Haute Highlights
Festival of California Poets
Writers, poets and all lovers of the arts, for that matter, have a lot to look forward to this weekend at the Festival of California Poets at the Hammer Museum.
The Hammer Museum, Poetry Society of America and PEN Center USA will present this fifth annual event. This year’s festivities will feature readings by prestigious and honored poets such as Maxine Hong Kingston on Lucille Clifton, Suzanne Lummis on Nora May French and James Ragan on Denise Levertov, with a Q&A to follow.
As if our very own California poets, exploring their homeland through their craft, are not enticing enough, tickets are free, a beautiful thing for the broke college student — balancing out the expense for “The Lord of the Rings In Concert” ticket. Mark your calendar — this epic literary event will be held Friday at 7 p.m.
Foo Fighters
It’s finally here: Foo Fighters are back in Los Angeles and back with a vengeance.
This energetic, iconic, riotous rock band will be performing full force at its upcoming shows put on by KROQ at The Forum on Thursday and Friday.
Frontman Dave Grohl is sure to get the crowd going with his frenetic energy and matching instrumentals will stir up a wild, crazy night, particularly with classics like “Best of You” and “Times like These.”
As an added bonus, up-and-comers Mariachi El Bronx and Cage the Elephant, think “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked,” will open this musical spectacle.
Tickets range from about $20 to $60 but are in limited supply so be sure to reconnect with your good friend Ticketmaster or your ticketing outlet of choice.
One thing is certain: The show is sure to leave you thinking, as the band’s hit “Everlong” so beautifully puts it, If everything could ever feel this real forever / If anything could ever be this good again.
Be sure to get your tickets as soon as possible and get in on these good feelings.
Lord of the Rings concert
Saturday marks an epic musical and theatrical hybrid event.
From Peter Jackson’s critically and popularly acclaimed The Lord of the Rings series, the very movies that made an astounding feat during awards season by taking home four Oscars among many other awards, comes The Lord of the Rings In Concert: The Fellowship of the Ring.
Fans, rejoice, as this is your opportunity to relive the splendor of one of the best trilogies of all time on the big screen once again. Not quite on the bandwagon? There’s no better way to fall in love with this mythical adventure than with a live orchestra to heighten the mood and suspense.
This spectacular event will take place at the Anaheim Honda Center with tickets starting at $42.50, including service fees. Though this might seem like a hefty price for the college students, nothing compares to experiencing the epic journey of Frodo, Gandalf, Samwise the Brave, Aragorn, Legolas and so forth, with a live orchestra to accompany.
You shall not pass — up this wonderful opportunity.
Los Angeles Haunted Hayride
Let the Halloween countdown continue!
Griffith Park houses the Los Angeles Haunted Hayride, an exploration into the violent nightmares of the Clifton Twins, daughters of the zookeeper Ferdinand Clifton.
As if the premise were not creepy enough, the idea is based on the emotionally disturbing journals of the twins, which recorded the eerie nightmares caused by their sleep disorders.
Scares range from the Haunted Hayride through the woods containing “15-foot mascots of death” and “400-year-old children,” the terrifying monsters hidden in a sea of darkness in The In Between maze and The Human Menagerie featuring black magic and psychics.
Tickets start at $25 and the events go through the pinnacle of the season: Halloween night itself. Be sure to make it in time for a night of thrills.