We’ll Have Fun, Fun, Fun

During their set at the Beachlife Festival, held in Redondo Beach, California on Saturday, May 4, 2019, Dawes’ front man Taylor Goldsmith remarked, “It’s kind of a perfect day — it’s not too cold, it’s not too hot.” He was exactly right. There couldn’t be a more perfect day to enjoy a concert at the beach.

We Live the Beachlife

The inaugural Beachlife Festival was held right next to the ocean, with the Low Tide Stage occupying the sandy space normally used for Seaside Lagoon and the High Tide Stage looming large over the adjacent parking lot, which had been made over with artificial turf, seating areas, and festival booths.

I was thrilled to be able to attend this local festival. The sun shone down on the festival like a blessing from above, with a few clouds here and there to provide momentary relief. A moderate ocean breeze kept the air flowing along with the good vibes.

The festival was held for three days, but I chose to attend on Saturday because I wanted to see one of my favorite bands, Dawes, perform and couldn’t resist that they would be followed on stage by Jason Mraz, who I have seen a couple times before. You can count on Jason to deliver a good show and he always has high-quality musicians supporting him. To end the night, Brian Wilson and Al Jardine and their many band members were to be playing music from The Beach Boys right next to the ocean — it didn’t even need a second thought! I was going to be there.

Dawes Rolls With the Punches

I arrived early enough to the Low Tide stage to find a good position for Dawes and see them setting up some of their equipment.
The festival was organized so that one stage would have a performance while the other stage was setting up. In the background, I could hear Chevy Metal, led by Taylor Hawkins, ripping through their set of Van Halen covers. The gathering crowd was made up of a mixture of fans wearing Dawes T-shirts and festival goers curious to hear the next band on the big stage. When Taylor asked later in the set who among the crowd was already a fan and who was hearing them for the first time, it looked to be a 50/50 split.

I’d characterize the Dawes set as — maybe we feel introspective sometimes, but we’re not gonna let anything get us down, especially since we are playing in this beautiful spot on the beach, and we just want to jam and soak in the atmosphere after not playing any live shows for a couple months. The band performed at least one song from each of their six albums, kicking off the set with a tune from their most recent offering, Passwords.

1. “Feed the Fire” I liked that they opened with a song from the new album, Passwords, because this tune has a very fresh feel to it.
2. “Time Spent in Los Angeles” This is a classic song from the Dawes canon and I love that they brought it out for the L.A. county crowd. People who live here can really relate to this song either personally or they know someone that aptly suits its narrative. As a bonus, the clear vocals and moderate tempo allow audience members to be drawn into this lyrical vignette. What a great song for those who don’t know Dawes to get introduced to what the band is all about.
3. “Most People” I love the dynamics of this song — how they will be blasting us with guitars and vocals and then simplify to a bass line with light percussion. My favorite part is the chorus where Griffin trails in the vocal line slightly after Taylor sings it. After this song, Taylor commented, “You guys get to deal with my strange need for attention. It’s been locked away for a few months.”

   

4. “When the Tequila Runs Out” A catchy Dawes song, that was perfect for the festival atmosphere, though it was a little early in the day for any sort of beverages to be running out (Dawes’ set was between 4:30 and 5:30pm)!
5. “Living in the Future” Love this moderate tempo, yet groove rocking song for our times from the new album. Despite its title, it really is about living in the now, which seems so futuristic when you consider our current culture, so different already to what life was like a generation ago.
6. “From the Right Angle” I always think of this song as very typical earlier Dawes material, where you can hear that Laurel Canyon influence, and the sound is full and constant.
7. “A Little Bit of Everything” Still one of my favorite songs from Dawes and so glad to hear it live. It was cool to see and hear how the crowd responded to this song. They cheered the best, meaningful lines, and by the end, people had quieted their chattering and Taylor had them in the palm of his hand. This song is everything I love about Taylor’s lyric writing.
8. “Roll With the Punches” People were loosening up by this point and starting to dance more — a break up song hasn’t felt this satisfying in a while.
9. “When My Time Comes” The band has the crowd’s full attention and we are all back-up singers to sing the refrain of the song’s title along with the “whoa ohs” that follow it. Every time I hear this song I am knocked out by how thoughtful and poignant these lyrics are coming from a song off the first Dawes album.
10. “All Your Favorite Bands” Dawes should end every single festival concert they play with this song. Its simple chord structure makes the song feel immediately familiar and its nostalgic message brings people together. The good wishes sent out to the listener are universally appealing and foster likability and connection.

