Light of the Angels @ L.A. Live

Last night was the inaugural holiday tree lighting at Downtown LA's new entertainment complex - L.A. Live. The thirty-minute inaugural event was telecast on KTLA 5 and featured a performance of "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire" by talented R&B songstress Natalie Cole, City of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Adam Carolla hosting, and guest celebrities USC Football Coach Pete Carroll and 'Surprise' Celebrity Superstar Britney Spears. The celebrity guest was 'outed' earlier on in the week by blogdowntown, but I think it made it better to know the surprise, to draw in more of a crowd to a place which central purpose is to bring people in to see the new face of Downtown LA's current renaissance.

Here's the general gist of "Light of the Angels":
-Run-time: 7 minutes
-Featuring: Multi-dimentional light display which includes a 37,500 lb. tree that's 54-feet tall in the midst of L.A. Live's Nokia Plaza. The "tree" is covered with 11,382 XL Sphere LED lights
-In addition to the lights (there are also lights that make it look like snow is falling on the trees!), there is video on the plaza's 11 giant video screens and accompanying music
-Show runs on the beginning of each hour nightly from 7-10pm until Dec 31st.

While there might lay some nostalgia for a "real" Christmas tree, a light show adds a bit of flare to the innovative nature that Los Angeles can often reflect. As an Angelino who doesn't see much snowfall, there was an almost "of course" feeling to the idea that we would have a light show for the holidays...and so oddly this "something new" felt a bit like home.

The seven-minute light experience is enjoyable to gaze at, displaying the bright and shiny aspect that can come from the holidays, but augmenting all this is the hustle and bustle of L.A. Live itself. There were families out to see the first show, to mingle around the first openings of L.A. Live's initial bloom. There were jackets on, a chill in the night air, and iconic red Starbucks cups in hand. It was just...nice. Whether you're there for the lights or the sights, something's bound to catch your eye at L.A. Live.

-Charity Tran, ExperienceLA Web Coordinator