LOST Live: The Final Celebration
Matt Owens was lucky enough to secure one of the last tickets to LOST Live: The Final Celebration that was last night in Los Angeles. In the Royce Hall at UCLA, the event featured Michael Giacchino, the composer of the series’s score, leading an orchestra in a rendition of a number of pieces from LOST. The event also screened next week’s new episode “What They Died For.” Below, Matt recounts his experience, sans spoilers.
September 22, 2004. 18.65 million people tuned in to the series premiere of LOST. I was not one of those people. I had no interest in the show. I’d heard the hype, listened to the attempts at convincing and the pleas, but I didn’t care. A friend of mine gave me his season 1 DVDs to borrow. They sat in my desk drawer. For three years. It wasn’t until I read the events of the season 3 finale “Through the Looking Glass” in an issue of Entertainment Weekly that my interest was finally piqued. “Wait. They get off the island? And they have to go back? And that was a flashFORWARD not a flashBACK!?” My brother Jordan and I promptly power-watched seasons 1 and 2 on DVD. And I was hooked.
It was my own personal history with LOST that I reflected on as I stood in the merchandise line at LOST Live: The Final Celebration. The doors to the event weren’t opening for another hour and I wanted to score some of the free exclusive stuff they had. I bought a “Not Penny’s Boat” shirt and a shirt with Benjamin Linus on it that said “Trust Me” at the bottom. If you know me you’ll see the shirts soon, I’ll be wearing them every other day for the rest of my life.
As I took my balcony level seat I looked around at the other audience members. Excitement ran rampant across everyone’s face. DHARMA logos were emblazoned on everything from shirts to messenger bags to hairclips. An understood feeling of extreme camaraderie washed over us all. Sure LOST has a lot of fans. People watch the show and attend conventions, but these particular individuals are the die-hards. Shelling out between $50 and $100 to be a part of history. I was surrounded by family.
And that’s exactly what Carlton Cuse called us as he and Damon Lindelof took the stage to introduce the night’s festivities. They talked of the collaborative effort that helped produce such an amazing show, a show that we all love. We the fans were included in the thanks because without us the show could not have reached the heights it is. Everyone had their part to play.
Speaking of playing parts, there were a hell of a lot of the cast members in attendance. Cheers–nay–roars and riotous applause erupted as Darlton introduced the actors and actresses in attendance. All those present (and it’s a long list): Sterling Beaumon (Young Ben), Lance Reddick (Matthew Abbadon), François Chau (Pierre Chang), William Mapother (Ethan Rom), Rebecca Mader (Charlotte Lewis), Daniel Roebuck (Leslie Arzt), Jeremy Davies (Daniel Faraday), L. Scott Caldwell (Rose Nadler), Sonya Walger (Penelope Widmore), Titus Welliver (Man in Black), Daniel Dae Kim (Jin Kwon), Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond Hume), Jorge Garcia (Hugo “Hurley” Reyes), Nestor Carbonell (Richard Alpert), and Josh Holloway (James “Sawyer” Ford). The crowd went nuts for each and every one of them. Three actors in particular had the greatest entrances. When Ian Somerhalder (Boone Carlyle) came out, every woman in the auditorium went insane (I may have done a little swooning myself). Michael Emerson (Benjamin Linus) received the most thunderous applause by far. But the award for greatest entry incontestably went to Malcolm David Kelley (Walt Lloyd), whom upon taking the stage was greeted with a resounding “WAAAALLLTTT!!!!” from every member of the audience. The players took their bows and the celebration was off to a great start.
Next Darlton introduced Michael Giacchino, award winning composer of the LOST score. He conducted an arrangement of 7 pieces performed by members of The Colburn School Symphony Orchestra, as well as regular members of the LOST orchestra. It was magical to say the least. To hear the all too familiar score played live and played so beautifully was truly moving. Closing my eyes I could play favorite scenes in my head by score alone. But I didn’t have to close my eyes, visual accompaniment was provided during the concert. Large screens projected iconic scenes as the score played along. The launching of the raft, the birth of Aaron, Michael’s betrayal; it was incredible to revisit those moments with Giacchino conducting the music in the same room. I was able to keep it together until the death of Charlie. Tears welled up in my eyes. I stifled a sniffle, embarrassed. But then I looked around me again. People were crying, sniffling, holding hands, rubbing backs. It was an emotional journey and we were all on it together. This wasn’t just a celebration, it was a funeral as well. I had nothing to be embarrassed about. Everyone was just as moved. We wouldn’t have been there if this show had not touched us in such a way. I really was among family.
In between the musical pieces different cast members would come out on stage. They would read a letter from the bottle of messages Charlie put together in “Exodus: Part 1.” They were all from unknown, unseen characters. “Socks” as Damon and Carlton referred to them as. It was a nice glimpse into the hearts of characters we didn’t get to know. One was from someone we did know. Frogurt.
Then it was time for the main event: a special screening of the penultimate episode 6 days in advance. To introduce the episode, Damon and Carlton were joined by some of the power players of the show who work behind the camera. We got to put faces to the names of Jack Bender, Edward Kitsis, Adam Horowitz, Elizabeth Sarnoff and others. And then without further ado, we got to see “What They Died For.” Now I’m not going to spoil anything about the episode, mainly because I don’t want any ABC/Disney assassins breaking into my room at night, but know this: it’s on. The endgame is upon us and it is going to be grand. Forget whatever bad feelings you have about season 6 because the show you thought was gone is here to stay…well, for 2 more episodes anyway.
I was so deep in thought on my way back to my car that I almost didn’t get a bottle of DHARMAWater (DHARMA themed VitaminWater) that the cute girls in DHARMA uniforms were handing out at the exits. (Namaste to you too, baby.) I sat in the parking garage just taking in the whole experience. And that’s when it dawned on me. LOST is an experience. It’s a giant puzzle and we don’t have all the pieces yet. Sure, I thought “Ab Aeterno” was a bit of a letdown. And yeah, I’m gonna be pissed as hell if they never talk about Walt again. But I also loved when they fixed the DHARMA van. And I still cry when I watch Sawyer let go of Juliet’s hand. The good far outweighs the bad. And that’s what it’s all about, the LOST experience as a whole. And it’s a damn great one.
So please remember this, fellow LOSTies: whether you love season 6 or want to blow it up with a hydrogen bomb, LOST has still had an impact on you. You wouldn’t even be watching this season if it hadn’t. Don’t let mediocre episodes or your favorite character’s death or an unsatisfactory (or absent altogether) answer sour the experience as a whole for you. Don’t forget how the first 5 seasons made you feel. Wait until after May 23rd and then look at it as a completed work. Be a man (or woman) of faith. There is no possible way you can be disappointed. So I thank you J.J. Abrams. I thank you Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse [editor’s note: You’re not going to thank Jeffrey Lieber?]. Thank you Jordan, my brother. Thank you Allen and Pat and Brittany and everyone else who I have been able to share this incredible experience with over the last few years. I love you all. And I look forward to reaching the end of this journey, the end of an era, together. Namaste.
Addendum: Giachinno and the orchestra performed the following selections: Lost Main Theme, Hollywood and Vines, Oceanic 6, The Temple of Doom, Life and Death, The Tangled Web, and Parting Words.
