Featuring Special Guest The Polyphonic Spree in their Bowl Debut

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, AT 7 PM

Media sponsors: K-EARTH 101.1 FM and KCRW 89.9 FM

Legendary Southern California singer Brian Wilson returns to the Hollywood Bowl stage on Sunday, September 4, at 7 p.m., to perform his 'lost' masterpiece Smile. His first performance at the Bowl since his induction into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame last year, the show will also include his classic hits and an opening set by symphonic pop band The Polyphonic Spree, featured nowhere else on his national tour.

Since its release last year, Smile has successfully brought Brian Wilson back into the spotlight and gained him fresh acclaim. He performs the piece with a stunning ensemble that includes a ten-piece band, along with Swedish strings and a brass octet. In a review of his Hollywood Bowl performance at last year's Opening Night celebration, Daily Variety raved, "Of the celebrity [performers], none had greater emotional impact than that of Wilson, who practically invented the myth that feeds the world's stereotypes of Southern California and has re-emerged triumphantly as a performer of his legacy." Declared the Los Angeles Times of Wilson's Smile performance at Walt Disney Concert Hall in 2004: "this pop symphony is as rich and ambitious as advertised, packed with the choral and harmonic brilliance Wilson derived from such sources as George Gershwin and the Four Freshman."

Dallas-based The Polyphonic Spree takes a spiritual approach to pop music, considered to be a mix of the Flaming Lips and the Beach Boys with a liberal splash of Godspell. Their 10-plus-member choir brings a lively presence to the stage with their multi-colored robes and full band complete with electronic effects. Their ethereal tones were featured on the soundtrack to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and will be on the soundtrack to Thumbsucker (the directorial film debut of graphic artist Mike Mills), opening September 16. This concert marks their Hollywood Bowl debut.

BRIAN WILSON is one of rock's most deeply revered figures, a legendary writer, producer, arranger and performer of some of the most cherished music in rock history. Indeed, it is no exaggeration to call Brian Wilson one of the most influential pop composers of the last 50 years. For while few artists achieve the stature that Wilson today enjoys, even fewer have been able to overcome the profound personal setbacks and professional frustrations that the Beach Boys co-founder has endured. Happily, Wilson has not only survived those obstacles, but today is thriving once again, making great music, performing with an ace band of seasoned sidemen and cutting-edge pop-rockers, and selling out concert halls around the world. Through the course of the last year, Wilson has unveiled his much anticipated 'lost' masterpiece, SMiLE with his extraordinary ten-piece band backed by Swedish strings and a brass octet.

Symphonic pop group THE POLYPHONIC SPREE was formed in Dallas in 1999 by former Tripping Daisy frontman Tim DeLaughter. The group is known not only for their catchy and ethereal pop hits, but also for their colorful flowing robes, ten-member choir and full band including keyboardists, percussionist, bassist, guitarist, flutist, trumpeter, trombonist, violist, French horn, theremin and electronic effects.

One of the largest natural amphitheaters in the world, with a seating capacity of nearly 18,000, the HOLLYWOOD BOWL has been the summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic since its official opening in 1922, and in 1991 gave its name to the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, a resident ensemble that has filled a special niche in the musical life of Southern California. The 2004 season introduced audiences to a revitalized Hollywood Bowl, featuring a newly-constructed shell and stage and the addition of four stadium screens enhancing stage views in the venue. To this day, $1 buys a seat at the top of the Bowl for many of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's concerts. While the Bowl is best known for its sizzling summer nights, during the day California's youngest patrons enjoy "SummerSounds: Music for Kids at the Hollywood Bowl," the Southland's most popular summer arts festival for children, now in its 37th season. Attendance figures over the past several decades have soared: in 1980 the Bowl first topped the half-million mark and close to one million admissions have been recorded. In February 2005, the Hollywood Bowl was named Best Major Outdoor Concert Venue at the 16th Annual Pollstar Concert Industry Awards; the Bowl's summer music festival has become as much a part of a Southern California summer as beaches and barbecues, the Dodgers, and Disneyland.

EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2005 at 7 PM

HOLLYWOOD BOWL, 2301 N. Highland Ave. in Hollywood

Brian Wilson performs SMiLE

BRIAN WILSON

THE POLYPHONIC SPREE, special guest

Media sponsors: K-EARTH 101.1 FM and KCRW 89.9 FM

Tickets ($4 - $110) are on sale now at the Hollywood Bowl Box Office, by calling Ticketmaster at 213.480.3232, at all Ticketmaster outlets (Robinsons May, Tower Records, and Ritmo Latino locations), or online at HollywoodBowl.com. Groups of 12 or more may be eligible for a 20% discount, subject to availability; call 323.850.2050 for further details.
For general information or to request a brochure, call 323.850.2000.

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