard!
I just watched the concert on YouTube. Can I just say how much I love the internet???
And love to all of you. Catch up with you tomorrow.
No such thing as a former Beatle. Once a Beatle, always a Beatle.
I did watch most of the U2 concert.
I get where you're coming from about posting the experience and not just what's inside South Pas borders, Laurie. I post things that touch Pasadena's borders but aren't exactly inside Pasadena. We're so interrelated it's downright inaccurate not to include these bits of our fringe.
Besides, you could probably hear the concert from South Pas last night.
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