West Hollywood, California (Thursday, September 17, 2009) - A friend from college, whom I’d brought home to Thanksgiving dinner one year, remarked how it took all day, even all week, to prepare every dish we were eating, only to have the meal in a half hour, and be leaning back in our chairs. 
Ozzy Osbourne being fêted at the Sunset Strip Music Festival. Photo by Carlos Oropeza. WeHo News. |
There has to be something to be said for the preparation undertaken for the SSMF on Saturday, September 12. I can expect that a lot of people woke up Sunday morning with a load off their minds, and possibly a sore shoulder or two.
For starters, on such a perfectly crisp, and not-too-hot Saturday, walking West from the House of Blues, I’ll have to admit it was normal to see traffic building up.
Walking past the Sunset Plaza, the restaurants had business, and there was a relaxed atmosphere as most of the people on the sidewalks were headed west, too. Rounding the street toward Book Soup was almost surreal.
We’re all used to events, living in LA and West Hollywood, but the Strip on Saturday was turned into an island, where clouds and sun bounced off each other and the 9000 building.
Photo by Carlos Oropeza. WeHo News. |
The huge likeness of Ozzy Osborne looked over the street, commemorating his contribution to the Sunset Strip.
I immediately noticed two things about where the festival was actually placed. One was that the surrounding bars, restaurants, and coffee shops were full of people.
People were able to hear a favorite band, and go off and sit at the plaza for a bite or a drink, and then stroll back to hear the next one on their list. There were plenty of people inside the gates, too, taking in sounds one after the other, and walking in and out of the clubs.
The festival extended beyond the borders of the gates, and there was a very unhurried nature to it all.
Photo by Carlos Oropeza. WeHo News. |
It was almost ingenious to have high priced beers inside the gates, because it spread the crowd out to where there were drink specials; back into the neighborhood and clubs, so everyone got a piece of the pie.
To the SSMF’s credit, and as it should be, local residents most affected by the traffic and street closure were given passes to the event. It was the endeavor to bring out the community to listen and shop, and it did look to me that there was a representational mix of the city’s demographic.
Sure there were a lot of younger people in the street, but the neighborhood was out in the sidewalk cafes, too. If you’ve ever been to SXSW, what is noticeable is how many people are in rock and roll garb, and black jeans, and here the crowd seemed less genre-specific.
The residents weren’t in the background, they were the crowd.
Then there were the great sound systems. There was a stage at Doheny and one at San Vicente. The geography worked for the sound such that when you were at one stage, any sound coming from the other didn’t really intersect.
Photo by Carlos Oropeza. WeHo News. |
The lower stage at Larrabee shot it’s sound into the hill, focused west, and the upper stage’s sound waves headed straight into the air to the east. There’s almost no other section of street to host the closure, except between the Whisky and the Key, so the serendipity of the layout was great.
Each stage’s sound was very well proportioned, I thought, and the sound engineers did a fantastic job. When you’re not inside a small club, the sound can’t keep bouncing back and forth, and it has a place to go, and it made each band sound great.
Inside the clubs the bands came and went, and there were names, known and less than known, and the songs were great. I think that as the festival grows, we’ll see a larger and more diverse roster, but I wasn’t missing any great music. Personal favorites were Shiny Toy Guns, The Pricks, The Irish Goodbye, LMFAO, of course Korn, and Ozzy.
Without diminishing any other band’s impact on the Festival, it was a very cool, mostly young, and very energetic crowd that ended the outdoor experience of Saturday with gathering around Ozzy.
Photo by Carlos Oropeza. WeHo News. |
N. Weatherly Drive provided almost a stadium atmosphere, as the steepness of its hill let everyone see the stage. I looked up at Bank Of Americas roof parking, and pinpointed one of my vantage points for next year (don’t tell anyone).
Ozzy was fun, energetic, and Ozzy. You could see the excitement in his face, as he played in his own backyard, and he blew us away with favorites as if they were new. Not surprisingly, many people in their 20’s wandered around singing every word.
Everyone was pretty orderly, and the set was well lit, and I found myself feeling a part of history. I missed Ozzy on the strip the first time, I sure as heck wasn’t going to miss this one.
I’m sure if you ask anyone in charge of SSMF, there were bugs to be worked out here and there. But I thought that the timing of the bands worked well, and the crowds in the clubs were having fun, and someone’s only problem was figuring out which band to see.
Photo by Carlos Oropeza. WeHo News. |
Whatever glitches happened, from the neighbors to the vendors, the undertaking to pull off such an event is amazing in it’s scope.
There is no way it could have been pulled off without the clubs coming together, the neighbors, the city, and let’s not forget the Firefighters and the help of the Sheriff’s Department. The staff of the event itself was helpful, worked hard, and it seemed they were having as much fun hearing great music as the rest of us.
Pulling together such an event could never have meant as much without Ozzy. I almost felt sorry that I missed being part of the crowd that closed Sunset Blvd off, just by standing in it, when he played those five nights a few choice decades ago.
The only difference last Saturday was that they saw him coming. He’s got a unique tie to the Strip. It’s befitting he was honored with the first Elmer Valentine award, because he’s helped resurrect the future, the way Mr. V and Mr. M, and Mr. A did, and he’s reinforced the Strip as a world-class stage.
As far as I’m concerned, the Sun set over Ozzy that night, and the Prince of Darkness shined.
Sean Patrick is a blogger, musician and WeHo News’ Sunset Strip reporter. Catch his blog at www.SeanPatrick.us.
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