This blog has moved to Twitter! Check out my twitter feed for the latest restaurant, retail, and cultural news in the neighborhood.

If you didn’t make it to the gala opening of LA Live’s Nokia Theatre tonight, we understand - Downtown was congested. In addition to the sold-out Dixie Chicks/Eagles concert drawing in a crowd of 7,100 to the streets and sidewalks of South Park, there was an LA Clippers game across the street at Staples Center. The evening was pulsating with music, people and bright lights in the city’s new center for live entertainment.

Although the angelenic blogteam didn’t have tickets for any of tonight’s attractions, we were there with full gear to soak up the excitement for something we’ve long anticipated. Three days ago we gave you a preview of Nokia Plaza’s light show exhibits, but a lot of last minute details have been added to the scene since.

Both venues along Chick Hearn Court glowed with bright colors and were lined with over-sized product ads and fast-paced digital monitors - very much resembling Times Square, to which the LA Live project has often been critically compared.

The centerpiece was Nokia Theatre’s dramatic three-story glass lobby which oscillated between brilliant shades of blue and red - continuing the color scheme of its neighboring sister venue. Early renderings of theatre’s interior worried observers that the the finishes were too bland and utilitarian for such a high-profile development. Apparently, that will no longer be a concern.

Steady streams of people from all directions were flocking towards the theatre for the main event, but others were gathering and lingering in the plaza and enjoying the setting. In fact, a Wolfgang Puck Cafe was set up in a tent in the plaza where people were dining and having drinks. Clippers fans were even out watching from the Staples Center’s upper-level balconies. The mood all around was festive and vibrant.

As we were taking photographs of the scene, an entourage of about ten suited men walked single-file in front of our shot. We were briefly annoyed until one of them - who we instantly recognized as Tim Leiweke, President & CEO of AEG - paused to say, “Isn’t it about time Los Angeles got something like this?!”

Yes, Tim, it is!

More photographs of the evening here.