One question seemed to dominate the post-New Year conversation at health clubs, offices and restaurants all over Los Angeles: Why are we so lame?
Starting at about 12:02 a.m. on Jan. 1, 2000, Angelenos were forced to take a cold, hard look at themselves and ask some tough questions. Why did Egyptians get an elaborate laser show at the feet of the pyramids? Why did Paris get fireworks outlining the Eiffel Tower? Why did England get the Millennium Dome?
And most importantly, why didn’t we get anything cool like that?
Apathy is nothing new in LA. But at a time when the entertainment capital of the world could have claimed center stage , or at least one of the stages , many complained that the quality and enthusiasm of the local “Celebrate LA 2000” events were, at best, lackluster.
Which, in a city that has a hard time forming a collective opinion about most any community happening, was itself striking.
“I don’t know if people were freaked out or just tired of the whole thing, or they just decided to stay home because of the rain, or if it was because we made the same warning that we do every year about people firing guns into the air,” said LA County Sheriff’s Lt. Dennis Beene, of the Emergency Operations Bureau. “But there was nothing more than a handful of folks (out). It was booorring. Traffic was just like a typical Friday night, and I think we were a little underwhelmed by it all.”
No Tradition Here
The odds certainly were not in favor of LA when it came to throwing a bash for the ages. First off, there is no tradition of a New Year’s Eve celebration like there is in New York. LA also lacks a central place where people gather, which helps explain why the city-sponsored events were spread out in several areas. And by the time the clock struck midnight here, most of the world’s people had long since begun celebrating (and a good portion were already hung over).
Plus, it rained.
For those who did want to hit the streets, the city staged Celebrate LA 2000, which included 13 hours of food boths and live performers at five locations.
“Fiesta Broadway (to celebrate Cinco de Mayo) draws 400,000 people each year. I feel very strongly about what we came up with and how we tried to celebrate some of the major neighborhoods in LA, said Adolfo Nodal, general manager of the LA Department of Cultural Affairs, who was executive producer of Celebrate LA 2000. We were just as good as anybody else, and we looked good on the world stage.”
TV Covered Vegas
Some people would disagree. During ABC’s 24-hour coverage of the New Year around the globe, the Pacific Time Zone was primarily represented not by Los Angeles,its biggest city by far,but by Las Vegas.
The sight of LA Mayor Richard Riordan and Jay Leno throwing a switch to light the Hollywood sign in a predominantly residential neighborhood,sans fireworks because of the perceived fire danger,couldn’t compete with 250,000 people on the Vegas Strip. Even cooler-than-thou San Francisco managed to set off fireworks and get 200,000 people.
As it turned out, many of LA’s hotshot entertainment types defected to other cities to help ring in the New Year. The Washington shindig was produced by Steven Spielberg and Quincy Jones and hosted by Will Smith. Don Mischer, known for producing the Emmys and the Kennedy Center Honors, was overseeing Barbra Streisand’s show at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
So what does it take for LA to throw a real party? If not the millennium, then what?
“I don’t measure LA by how many people turned up to see the Hollywood sign, for God’s sake,” said John Argue, an attorney who worked to bring the 1984 Olympics to the city. “Personally, I went to a delightful black-tie party at a beautiful home in our neighborhood and it was lovely. The charm of Los Angeles is in the back yards of people, not our public spaces, and that’s just the way it is. If you live in some of those other cities, you would want to get out of your tenement and get out in the street. But in LA you don’t have to, because you have a better situation.”
So there.
Nodal in particular believes attendance at the city’s events was scuttled by the rainy weather.
For some, though, the “rainy weather dampened the party” excuse didn’t quite cut it. Even Riordan reportedly chastised Angelenos for being “sissies” for not attending the events.
But even indoor events fizzled. The much-hyped concert at Staples Center featuring the Eagles, Jackson Browne and Linda Ronstadt attracted less than a sellout crowd.
Still, some insist that just because LA didn’t cut loose for the millennium doesn’t mean it isn’t a partying kind of place.
“This is a town that gets bombarded by hype,” said political consultant Sherry Bebitch-Jeffe. “I don’t think we should be penalized because the (millennium) was the most-hyped event in the history of the world since I’ve been a part of it. LA was sophisticated enough to not get sucked in by it.”
Remember the Rose Parade
Some believe there’s no reason for Los Angeles to hang its collective head in shame, because the mainstay celebration in the area doesn’t occur on New Year’s Eve, but rather the next day.
“In the Southland we are centered on Pasadena, with the Rose Parade and game,” said Bebitch-Jeffe. “The fact that we still had 200,000 people going to view the floats a day or two after the Rose Bowl says something.”
But in terms of developing future traditions for the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve, LA still has a ways to go. Will the Hollywood sign be set atwinkle again next year?
“We’ll see,” Nodal said. n
Donahue is a staff reporter at the Los Angeles Business Journal.
