Where backbeat meets downbeat
IT all started with Zappa and Zubin in 1970, when the L.A. Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta joined forces with rock iconoclast Frank Zappa in a concert at Pauley Pavilion. Since then it’s become common for the orchestra to accompany pop artists, especially during the Hollywood Bowl season, where participants in the last few years have included Willie Nelson, k.d. lang and Natalie Cole.
The tradition continues in 2007, but with a notable difference. Instead of a mainstream, adult pop artist, the Phil’s partner on July 7 is the Decemberists, a relatively obscure band from Portland, Ore., with an avid following in the college-age indie-rock scene.
It might be an effort to bring a new audience under the stars (the orchestra will court the same demographic when it trades licks with the acclaimed Bright Eyes on Sept. 29), but it’s also a potentially perfect musical match, since the Decemberists create quirkily anachronistic music rooted in the narrative tradition of ancient ballads and sea chanteys.
*
The Decemberists join the L.A.
Philharmonic at 7:30 p.m. July 7, Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood. (323) 850-2000,
hollywoodbowl.com.
The biggest entertainment stories
Get our big stories about Hollywood, film, television, music, arts, culture and more right in your inbox as soon as they publish.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
