By Daily Press staff
Pop star Alanis Morissette gave an impromptu concert on the Third Street Promenade Monday.
Hundreds of onlookers gathered around the pop star when she fired up the band shortly after 12:30 p.m. in front of the food court. Once people realized that it was Morissette playing, dozens of people hung out office windows, stood on top of office buildings and climbed trees to get a better glimpse of her and the band that included keyboards, drums, bass and guitar.
Her surprise performance is part of VH1’s new “guerilla concert series” that features artists in spontaneous places around the globe. It is unknown when the concert will be aired.
Morissette recounted the first time she had ever been on the Promenade. When she first moved to Los Angeles, Morissette and her friends performed on the mall — Morissette played the bongos and her friend sang. The police hassled them by asking for their permit. When they could-n’t produce one, they were asked to leave.
“This is the prodigal daughter returning,” she told the crowd of about 130 people Monday. The police didn’t hassle her this time and there were plenty of security guards surrounding her.
She played about eight songs, most of which were her most popular hits.
Glenn Garr, a Washington D.C. resident, watched nearly all of the concert even though he’s not a huge fan.
“It was all right,” he said. “It came off less annoying than her studio recordings. It sounded good. It was a very tight band.”
After the performance, Morissette was whisked away into a nearby building and people resumed their activities on the mall.
Morissette won two grammys in 1999 for best female rock vocal performance and rock song of the year in for “Uninvited.” She was nominated for a Grammy in 2000 for “Thank you” and is nominated this year for best female rock vocal performance for “So Pure.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 15, 2002. Read the original PDF.