1922: the LA Phil kicked off its first official season at the Hollywood Bowl, thereby establishing a tradition of making the amazing venue its summer home, every summer since. Alfred Hertz led the orchestra, which was established three years prior in 1919, in a program that included Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5, Brahms’ “Hungarian Dances,” a suite from Grieg’s “Peer Gynt” and closed with Rossini’s “William Tell Overture.” The program also noted there would be “Dancing immediately after the program under the auspices of the Valada Girls Club, Hollywood.”

Now, 89 years later - tonight, the LA Phil kicks off its 90th season at the Bowl with its Opening Night at the Bowl Concert – Thomas Wilkins leads the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra as Harry Connick, Jr. and Gloria Estefan are inducted in the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame, joining such Bowl luminaries as John Williams, Stevie Wonder, Joshua Bell and John Mauceri – and that’s only a list of the inductees playing this summer! Thanks for following along with the story of the Hollywood Bowl – don’t forget to share your own Bowl stories.

1993: After 28 years since his last visit in 1965, Paul McCartney returned to the Bowl to headline an Earth Day concert that also saw performances by The Steve Miller Band, 10,000 Maniacs, Don Henley, kd lang, Kenny Loggins and more. Noting that it had been some time since his last Bowl concert at the height of Beatlemania, McCartney quipped to the audience, “You look a bit different than the last time I was here.” Sir Paul returned in 2010 for his first solo show at the Bowl, wowing audiences with hits spanning 6 decades and his Beatles, Wings and solo careers.

2009: Nick Gould, an artist and video editor performing with the band Of Montreal, proposed to his girlfriend, keyboardist Dottie Alexander, onstage at the Bowl. Luckily for Nick, she accepted and the concert continued with a celebratory air – well, an even more celebratory air than before, since the Athens, Georgia band, known for its theatrics, was opening for the queen of flamboyant theatrics, disco diva Grace Jones.

1962: Composer and conductor Henry Mancini made his Bowl debut. Hot on the heels of taking home 2 Oscars for his music from the film "Breakfast at Tiffany's,"Mancini led the Hollywood Bowl 'Pops' Orchestra in selections from "Mr. Lucky," as well as his iconic theme from the TV show "Peter Gunn." Thereafter, Mancini appeared at the Bowl on s regular basis, and he was named to the Bowl Hall of Fame in 2004. Don't forget - two more worthy tunesmiths receive the same honor this coming Friday, when Harry Connick, Jr. and Gloria Estefan are inducted into the Hall of Fame as part of Opening Night at the Bowl!

2006: Kermit and Miss Piggy took the Bowl stage as part of “Fireworks Finale: John Mauceri and Friends,” which was also Mauceri’s last concert as Music Director of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. The spectacular concert also included standout performances by Kristin Chenoweth and the Joffrey Ballet, but certainly highlights of the evening included Kermit singing “(It’s Not Easy) Being Green,” as well as everyone’s favorite Muppet couple performing “I Got You, Babe” with Miss Piggy in a perfect imitation of one of Cher’s famously lavish outfits. Side note: Don’t Mauceri when he returns to lead the HBO in Walt Disney’s “Fantasia” on Aug. 19-21!

2010: Audubon International recognized the Bowl as a “Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary,” thus making it the first amphitheater in California and only the 58th property worldwide to receive the honor. The Bowl received the honor for “taking action to implement indoor and outdoor conservation projects and… commitment to the sustainable management of their natural resources.” And, in fact, the Bowl has dozens of species of native wildlife and birds as well as hundreds of native plants – so one could truly say that, for the Bowl, everything’s coming up green!

1978: Flugelhornist and jazz superstar Chuck Mangione recorded his double album "An Evening of Magic: Chuck Mangione Live at the Hollywood Bowl." Backed by the Chuck Mangione Quartet and a 70-piece orchestra, he opened with his hit "Feels So Good" and kept the crowd rapt until the encore -- which, incidentally, was also "Feels So Good." Bonus - fans of the smooth jazz genre can check out our "Smooth Summer Jazz" show on August 14 featuring Dave Koz, Bobby Caldwell, Sheila E, Spyro Gyra and more!

