we weren’t the only ones dancing in the aisles, that was for sure. to the right, a gaggle of gown-or-blazer-wearing yuppies, dancing with their glasses of champers, bouncing like they’re at a wedding reception or company christmas party. to the left, a silver-haired couple getting jiggy with it, sorta samba dancing. behind us, the filled-to-17,000-person-capacity hollywood bowl. in front of us, only 60 feet away, were the basement jaxx, replete with their diva singers, and a couple of bingo bango apes running around on stage. above us, a pink los angeles the-smog-makes-it-beautiful post-sunset sky.

hands-down one of the best concerts i’d ever been to, and a brilliant evening overall. started the afternoon with some sunny flirting at silverlake‘s sleaziest beer bust, at the faultline. christopher introduced me to his myriad of bear and non-bear friends. christopher seduced a gent from australia, eric a lovely columbian lad. after devouring too much lite beer, gross porn and scorching sunshine, we escaped, unscathed.

picnicked outside the hollywood bowl, enjoying some sushi and sandwiches and framboise and champagne and chatting with fellow concert-goers. as the sun set, and we started to get a bit boozy, we put our shoes back on and went inside, neither of us expecting to have such amazing seats—pretty much 3 rows of tables back from the stage.

settling into our seats, i almost wanted to slouch down to make sure the 17,000 people behind me could see—our seats were that good. röyksopp had already started their set, and i could not believe the intensity, the sheer funkiness to which they were rocking out. i had only known them from their ethereal songs eple, poor leno and remind me, and was expecting some sort of chilled-out air-like performance to—you know—make out with christopher to. the röyksopp boys impressed, with danced-up versions of the aforementioned early hits, but a slalom of harder, edgier tracks off their new album. check out circuit breaker, 49 percent, follow my ruin and beautiful day without you to see what i’m talking about.

we were in the expensive seats section, and as such we had champagne at the table, and all around us were older couples, many in their 50s and 60s. only in l.a. could you get your freak on with some senior citizens to some funky röyksopp and harder basement jaxx, outdoors on a perfect summer evening.

by the time the jaxx came out, i was euphorically giddy, gingerly touching knees with my dear friend and long-lost ex christopher. the sound system at the hollywood bowl was so loud, my vision was blurring with the basslines for good luck, which made it even better. the whole amphitheater was bouncing to oh my gosh, sambaing to do your thing… the hits just kept bombarding us. we retreated back to our table after slamdancing to renedez vu, lucky star, bingo bango, where’s your head at, plug it in, romeo and god knows what else.

it’s silly, of course, that i waited to see brixton’s finest in hollywood, when i could’ve seen them perform monthly, just a short stroll down the road from where i lived in vauxhall. but, maybe i’m just getting old, it seemed more enjoyable with a bunch of yuppies than a bunch of lager louts at the academy.