On Thursday May 13, exactly 10 days before Lost gets put to bed for good, the show threw a little party. The guest list? All the producers, writers, directors, actors and fans that could fit into Royce Hall at the University of California, Los Angeles (or UCLA as it’s most commonly called.) The aim of the event was to celebrate six seasons of amazing television with all the people who made the show possible and raise a little money for charity in the process. To this end, Lost Live: The Final Celebration was a huge success.

The evening had two centerpieces. First was a seven selection orchestral performance by members of the official Lost orchestra and students of the Colburn Conservatory in Los Angeles, conducted by Oscar-winning composer Michael Giacchino.

Giacchino, who won an Oscar this year for the movie Up, has written every note of music that has been played during Lost and is a beyond-intricate member of the team.

After that was the second centerpiece: The penultimate episode of Lost called “What They Died For.” Yes, the one that will be airing on Tuesday May 18 that no one outside of Lost land has seen yet. It was screened. I’ve seen it. And, without giving away any teases or spoilers just yet, it was everything a Lost fan can hope for and more. Then more than that.

But first, the evening had to kick off. And it did so with one of the heads of ABC (I forget which) reading a letter that executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse got from George Lucas congratulating them on finishing the series. The men of the hour then came out…and introduced about 20 of the actors from the show. Though Matthew Fox, Terry O’Quinn and Evangeline Lilly were noticeably absent, nearly everyone else was there. Sawyer, Desmond, Hurley, Jin, Ben, Richard, Walt, Michael, Faraday, the list goes on and on. Young Ben and the Man in Black even made appearances. The introductions and ovations alone were worth the price of admission.

Giacchino then took the stage along with his orchestra and it was pure magic. The music of Lost is both instantly recognizable and independently moving. Whether you’ve watched every episode or not one single frame, Giacchino’s melodies are emotional and effective. The play list was the Lost Main Theme, Hollywood and Vines, Oceanic 6, The Temple of Doom, Life and Death, The Tangled Web and then Parting Words. You may not know the titles but, if you heard the tracks, you’d know them.

For good measure, and presumably to lighten up the mood, Giacchino finished up his set with the theme from Up. We would need the levity to balance the intensity to come.

Before that, though, Damon and Carlton brought out several of the unheralded names behind Lost. Names that are in the credits every week, have been since Season 1, but whom you wouldn’t recognize if they came to your door to borrow some Dharma sugar. It was very cool to put faces to names like Edward Kitsis, Jean Higgins and Elizabeth Sarnoff.

Finally, it was time for “What They Died For” which everyone will see on Tuesday May 18th. Fans, I’ll say this, the pay off has begun and it’s awesome. The whole thing starts with…

Come on now. I’m not going to spoil it. At least not yet. I will tease some things early next week, so check back then.

As a fan of Lost, tonight’s event was something I still can’t believe I was a part of. It was a delight. I was smiling ear to ear and though I was sitting down, I felt like I was floating. And, if the new episode is any indication of how good the finale is going to be, well, you are all going to feel the same way really soon.