Watch: BACK TO THE FUTURE Live in Concert at the Hollywood Bowl
Last night, I attended a 30th anniversary screening of Back to the Future at the Hollywood Bowl. But this wasn't just a normal screening: co-writer Bob Gale was on hand to introduce the movie, and pointed out that, at just under 17,000 people, this was the largest crowd ever to see the film. He brought out a few members of the cast and crew (including Christopher Lloyd!), and I got his intro on video for you to watch below:
Much like The Lord of the Rings in Concert, the movie played out on the big screen with the original dialogue, sound effects, and soundtrack ("The Power of Love," etc.), but Alan Silvestri's score was performed live by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by David Newman. Silvestri wrote 20 minutes of new music for the film, which was peppered in during scenes where there wasn't any music before. (Some of which sounded familiar, like Doc and Clara's love theme from Back to the Future Part III during an early dinner scene with Marty's family.)
It was so cool to hear a live orchestra perform this classic score, and I got a few pieces of video from the event that will give you a sense of what it was like to be there in person:
I also heard there were multiple DeLoreans staged at various places around the Bowl, but I only saw this one (complete with "Einstein" in the passenger seat):
One of the big things I noticed that was different from the version I watch on Blu-ray at home is that the movie didn't end with Huey Lewis' "Back in Time" and the "To Be Continued" tag. (Some of you may know that the film wasn't originally intended to be given a sequel, so that tag was added for the home video release.) The music that played over the film's closing credits last night were some of Silvestri's new compositions. When the orchestra came back from the intermission, they also played a small segment of the western theme from Back to the Future Part III, so that was an unexpected surprise and very cool to hear.
Since 2015 is a big year in Back to the Future lore, it's going to be a big year for events and performances of the film itself. The show is going to be touring around the country, and I'd highly suggest checking it out if it's coming to a city near you. But I know there are other big things planned for the movie in October, around the anniversary of the date Marty McFly travels to the future, including a Secret Cinema event here in Los Angeles that I'm hoping to attend. So stay tuned for more awesome Back to the Future-related stuff in the coming months.