Monday, August 31, 1998
Sun to set on Santa Monica’s famed Twilight Dance concerts
ON-CAMPUS: Growing from benefit for Save the Pier Week, festival
continues to draw big audiences
By Stacy Sare
Daily Bruin Contributor
Rollerbladers, bikers, pedestrians and motorists totaling in the
thousands will come to the Santa Monica Pier’s final Twilight Dance
Series Concert of the summer season this Thursday night.
Students who want to beat the inland heat of Westwood while
listening to international mixed music, playing skeeball or just
hanging out can relax on the pier before gearing up for the fall
quarter.
The concert series, produced by Kramer, Heller and King, (Ken
Heller is advisor of UCLA student programming) rocks back more than
a decade to an event called Save the Pier Week.
The live concerts, originally featuring an all-day, all-star
celebrity show, with artists such as Christie McVie and Ry Cooder,
was created after the 1983 El Nino storm destroyed 50 feet of the
pier.
Soon the newly formed Arts Commission, among many other groups,
saw that the pier was destined to be a concert venue.
Catherine King recalled her first year working on the series
before it became an open air concert.
"It took place in a large circus tent that fit 300 people and a
stage. In a couple of years it outgrew that tent," King said. "A
couple of thousand people inside and outside the tent was all it
could really handle and the concerts at that point were drawing
thousands."
Now these colossal concerts, hosting a variety of national
recording artists, draw a crowd ranging between 5,000 and 15,000.
King said the series received its biggest splash this year.
King admitted it wasn’t easy to book the bands with only 10
specific nights to fill in the summer.
"I try to get the best touring acts that I can afford that fall
into a broad spectrum with a little something for everyone," King
said. "It’s not like a club when a band can say, ‘Hey, well, we
can’t come in October, can you book us in May.’"
Despite the salty circumstances, limited budget and fierce
competition with venues like the House of Blues and The Greek
Theater, which can pay more for the acts, spectators are still
coming to the shows in droves.
Audience member Greg Krentzman explained why he has rarely
missed a show in five years.
"They get the top notch bands, and it’s usually beautiful
weather," Krentzman said.
"You always get the melting pot of people out on the pier, so
it’s always spectators’ delight," Krentzman said. "It’s always fun
to bump into people, familiar faces."
Krentzman also appreciated the milieu of the audience.
"People are dancing, barbecuing and bringing their beach chairs.
It’s a very open, friendly, eclectic environment which makes for a
good Thursday evening," he said.
Some people prefer to stay clear of the crowd. Romantic couples
and intimate groups that want to get a closer look at the waves are
usually seen opening beach chairs and spreading out blankets on the
sand below.
Some of the acts featured this season were multiple-Grammy
nominated jazz trumpet player Maynard Ferguson with his Big Bop
Nouveau Band, 35-year rock ‘n’ roll veteran Bo Diddley, and hot
Celtic rock group The Young Dubliners, who recently sold out 20
consecutive shows at The House of Blues.
The final show on Sept. 3 introduces East L.A. band Ozomatli
performing music ranging from hip hop and salsa to ska, funk and
jazz.
Through 14 years in progress, the Santa Monica Pier Twilight
Dance Series continues to create a wave of excitement for
west-siders.BAHMAN FARAHDEL/Daily Bruin
The Young Dubliners play during the Twilight Concert Series at
the Santa Monica Pier. The summer concerts are held every Thursday
night.