Hollywood Bowl

The Hollywood Bowl has been operating as an outdoor amphitheatre in the hills above Hollywood since 1922, its distinctive shell-shaped bandshell and terraced hillside seating making it one of the most recognisable music venues in the world. The Bowl hosts the Los Angeles Philharmonic as its primary tenant but has functioned equally as a rock and popular music venue throughout its history — a fact that gives it an unusual double identity as both a cultural institution and a site of significant rock history.

The Beatles performed at the Hollywood Bowl on August 23, 1964, and returned for two nights on August 29 and 30, 1965. The 1964 and 1965 shows were recorded by Capitol Records engineers; the tapes sat in the Capitol vaults for over a decade before being released as The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl in 1977. The recording captures something the studio albums couldn't: the sound of the band attempting to perform over the sustained roar of 18,000 screaming people, the music and the noise indistinguishable from each other. It was the first official live Beatles album. Jimi Hendrix played the Bowl. Doors. Janis Joplin played here in 1969 in what was considered one of her greatest live performances.

The Bowl seats around 17,000 people across its terraced hillside, from close box seats to the upper lawn where audiences spread blankets and bring their own food. The sight lines are extraordinary and the acoustic design — refined over multiple renovations — still delivers sound to the back of the hill with unusual clarity. It is one of the very few outdoor venues in America where the setting itself has become part of the artistic experience.