Jazz Festival

Last Saturday I had to work and K was home working on the yard. The Girl had been invited to go to Palm Springs with a friend, and had left on Friday. Suddenly we were childless again!

While I was at work, K called to say that our friend McNeal had called and said he had 2 extra tickets to the Playboy Jazz Festival. Did I want to go? For free?

Hell yes I want to go! I've never been to the Jazz Festival because it's always seemed too expensive or too hard to get tickets. But then I've never really tried. I love going to the Bowl, tho.

It was the best day. After I got home we went for a swim, and then got ready to go. We took something to drink and bought a Subway footlong on the way. We decided to drive to the LA Zoo shuttle, as parking would probably be jammed at the Bowl. It was surprisingly easy to find, and only cost $3 round trip.

The bus started to load up, and I was surprised at the amount of stuff people were lugging. The guy sitting in front of us had a big suitcase made of wicker, many people had big coolers, and lots of people were wheeling backpacks and suitcases - I guess filled with food. It's like they were taking enough food and drink for a week! Also, one lady had a big comforter, still in it's store packaging.

Another thing I noticed is that most people were very well dressed and looked affluent. The bus loaded up, and pretty soon it drove us to the Bowl. We got our tickets and went to find our seats. Luckily, the K section was first to get shade, and by the time we got there (it started at 2pm I think) we were comfortable in a nice shade.

Everybody there had lots of good drinks already mixed, and had also brought food. We had food too, but felt a little bad as a sub is kindof hard to share. We didn't plan ahead like everyone else, who seem to come every year. They had jello shots and fried chicken and a vegetable platter and everything. Two girls were drinking pomagranite juice with Cristal.

The jazz was really great to listen to. The back section started a few waves of beach balls bouncing through the air, but Security intercepted them by the time they got to the bottom. Some people were into it, but some seemed annoyed by a ball suddenly dropping on them, or worse, their drink! Some thought it was disrespectful to the musicians.

We especially enjoyed R&R, Poncho Sanchez, Dr. John and the Lower 911, Al Jarreau, and Tower of Power. I didn't think Tower of Power had that many songs, but they went last and the place was really jamming at the end. Everyone was up and dancing.

I figured the busses back would be mobbed, but they were really close, easy to find, and fast! Not mobbed at all.

We'd been working really hard getting the house (and yard!) ready for our Boy's Graduation Party, so it was really nice to take the afternoon off and have a really enjoyable time with our friends. For free!

I think I want to go again next year.

I'm glad The Girl was invited somewhere else for the weekend, so that we could go...