1992: British crooner Morrissey debuted at the Bowl, marking the beginning of his relationship with his adopted home. He returned to the Bowl to play a sold-out show in 2007, and that concert was recorded and filmed for eventual release as a companion DVD to a greatest hits collection. However, the famously prickly Morrissey disavowed the planned release, saying his label had not consulted him on it and thus he urged his loyal fans to "spend their money elsewhere."

1954: the 4th season opener of "The Colgate Comedy Hour" became the first TV show to be broadcast live from the Bowl! The show was hosted by Eddie Fisher (regular hosts Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis were unable to perform) and featured Miss Peggy Lee, Louis Armstrong and heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano, among others.

2006: Like, fer sure – the Bowl helped all the children of the 1980s reminisce, dance and sing along when the first-ever Totally 80s Hollywood Bowl concert was held. The show featured plenty of nostalgia, Wayfarers and neon, but most importantly, the show featured three iconic 80s bands – The Psychedelic Furs, who penned the hits “Pretty in Pink” and “Love My Way”; ABC, whose bits “The Look of Love” and “Be Near Me” hit #1 on the dance charts in the 80s; and The Human League, whose smash hits “Don’t You Want Me” and “(Keep Feeling) Fascination” will be back at the Bowl on 9/2 when they headline another Totally 80s Hollywood Bowl concert!

1971: The Carpenters, now featuring Karen on vocals and on A&M Records, headlined at the Bowl after seeing a string of success that began when their version of Burt Bacharach’s “Close to You” hit #1 on the charts a year earlier. The Carpenters were inducted into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame in 2010 and, though Karen passed away in 1983, the Opening Night at the Bowl featured Richard leading the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra in “For All We Know,” alongside a synched video of Karen singing.

1942: World War Two, especially on the West Coast, meant that the entire country was expected to do its part for the war effort, and #23 shows the Bowl was no different – in 1942, nighttime blackouts and gasoline rationing, among other factors, caused those who ran the Bowl to limit its audience size to 5,000 per concert. This was later raised to 10,000, but the programs for that year (and the duration of the war) were filled with patriotic ads and articles reminding Bowl patrons to conserve. The program also reminded everyone that concerts broadcast from the Bowl were favorites of soldiers, sailors and marines listening overseas.

1967: The LA Phil presented one of its first “rock shows” when Simon and Garfunkel took the stage as part of the regular “Friday Night ‘Extras’” series. The folk-rock troubadours, supported by The Lovin’ Spoonful, had played the Monterey Pop Festival earlier in the summer and were on the rise, but were still about 6 months away from their biggest successes to date; that is, the appearance of their music in “The Graduate.”

1934: A production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” directed by Max Reinhardt, requires moving the Bowl’s shell and moving around tons of earth to create a hill for the set. All the work paid off in the end though, as more than 100,000 people came to see the play, which starred Mickey Rooney, Sterling Holloway and Olivia de Haviland, over its run of 8 performances.

1949: Bugs Bunny visited the "acoustically poifect" Bowl in the Looney Tunes episode "Long-Haired Hare." In an effort to get back at a snooty opera singer, Bugs plays the Bowl's famous shell like a gong and dresses up as real-life conductor and Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra Music Director Leopold Stokowski for some classical music-related hi-jinks. Bugs has been back since, but he's always been on his best behavior.

1934: In yet another early Bowl milestone, Dr. Alfred Hertz, the "Father of the Hollywood Bowl," conducted his 100th concert at the Bowl. His fans and well-wishers presented Hertz with a cake provided by LA's own Helms Bakeries; the cake, of course, had 100 candles on it. Special bonus fact: Hertz's 100th concert included "Pines of Rome" by Ottorino Respighi, which is set to be performed this summer on Sept. 8 by the LA Phil and Bowl favorite Bramwell Tovey.

1966: Violinist Itzhak Perlman made his debut at the Bowl, playing Tchaikovsky's famous Violin Concerto. He later remarked “I have had a lot of experience playing outdoors, but nothing is as special or exciting as playing the Hollywood Bowl.” Get ready to get excited - you can get ready for some more of that special feeling when Perlman returns to the Bowl this summer after more than a decade away.

1971: And you can quote him -- in 1971, singer-songwriter James Taylor played at the Bowl for the first time, riding the success of his hit debut "Sweet Baby James," released the prior year. Looking back years later, he remarked “When you play the Hollywood Bowl, you have a feeling...that you are playing in a major place, a place that has a lot of weight and is an important part of musical history. You have a feeling of having arrived." Well said, James!

