Bring 1D to LA Event Hosted by The Ellen Show
Featuring: One Direction
November 9, 2012
Warner Bros. Studios Back Lot
Burbank, CA
By: Nevra Azerkan
One Direction had a contest to bring 1D to your town and Los Angeles was one of the winners. The Ellen Show ended up hosting the gigantic event with 5,000 ticketed attendees. This was a sweet deal for Directioners who haven’t been able to nab any of the pricey tickets to their tour dates at The Staple Center. It’s free, you see them fairly close and you get some free swag. Then again, that’s the only way Ellen rolls.
It took some time before the staff seated everyone. Just think about it: parking at the Burbank airport lot, getting tickets checked, receiving wristbands, followed by being bused to Warner Bros. Studios and then walked through to the concert area to either the standing area or the bleachers. Yeah, you could say it was hectic. At least we were provided with free cans of Pepsi and Aquafina bottled water (1D sponsors). They also had some food trucks available. Good thing too because it was a cold day and fans were getting really anxious.
There was a One Direction telephone booth (pictured above) that fans could take pictures with before the show started along with a cutout of Ellen. Might have been a good idea to have added cutouts with the guys, but now that I think about it fans would have killed each other just to take them home.
Ellen had Sophia Grace and Rosie come out to introduce the guys and then Liam, Harry, Niall, Louis and Zayn came out singing their song, “One Thing”. The crowd was insane and security had to continually tell fans to step back from the walls of the stage. Not that it did much good; girls were throwing bras and other random objects on stage and screaming like there was no tomorrow. I was surprised by how engaging they were during their performance. They sounded just as they do on their record and they made sure to go to all corners of the stage where fans awaited.
They also performed “Little Things”, “What Makes You Beautiful” and “Live While We’re Young”. In between songs Ellen interviewed them and then had three fans come on stage to play a game. They were blindfolded and told to find a member of 1D of Ellen’s choosing. So, essentially three very lucky fans got to feel up the guys without security pulling them off and no complaints from the guys themselves (obviously). The show, which lasted about an hour, came to end with their last song and they quickly left the stage thereafter.
It took just as long to leave as it did to arrive, maybe even more. But the parting gift of an “I Brought 1D to LA” poster and sticker did ease some of the hassle. In the end, Ellen hosted a well-executed event and the guys of One Direction put on an entertaining show that pleased all of their die-hard fans and even just those curious to see what they were all about.
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