. . . and Then We Have the Critics : Uniting disparate art events around a common theme in a three-month festival setting is quite a challenge. How successful was the UK/LA '88 Festival in doing that? An assessment follows: :

But the only significant pop entry was the L.A. debut of the eclectic Penguin Cafe Orchestra. The fact that the only other pop events were a couple of regular tour stops (Gene Loves Jezebel, David Sylvian) with a festival logo pinned on, and a reggae show at the Watts Towers, suggests that UK/LA didn't much care about the pop community. The fact that no one in the pop community is crying about it suggests that the feeling's mutual.