Katy Perry at the Wiltern

Waiting outside the Wiltern Theatre last night for Tammy to arrive, I was more than a little worried. The Katy Perry concert was her idea, and I was starting to doubt the wisdom of my attendance. First off, I would not call myself a Katy Perry "fan." I like her songs "I Kissed a Girl" and "Hot & Cold" well enough, but otherwise haven't really checked out any of her music. The crowd I was watching file into the theater was mostly female, under 21, and all dressed like thrift store versions of Madonna in her corset and spandex dance gear phase. I felt like someones mother! But Tammy hasn't steered me wrong on music choices yet, and I'd never been to a show at the Wiltern, so I decided to hang in there and give it a shot. Boy, was I glad I did.

First off, the theater. The Wiltern is a very cool Art Deco building located in the Koreatown neighborhood of Los Angeles. It was originally built in 1931 as a Vaudeville theater, and variously used over the years as a movie theater and concert hall. The interior has been renovated from the original 2,400 seat set-up to accommodate standing room audiences on the main floor, with more traditional seating on the upper levels. The walls and ceiling still have a lot of the original architectural details. Here's a shot I took of the ceiling.



If you want to explore more about the history of the Wiltern, here's a link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiltern_Theatre

As for the show itself, I was pleasantly surprised. For starters, the opening act was great. The Daylights are an LA-based band, currently unsigned, that sound a little bit like U2 when they were starting out. Here's a link to their website (http://www.myspace.com/thedaylights), as well as a video of one of their numbers from the show (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLIkLjKVBaE). Check them out if you can!

Now on to Katie. She was great! Terrific energy, strong voice, even plays a little guitar. She writes her own songs (which I did not know), and they were all actually good. And anyone who throws in a little cover of The Outfield's "Your Love" for the moms in the audience is OK by me. Here's a photo of her really cool stage set, complete with inflatable fruit!



And here's a link to my video of Katy performance of "Hot & Cold."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EJbMxnpb8A

You can also link directly to my YouTube site from the video bar on the left side of my blog page.

After the show, Tammy and I were starving since neither one of us was smart enough to remember to eat before the show. Our favorite Mexican restaurant down the street was already closing, so we went to every concert-goers late night stomping ground...Denny's! And who was on the cover of their new "Rock Star" menu but Katy herself!



"Moons Over My Hammy" is always the perfect end to a great night.