On Wednesday night, Steve and I headed down to a Hollywood location that is near and dear to us and our history. In February of 1989, we went on our first date to the Hollywood Palladium to see The Primitives and The Sugarcubes rock the house. Bjork sang/screamed so passionately that night that Einar had to finish the set because she lost her voice. It was an amazing night because of the music, of course; but more importantly, because it was the start of our relationship. As we stood there waiting for the band Menomena to come out on stage (who opened for Bloc Party), we talked about the first time we were there together and that it had been (*gasp*) twenty years from the time of our Sugarcubes show.

In the last six months, we have been to the newly remodeled Palladium for three shows. We took the kids to see Rise Against in November, just days before the 2008 Election (watch this video that I shot for an inspiring and emotional performance where Tim talks about the importance of the election); and again on November, 20, 2008, to see The Sounds, a band from Sweden that we all love, put on a brilliantly upbeat show.

The events giant, Live Nation, entered into a long-term lease agreement in 2007 to operate, manage, and book the Palladium. They did a beautiful job of renovating the venue, which had become quite run down over the many decades it was in use. They completed a total overhaul of the interior and exterior and the grand re-opening was on October, 15, 2008. It was very exciting to hear that this location that owned a special part of our heart was opening again and the first time we experienced the new-and-improved P-dum, we were pleasantly surprised that they had upgraded in the right places, while leaving the retro aesthetics in tact.

The Hollywood Palladium originally opened on September 23, 1940 with a concert by the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, which featured the soon-to-be-famous, Frank Sinatra. The venue has hosted many awards shows, such as the Emmy Awards, The Grammy Awards, The NAACP Awards and Country Music Awards.

Here are some photos of our fun evening and one of the seven videos I filmed of Bloc Party performing that night. If you are a BP fan, check out my other youtube videos here.

Fuelman sign at the gas station we stopped @ on the way home