1973: Stevie Wonder, Mr. "Superstition" himself, debuted at the Bowl as part of the Newport Jazz Fest. Stevie's gone on to become one of the Bowl's most treasured performers and was inducted into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame in 2001.

1962: Movin' on up - the Bowl's two moving sidewalks were installed, each with a capacity to move up to 8,000 people per hour. These sidewalks, coupled with the just-introduced (in 1961) bus service that dropped patrons off right at the Bowl Box Office, became an integral part of the MTA's highly-touted "Seat to Seat Starliner Service."

1994: A Bowlful of firsts - Garth Brooks played the Hollywood Bowl for the first time and for the first time ever with an orchestra (the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra led by John Mauceri, to be exact). The July 14 benefit concert was part of "World Cup Week at the Hollywood Bowl" and raised around $1 million for a local charity -- and it sold out in 21 minutes, causing a longtime Bowl employee to remark that it was the longest line he'd seen since The Beatles played in '64 and '65.

1923: The first 150 boxes were built in the front seating area of the Bowl before the start of the second season. Until then, the only seats available were simple wooden benches that went for 25 cents each; prices have gone up some in the decades since, but fans of live music can still get tickets for $1 in 2011. Here's hoping everyone got the tickets

1953: On the final symphonic concert of the season, the Bowl hosted its 1000th concert, 32 years after hosting its first. The Sept. 3 program was led by guest conductor (and former LA Phil music director) Otto Klemperer and featured an all-Beethoven program, ending with the majestic 9th Symphony.

2007: Rufus Wainwright, in a tribute to Judy Garland, recreated the legendary singer's famous 1961 Bowl performance for a new generation of Garland and Bowl fans. Under a clear late September sky - no rain this time - Wainwright and guests belted out 31 songs in 2 acts and an encore, capturing the spirit and soul of Ms. Garland and her original performance while at the same time giving it a character that was undeniably Rufus.

1979: Dancin' at the Bowl - the now-legendary Mikhail Baryshnikov made his debut at the bowl, dancing with the New York City Ballet over three nights in August. Most memorably, he danced the lead in Stravinsky's "Apollo," with the original 1928 choreography by George Balanchine.

1928: The first recording was made on the Hollywood Bowl stage when conductor Eugene Goosens led "The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra" in a program that included Dvorák's "Carnival" Overture and a suite from Tchaikovsky's "Sleeping Beauty." The conductor noted in his 1951 autobiography that he heard the sound of a "low-flying aeroplane" during the Dvorák, but that it was hardly audible on the recording.

1970: In an effort to improve acoustics (both on stage and in the seats) at the Bowl, architect (and friend of the LA Phil) Frank Gehry and acoustician Christopher Jaffee installed "sonotubes" on and around the Bowl stage. The manufactured cardboard forms did the trick, but were a temporary solution and some complained that they took away from the look of the iconic Bowl shell. The sonotubes stayed in place for 10 years, when Gehry came up with another acoustical solution...

1969: Then-General Director of the Bowl (and Executive Director of the LA Phil) Ernest Fleischmann ushered in the now-hallowed tradition of Fireworks at the Bowl. The first program was led by Zubin Mehta and was, of course, a Tchaikovsky Spectacular that closed with - what else - the "1812 Overture.

1932: Democratic candidate Franklin Delano Roosevelt addressed a large crowd at the Bowl while campaigning for President. The future four-term President was introduced by Will Rogers, who once said "I am not a member of any organized political party - I am a Democrat."

1992: Virtuoso violinist and eventual Hollywood Bowl Hall-of-Famer Sarah Chang made her debut at the Bowl -- at age 11! She played Tchaikovsky's Concerto in D for Violin and Orchestra with the LA Phil and, by all accounts, played it beautifully.

1945: What's in a name? Conductor Leopold Stokowski founded the Hollywood Bowl Symphony, which lasted for two seasons. Auditions were held and several new musicians added, but the orchestra is really just the LA Phil re-named after its now-famous summer home. The orchestra made several well-known recordings under Stokowski (including Brahms' 1st Symphony) and pioneered the use of electronic amplification at the Bowl, but at the end of the 1946 season, the orchestra that played at the Bowl went back to being called, simply, the LA Phil. All clear?

