Maestro of the Movies: Celebrating John Williams at 90 (2022)

MAESTRO OF THE MOVIES: CELEBRATING JOHN WILLIAMS AT 90
Music composed and conducted by John Williams
Guest conductor: David Newman
Performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra
Violin solos by Bing Wang
September 3, 2022
Hollywood Bowl
Los Angeles, USA

(this report was originally written on September 4, 2022 – just after the concert)

PART 1: DREAMS COME TRUE

After three painfully unsuccessful attempts, I can now proudly and loudly proclaim that I have just seen John Williams – the GOAT of film music – conducting live in concert.

The first time I was set to see John Williams (JW) was with the London Symphony Orchestra in 2018, but as many of JW’s European fans know, this was cancelled at the 11th hour due to Williams’ sudden illness before the concert.

The second and third times were for concerts scheduled (but cancelled) in the US during the early stages of the COVID pandemic – one at the Hollywood Bowl, and the other with the Pittsburg Symphony.

Either way, I had been pretty sure that my chances of seeing him live in concert were close to zero, but sheer determination and a new found love for the music of JW made me fly half way across the world to see him conduct live.

PART 2: NOT A JW FAN… IN THE BEGINNING

Despite being a soundtrack fan since the mid-90s, believe it or not, I was never actually much of a Williams fan. Blasphemy I know!

Sure, I enjoyed his most famous scores like STAR WARS, INDIANA JONES, and HARRY POTTER, but his music never really connected with me on an emotional level the way the music John Barry, my favorite composer, did.

Maybe because I’d heard his music for STAR WARS and INDIANA JONES so many times in commercials, shopping mall elevators, parody scenes in movies, and so on that I just couldn’t appreciate the true genius of his music. Perhaps if I’d been born a decade earlier and seen STAR WARS when it had premiered at cinemas, I would have been a hardcore JW fan much earlier.

In any case, the COVID pandemic and Japan’s self-imposed lockdowns changed everything.

PART 3: MY A-HA MOMENT

Extreme boredom and the need to temporarily escape from the stresses of having to take care of a 3-year-old child while trying to work remotely made me decide to digitize my entire 6000+ collection of CDs into FLAC format.

While digitizing my collection I decided to skip forward to my JW collection as I was making little progress in alphabetical order – it certainly didn’t help that I was going through scores for composers that I was less than enthused about.

Anyway, La-La Land Records’ expanded and remastered release of E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL was my latest score to be ripped to FLAC, and as is usual when I don’t have much time (in between the child tantrums, demands from the missus, etc.), I skipped to the last track, “Adventure on Earth,” looking forward to hearing a nice summary of the film’s major themes.

But what I got was more than just a “nice summary of the film’s major themes” – what I did get was 15 minutes of one of the greatest and most emotional finales ever written for film – no contest!

Starting with the foreboding opening, then following the kids as they are being chased by the police on their bikes, to the truly transcendent finale, I was absolutely floored by every second of the music.

I had listened to this piece a number of times before, but honestly had never given it the proper attention it deserved. What a fool I’d been!

JW’s music finally clicked for me, then suddenly all of that music I’d heard in commercials, shopping mall elevators, and so on took on a much deeper meaning. I could finally hear and understand the genius that was John Williams’ music.

I also came to realize that with only a few bars of music, JW could conjure up entire films in your mind’s eye – without his music, the films were just soulless moving images.

It was at this moment that I made up my mind that I would do everything I could to see JW conduct live. And, given his advanced age and health issues, I would do it ASAP.

PART 4: COVID AND TRAVEL

The only problem with my newly realized goal was that Japan was still pretty much closed off to the world due to the pandemic, meaning they weren’t really letting people in (or out) of the country unless they passed very strict medical related requirements.

At that time, you basically needed to present a negative rapid antigen test (RAT) result taken a maximum of 72 hours prior to entering Japan. I believe other countries had similar requirements but had ditched them months ago.

In any case, I researched where and how to get a RAT done around LAX, but found the process extremely time consuming, plus I wasn’t sure the test would be accepted by customs in Japan since they had very strict requirements about the form of the test results certificate, and so on.

So I hatched a rather crazy plan: I would leave Japan Friday evening, see the concert Saturday evening in the US, then fly back to Japan early the next day – all within the 72-hour timeframe without having the need to take a RAT in the US!

Crazy right? But according to the rules set by the government of Japan, I could do it. And so I did!

But I also had to ensure that I didn’t catch COVID because if I did, I would have been forced into hotel quarantine for days upon returning to Japan.

But this was JW, and what I thought would be one of my last chances to see him conduct live, so I took my opportunity and prayed I could return to Japan smoothly.

PART 5: GETTING LUCKY WITH TICKETS

I arrived in LA from Japan the day before the concert.

