The Hollywood Bowl, which is set to celebrate its centennial in less than a decade, is a place lodged so firmly in local imagination that it is best understood in smaller bites.
Us? We take those bites in terms of time. We have several favorite times at the Bowl -- that moment of true sunset, just before a concert. That moment when the band walks back on for an encore. That moment when you finally find your friend after failing to agree on a meeting spot.
But our very favorite Hollywood Bowl moment only happens once a year: 9:10 a.m. on the first Saturday in May. The first Saturday in May happens to be the traditionally observed date in which single tickets go on sale for the landmark's summer season.
The box office opens at 10 a.m., but people are milling around, queuing up, and feeling convivial. Hence the reason that 9:10 a.m. on that day is our favorite Hollywood Bowl time. You're hanging with other fans, coffee in hand, waiting to score some single-ticket action. It's a good moment.
That date is Saturday, May 4 this year, and if you don't think single-ticket buyers aren't serious, check this out: The parking lot opens at 7 a.m., and you can bet early birds'll be there tout suite. Five hundred wristbands get distributed at 8 a.m.
And other Hollywood Bowl times? Sunset and dinnertime and the encore? You're all swell, too, but you don't possess quite the anticipation of that first Saturday in May at the Bowl. The whole summer is still ahead, and there are those much-desired single tickets to purchase.
Yep. It's our favorite Bowl o'clock ever, that morning.
