Quentin Tarantino and others take in opening night of the Hollywood Bowl's new season

LATimes.com

Never mind what the calendar tells us about the seasons. In this city, according to Los Angeles Philharmonic Assn. Board Chairman Jay Rasulo, summer starts on opening night at the Hollywood Bowl.

“It’s truly the official start of summer in Los Angeles,” Rasulo said, adding, “other than that, it’s a wonderful night for music education.” A fundraiser for the L.A. Phil’s education and community programs, the Moody Blues concert Saturday celebrated the 50th anniversary of the rock band’s groundbreaking album, “Days of Future Passed.” The evening also commemorated the 10th anniversary of the Youth Orchestra Los Angeles and raised $1.5 million. Seated in his front-row box, director and screenwriter Quentin Tarantino said that he’d been to the Hollywood Bowl four or fives times before and that this time he’d come to see the Moody Blues and because “ is a fun event.” There too were Los Angeles County board supervisors Kathryn Barger, Janice Hahn and Hilda Solis and Los Angeles City Councilman David Ryu. Title sponsor Kaiser Permanente was represented by Greg Adams and Julie Miller-Phipps, while Teena Hostovich, Doug Martinet and Michael Martinet served as gala co-chairs. VIP guests mingled over cocktails and hors d’oeuvres on the Hollywood Bowl’s Box Office Terrace (above the newly renovated Main Plaza), before adjourning to their tables for dinner. In keeping with the Bowl’s tradition of elegant dining, guests enjoyed Moroccan chicken tagine on tables covered in linens, topped by centerpieces of rosemary, mint or lavender plants. As the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra’s Thomas Wilkins conducted Peter Boyer’s “Silver Fanfare,” the big screens facing the audience showed off 17 years of opening nights with clips of Reba McEntire, John Legend, Josh Groban, Jack Black, Kristin Chenoweth, Liza Minnelli, Plácido Domingo, John Williams and other past headliners. Members of the YOLA All-Stars then performed Shostakovich’s “Festive Overture” with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, followed by a set of Moody Blues hits, including “Say It With Love,” from what lead singer Justin Hayward jokingly called the “pretentiously named” album “Keys of the Kingdom.” After intermission, the band performed its entire “Days of Future Passed” album, accompanied by the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, and at evening’s end, by a dazzling display of fireworks. “What’s really cool about the Moody Blues,” said Wilkins, “is that those guys get it,” meaning an understanding of music education as a “gift that can be life-altering … the endeavor to give a voice through music …” He later added, “We have to be in the business of painting doors onto brick walls, and that’s what YOLA is all about.” Said Hayward, “It’s a special night for us because it’s the first time we’ll be doing our very first album, ‘Days of Future Passed,’ live in such esteemed company with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and the fabulous, gorgeous Thomas Wilkins.”