My friend Jean Claude Vannier, French composer, arranger and longtime Serge Gainsbourg collaborator, was playing the legendary concept album Histoire de Melody Nelson live, with full with orchestra and guests, at the Hollywood Bowl , on August 28th 2011.

Jean Claude kindly invited me to join him for the day at the Hollywood Bowl, to sketch the Artists and the musicians backstage, and on stage, during rehearsal and during the concert in the evening.

It was an amazing experience; this was my first time at the Hollywood Bowl, and to enter this venue, through the Artist entrance at the back and go straight on stage facing the sea of empty seats, it was very impressive to say the least. The stage was filled with a full orchestra, a choir and many very talented artists rehearsing the songs (Sean Lennon, Beck, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Mike Patton, Zola Jesus, Daedelus, Justin Meldal-Johnsen, Ed Droste, Lulu Gainsbourg, Victoria Legrand, Matthieu Chedid, Charlotte Kemp Muhl to name a few). 

I met Jean Claude again Monday evening at the CineFamily (the silent movie theatre) in Hollywood, for a retrospective of his work, presented on stage by Andy Votel; this gave me the opportunity to finish the sketchbook I started Sunday at the Hollywood Bowl and cover his 2 days in L.A.

Thanks Jean Claude and all the artists on stage for this unforgettable experience! 

I sketched the full event over 2 days on a long Moleskine Japanese sketchbook.