Out of failure, we plant the seeds of future success if we learn from them.
My first experience with the Hollywood Bowl was attending the Cyndi Lauper concert last summer. I am a transplant from Northern California and had heard what an amazing venue The Bowl to see a concert. This knowledge did not even remotely prepare me for the experience.
From the picnic facilities to the amazing seats, to the stress-free shuttle bus, it was a night to remember. I didn’t have the temerity to ask how much the tickets were, but I can imagine they were a pretty high stack of pennies for the Cyndy Lauper tickets. Regardless, it was an amazing concert with very special guests Sza, John Legend, Joni Mitchell and Cher making guest appearances throughout the night to honor Lauper’s last concert, on her last tour. It was perhaps the best concert I’ve seen in my entire life.
But this isn’t about the high of that moment. The thought came to me that even a student, struggling from paycheck to paycheck can experience this amazing and iconic Southern California venue.
Instagram is a pastime, a guilty indulgence I partake of more than I would like to admit. My food, gardening and entertainment lifestyle scrollings took me through something that immediately caught my eye: Hollywood Bowl tickets for $1. After my good friend and I had such a wonderful time at the Cyndy Lauper concert, I was amazed that any ticket would go for that insanely low price. I heard that the Hollywood Bowl was fairly close to a Metro rail station, but how close and convenient was open to speculation. I wanted to experience the Hollywood Bowl as inexpensively as possible, so utilizing Metro public transit was definitely part of the plan. The Metro, due to its gritty nature was a deal breaker for my friend. Fine. I will go myself. I am sure the music will be wonderful.
Admittedly, it’s not every concert that has $1 tickets. Options are limited to a select few and the seats are what could generously be called the binocular seats, but $1 to see a show at the Hollywood Bowl!? What a deal.
I chose Marquez’s Fandango & Shostakovich’s Fifth on Sep. 22, 2025, and Dvorak & Marsalis on Sept. 9, 2025. There were others, but these looked great and were compatible with my work schedule. Coming off the high of having seen Cyndy Lauper that Saturday night, I was stoked to see these concerts, to say the least.
Unfortunately, we are often our own worst enemies. I did not properly calculate the amount of time needed to get to the Hollywood/Highland station on the Metro B line, so I missed the shuttle to the Hollywood Bowl and thus, the concert. Wah… wah … wahhh. Epic fail.
As referenced at the beginning, through our failures we learn valuable lessons. For the Sept. 9 concert, I allocated plenty of time for the long trip to the Hollywood/Highland Station. My trip began at 4:47 p.m. at the Citrus station in Azusa — now known as the A Line. A transfer would be necessary to the Hollywood B line at Union Station. I am fairly familiar with the Metro rail system so I felt fairly confident I could navigate this portion of the trip.
A culinary kryptonite of mine is Wetzel’s Pretzels. I had to pass by a Wetzel’s concessionaire to get to the Red line, oh sorry, the B line … why did they change it? Anyway, I got my pretzel. Same order every time: simple salted with extra brown mustard. I tucked it into my backpack and was off to the B line. The B line to Hollywood is in the deepest bowels of the Metro rail system. The cars on the B line are some of the oldest and funkiest in the system. Seems appropriate, as it’s headed towards Hollywood.
After a short wait of about 10 minutes, I boarded the B line for the 23 minute ride to the Hollywood/Highland. True to the schedule, I got there fairly quickly. I emerged from the Hollywood/Highland station into the daylight, which was good because finding the shuttle pickup point in front of the Ovation mall can be slightly confusing. It was even more confusing given that my path was blocked by some sort of premiere going on. Didn’t stop to find out which one, sorry, I was on a timeline. Fortunately, a very nice and helpful security guard directed me through the mall to the Hollywood Bowl shuttle pickup point. Success! I saw the lumbering coaches that would deliver me to my destination. I climbed aboard and settled into my seat for the long mile journey to the bowl. Yes, it was only a mile. I probably could have walked it fairly easily, but the shuttle was free, and I was there for the experience.
That’s right, the entire trip was free because I am a student at Mt. SAC and I have a registered GoPass sticker on my student ID. The GoPass is one of the most valuable resources available to Mt. SAC students. All you need is the willingness to take Southern California public transportation.
Based upon my notes and my screen grabs from my phone, I stepped off the shuttle onto HB grounds at 6:45 p.m. Not the quickest trip into Hollywood, but certainly one of the easiest and cheapest. This is particularly true given that parking spots at the Hollywood Bowl are almost $50.
As I had over an hour to kill before the 8 p.m. show, I explored the grounds more extensively than I had the first time there. Of particular interest was the program that enabled the Hollywood Bowl to sell tickets for just $1. In spite of repeated attempts contact the press office, they never got back to me regarding further background information about the program. The personnel at the Hollywood Bowl, while very polite and courteous, referred me to the press relations department. Oh well.
With some time to spend, I went to the free Hollywood Bowl museum that showed the different stages of the construction of the venue. The site was selected because of the concave meadow that enhances the natural acoustics of the space. The venue is owned by the County of Los Angeles and is part of the Los Angeles County park system. According to Rolling Stone magazine, it is one of the 10 best live music venues in all the United States.
What is the show itself? The pieces of music were the Dvorak Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104. As well as an original composition by Wynton Marsalis. While I am not qualified as a music critic, Alisa Weilerstein exuded so much passion in her performance that it held the audience mesmerized and transfixed. It helped that four enormous monitors broadcast the subtlety and nuance of her performance. The passion shone through to even section S where I was sitting. The Marsalis piece was interesting and somewhat eclectic in nature, but not so much to be off-putting the way some modern classical compositions can be. Again, I am a listener, not a critic, but it piqued my interest enough to listen to it again.
The show ended at approximately 10 p.m. Now what? Back on the shuttle to get back to the Hollywood/Highland Metro station. This time, the shuttle was packed. Many had taken Metro and knew they needed to be inside the gates before midnight when the system closed.
The Metro after dark is a different beast. Unlike the daylight hours, when a rider feels relatively safe on a train, the darkness brings with it a wide cross-section of humanity. There’s always the possibility of interacting with people who are inebriated on a wide array of intoxicants. Riders of public transit need to be aware of their surroundings at all times to maintain their own safety. It’s not that the Metro is dangerous. It simply feels like it could be dangerous and this is only elevated at night.
In fact, while I was on the B line, there was a loud individual with a 40-oz and a bicycle giving Metro security grief. Fortunately, security was there to talk him down from his level of agitation. Again, it bears repeating, Metro has a gritty and edgy reputation. You never know what sort of crazy is getting on at the next stop. Fortunately, I made it back to Citrus by midnight, in one piece I might add.
I must apologize at this time because although I enjoyed myself at the Hollywood Bowl’s discount ticket night, the 2025 season is over.
Would I do it again? Absolutely, but I would go with a larger group and pack a bigger picnic than just a pretzel and a bottle of water. There’s strength in numbers.
