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# Letter: Glow festival fell flat after 2 a.m., reader says
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/glow-no-show-editor/
- Published: 2008-07-22T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T20:15:54.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Opinion, Pier, #archive-import

*By Bryan Theis Los Angeles*

I attended Glow last Saturday night, but I’m trying hard to think of anything that was really worth my time.

Where was the “all-night” element of the event? I walked all around the pier, beach, and surrounding streets, and I saw exactly two art installations (out of the 15 or so on the map) that were still lit after 2 a.m. The only glowing thing on the pier was the new Ferris wheel.

Where were the DJs? The only music I could hear at that time was from the clapping and drumming of the thousands of bored people who apparently had nothing else to do. I walked within 200 feet of the carousel and couldn’t hear any music. Did you turn the volume way down, or were your DJs no-shows? The one stage that had been really active and fun at around midnight was being torn down by 2:30 a.m.

I really wanted an art event that lasted all night, with the advertised activity and music and entertainment. I wasn’t expecting a rave, I really wasn’t. But maybe next time Glow should emphasize that everything will get really quiet after 2 a.m., or it should just not bother with DJs at all, or it should merely bill itself as just an art show without much else, because that way people like me will have much lower expectations and won’t think that the event was a complete waste of time.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 22, 2008.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/072208.pdf?ref=smdp.com)