The Black Crowes were not “Hard to Handle” when they closed out the fourth annual BeachLife Festival on Sunday, May 7, in Redondo Beach.
By the time the early 1990s hard rockers strutted their stuff as the three-day festival’s closing act, the main High Tide stage had already been graced by pop star Gwen Stefani and indie rock duo The Black Keys.
Legendary songwriter John Fogerty, of Creedence Clearwater Revival fame, also gleefully played from his recently acquired catalog of 1970s top-10 singles in front of a massive crowd early Sunday evening.
In all, Saturday was an ideal crescendo to a banner weekend at Redondo Beach’s Seaside Lagoon, with mostly blue skies, a slight breeze and temperatures perfect for spending the day outside listening to music.
World-class chefs brought culinary delights, art was on display and for sale, and there was plenty of alcohol to go around: Jack Daniel’s, for example, hosted a karaoke bar for the first time at the festival, while Gray Whale Gin converted a Volkswagen van into a bar.
BeachLife cofounder Allen Sanford said every time his team puts on the festival, he gets nervous because he wants to deliver a special event that celebrates the community.
“But after this weekend and looking at people’s faces, I actually think that BeachLife kind of reached a new level and so I couldn’t be happier,” Sanford said. “We executed, the artists were unbelievable, and I think everybody left with a smile.”
Musician Donavon Frankenreiter, who works with Sanford on bookings for BeachLife, agreed. It was the best festival yet, he said, citing the vibe, the eclectic mix of musical acts and the great weather as key factors.
“Every year we have it, it gets better,” Frankenreiter, a former professional surfer who lives in Hawaii, said on Monday, May 8.
Day 2 of BeachLife, on Saturday, which featured Stefani, sold out — 12,000 tickets — which was the “first kind of absolute capacity that we’ve ever had,”…
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