As I settled into my hotel room not far from the Hollywood Bowl, I checked the ticket website out of curiosity to see if the concert had sold out. To my surprise, I found that new tickets had become available (at face value) in the centre of the first row of the Garden Boxes! Needless to say, I snapped up a ticket right away.

I decided to donate the ticket I’d previously bought since I didn’t want the ticket to go to waste. To the person that got my ticket, I hope you enjoyed it 😊

PART 6: SEARCHING FOR “FILM COMPOSERS” ON HOLLYWOOD BOULEVARD

Despite suffering minor jetlag, I decided to do some sightseeing ahead of the concert.

After an hour browsing through the soundtrack section at Amoeba Hollywood, I took a stroll along Hollywood Boulevard hoping to find as many film composers as I could on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. These are the ones I could find:

I also looked for a nice place to sit down for a pre-concert dinner, but I didn’t want to stop at one of the many fast-food restaurants on Hollywood Boulevard.

As chance would have it, I stumbled upon this incredible Italian restaurant hidden away in a side street and had an amazing lasagne and local wine.

While I was there, I spotted a family in STAR WARS and JOHN WILLIAMS t-shirts who were no doubt going to the concert that night. Seeing that certainly lifted my anticipation for the night ahead!

PART 7: SEEING (MY MUSICAL) GOD

I was quite surprised when I got to the Hollywood Bowl as there were so many people there. And of course, nobody was masking except me and a handful of other people, so I did feel a bit self-conscious.

Before the concert started, I found one of the merch stands which already had a huge line of people. As I was concerned merch would sell out, I got in line and bought pretty much everything I could carry back to Japan – I did after all have to mark this momentous occasion!

In doing so, I missed the very start of the concert with David Newman conducting the opening “Tribute to the Film Composer” suite. Woops.

Anyway, I quickly found my seat in the first row of the Garden Boxes and braced myself for the night ahead.

As I sat enjoying the handful of pieces conducted by Newman, something started to draw my attention: the sound of crickets chirping in the background. As an open-air concert venue, I should have guessed that this was a given!

My annoyance quickly changed to pure ecstasy as JW finally walked out on stage to conduct his part of the concert. I just couldn’t believe that I was finally in the presence of John Williams, composer of the greatest film scores in history, himself.

I know that for most in the US, and especially LA, seeing John Williams in concert is not that difficult – but as someone that has spent half his life in Australia and half in Japan, I had never had the opportunity to see him, so seeing him conduct live for the very first time was very special indeed. I suppose it could be compared to how it’s like with Joe Hisaishi and his fans in Japan – we’ve seen him so many times as it is not difficult to get tickets to his many concerts here.

In any case, seeing John Williams conduct his own iconic music to such iconic films as STAR WARS, HARRY POTTER, SCHINDLER’S LIST, and INDIANA JONES was not only an incredible privilege, but also something that I will never forget for the rest of my life.

The “Theme” from SCHINDLER’S LIST was truly devastating in its raw emotional intensity… I’m sure I wasn’t the only one choking up to the anguished strains of the violin solos courtesy of the wonderfully talented Bing Wang.

The “Throne Room & Finale” from STAR WARS was mind-blowing in its power and execution, so much so that it had me “discretely” air conducting behind the seat in front of me! This of course happened while hundreds (or thousands?!) of others in the audience conducted along with their glowing lightsabers. It was truly a sight and experience to behold!

The night ended with a few encores, one of which was a surprise preview of the gorgeously romantic “Helena’s Theme,” the newest theme JW had written for the upcoming film, INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY.

PART 8: JOHN WILLIAMS, A CULTURAL ICON

As evidenced by the family of concert goers I saw earlier during the day in the restaurant, this whole experience made me realize how much of a cultural experience going to the Hollywood Bowl for “Maestro of the Movies” is, and how important a cultural icon JW is in the US.

People truly love John Williams and his music, and you’d be hard pressed finding anyone that cannot at least whistle a few bars of the STAR WARS theme. Or the INDIANA JONES theme. Or the SUPERMAN theme. Or the JAWS theme. Or the E.T. theme. Hell, just about any of the most iconic film themes from the last 40 years!

JW is truly unmatched in his appeal, popularity and talent, and I am so happy and fortunate that my introduction to JW conducting live was at the Hollywood Bowl’s “Maestro of the Movies,” an annual event that is synonymous with JW and the greatest music from the movies.

My only wish is that I can return to “the Bowl” to see John Williams conduct one more time while he is still healthy enough to do so.

If you still haven’t seen John Williams conduct his own music live, make it your first priority – I guarantee it will be one of the most amazing experiences of your life!

PART 9: OVER TO YOU

Did you also go to this concert? How did you like it?

And what did you think of my report? Feel free to comment below or reach out to me directly in the “Contact Me” section.