1932: The ballet "Elysia" premiered at the Bowl, solidifying the Bowl's early reputation as a home for all the fine arts. It was commissioned in honor of the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics and choreographed by world-famous dancer Ernest Belcher, who founded a dance school in Southern California that turned out such well-known dancers as Fred Astaire, Shirley Temple and Cyd Charisse.

2005: On September 13, a Venezuelan conductor named Gustavo Dudamel made his U.S. debut at the Bowl. The then 24 year-old led the LA Phil in a program of Revueltas and Tchaikovsky and, judging by the way... things worked out, things went pretty well. Just over 4 years later, Gustavo took the Bowl stage again as the LA Phil's 10th Music Director in the ¡Bienvenido Gustavo! concert that kicked off a new era for the LA Phil and the Bowl. Bravo!

1925: Pianist, conductor and composer Ethel Leginska became the first woman to conduct a regular orchestral concert at the Bowl, just 3 years after the first season at the Bowl and only 5 years after women gained the right to vote in the U.S. The program included Beethoven's Symphony No. 7, Weber's Op. 11 Piano Concerto (with Leginska pulling double duty as conductor AND soloist) and her own composition for soprano and chamber orchestra, "Nursery Rhymes."

1968: One of the biggest local -- and national -- acts of the 1960s, The Doors, played their first and only show at the Bowl. The openers were Steppenwolf & the Chambers Brothers, and The Doors set was filmed and recorded for release as a concert film and live album. The album wasn't released until 1987, but you can still find "The Doors Live at the Hollywood Bowl."

1926: Understanding that the Bowl was "shaping up" to be a major L.A. venue, Pasadena architect Myron Hunt (who also designed the Rose Bowl and the Ambassador Hotel) was given a commission to design what turned out to be the Bowl’s distinctive, “balloon-shaped” seating area. Amazingly, the massive construction project only took 4 months, but what’s even more amazing is that the design is more or less unchanged even today!

1942: In a rarely-seen instance of pulling double duty as composer AND soloist, Sergei Rachmaninoff took the stage to play his own world-famous Piano Concerto No. 2 for two performances. Special bonus fact -- in Aug. 1942, pianist Vladimir Horowitz played Rachmaninoff's notoriously difficult Concerto No. 3, after which the composer himself walked on stage and declared "This is the way I always dreamed my concerto should be played, but I never expected to hear it that way on Earth."

1968: The Jimi Hendrix Experience debuted at the Hollywood Bowl and, during the show, about 2,500 fans rushed the stage and 100 or so ended up frolicking around in the pool. Though it's not the official reason, that may have had something to do with the pool's removal four years later.

2002: Jammin' at the Bowl became official when the first KCRW World Reggae Festival was held at the Hollywood Bowl. The concert featured Steel Pulse, Burning Spear and Lucky Dube, and it's gone on to become a much-anticipated yearly fixture.

1950: Everyone's favorite cat and mouse duo , Tom and Jerry, teamed up to make mischief at our favorite venue. The short was called, of course, "Tom and Jerry in The Hollywood Bowl," and featured Maestro Tom Cat conducting the overture of "Die Fledermaus."

1926: The first of several iconic and instantly identifiable permanent shells was constructed at the Bowl in 1926. Lloyd Wright (Frank's son) designed shells for the Bowl in '27 and '28, and another was built in 1929. That one lasted all the way until 2003, when the current one was built.

1962: Another of many firsts - the first concert was broadcast live on TV from the Bowl. It was an all-Tchaikovsky program of the LA Phil, led by conductor André Kostelanetz.

1937: The Works Progress Administration (WPA) erected the "Muse of Music" statue outside the Bowl. The statue was designed by George Stanley, who also sculpted the famous "Oscar" statue, and has become the oft-photographed gatekeeper to the Bowl as it keeps close watch over Highland Avenue.

1937: A memorial was held for George Gershwin (who passed away two months prior) at the Hollywood Bowl and ended up being a truly star-studded affair. Speakers and performers included Fred Astaire, LA Phil Music Director Otto Klemperer, Al Jolson, Eddie Cantor & others.

1921: The LA Phil performed the first Easter Sunrise Service at the Hollywood Bowl - more than 800 people turned up and sat on wooden benches and blankets. A little disclaimer -- though this marks the first Bowl perfomance by the newly-established LA Phil, the first official season didn't begin until the summer of 1922 -- that makes 2011 the 90th season.