I hope that life without a chaperone is what you thought it’d be
I hope your brother’s El Camino runs forever
I hope the world sees the same person that you’ve always been to me
And may All Your Favorite Bands stay together

– from “All Your Favorite Bands” by Dawes

You know what is really awesome? The Live Gigs YouTube channel made a pretty great quality video of the Dawes set from the Beachlife Festival. Enjoy it here!

Jason Mraz Lives in the Moment

Jason Mraz’s live show continues to flow with the same hopeful spirit as it head when I last saw him a few years ago. He and his supporting musicians delivered their feel-good, positively optimistic, sunshine, happiness, and love set to bridge the transition from daylight to nighttime. Jason had a typical four-piece rock band supporting him, along with the ladies from Raining Jane, and frequent musical partner, Toca Rivera. The opening song of the set was from Jason’s most recently released album, Know.

1. “No Plans” Well, no other plans than being here at this concert.
2. “Let’s See What the Night Can Do” Loved that he mentioned driving to Redondo in this one. Sometimes I wonder if musicians purposely write song lyrics where they can easily add in the name of whatever city they are playing in to get an extra cheer during the song.
3. “Living in the Moment” I believe everyone at the festival was living in that moment for this song. I know I was.
4. Medley of “Curbside Prophet,” “Geek in the Pink,” and “The Remedy (I Won’t Worry)” It was nice to hear some of Jason’s early songs make the set list, especially for me, as I have liked what he has done right from the first album.
5. “The Minute I Heard of Love”
6. “It Could be Love”
7. “I’m Yours” This one had the entire crowd singing, of course. Definitely a highlight.
8. “Lucky” Jason introduced this song as “a love song about two seabirds that landed on different trash heaps in the ocean.” I wonder if he was telling the truth or if he was joking.
9. “Make It Mine”
10. “93 Million Miles” This song was followed by extended jamming. Jason quoted motivational speaker Jim Rohn’s idea that we are the sum of the five people we spend time with, and noted for himself, he would be the sum of his three cats and his wife. Yeah, I can see it, actually. (On a side note, we are actually the sum of more than the 5 people around us. Some research says we are the sum of not only our friends, but people WE HAVEN’T EVEN MET, such as friends of friends. Read more about social contagion if you are interested in such things.)
11. “I Won’t Give Up” I appreciate the lyric about having “to learn, what I’m not and what I am.” I love when Jason goes introspective in his lyrics.
12. “3 Things”
13. “Might as Well Dance” Jason took a moment to plug Life Rolls On, one of the non-profit benefactors of the festival weekend, so I wanted to make sure it got a quick mention here in my post. Per their website, the organization “is dedicated to improving the quality of life for people living with various disabilities.” The connection to the beach? Their “They Will Surf Again Adaptive Surf Clinics.”
14. “Have It All” Another set closes with well-wishes to the listeners, with one of Jason’s lyrically rich songs. The opening verse deserves sharing:

May you have auspiciousness and causes of success
May you have the confidence to always do your best
May you take no effort in your being generous
Sharing what you can, nothing more nothing less
May you know the meaning of the word happiness
May you always lead from the beating in your chest
May you be treated like an esteemed guest
May you get to rest, may you catch your breath

And may the best of your todays be the worst of your tomorrows
And may the road less paved be the road that you follow.

– From “Have It All” by Jason Mraz

With the wonders of YouTube, you can also enjoy the full Beachlife set from Jason Mraz and friends here. If you need a little sunshine to soothe your soul, I urge you to view this concert. I challenge you to not have your mood improved by watching this. This type of music is so needed in our lives right now.

We’ll Be Having Fun All Summer Long Thanks to The Beach Boys

Capping off a fantastic day of music was Brian Wilson and Al Jardine singing The Beach Boys songs with a full band of supporting musicians, and special guest Blondie Chaplin on the High Tide stage. I last saw this group when they were touring behind the 50th Anniversary of Pet Sounds. The essence of their set was – we are gonna dance, surf, love our cars and our girls, and have plenty of fun right here by the beach. You couldn’t help but get wrapped up in the atmosphere and feel like this was the opening of the summer.

The space was absolutely packed and it was difficult to find a reasonable position for taking pictures when heading to the High Tide stage area immediately after Jason Mraz finished. The few that I took mostly came out blurry, with the one above being the best of the batch.

Brian Wilson was sat at the white baby grand piano for the whole show and sang on some of the songs, but he was struggling with lyrics (and their clarity) on a few of them. I’m urging any fans of Brian’s who want to see him perform in person to do so on this summer’s tour, because I’m not sure how much longer his health is going to hold for him to carry on performing. Al Jardine appears to still be full of energy, and I must give a special shout out to his son, Matt Jardine, for singing so well on all the high parts on the songs.

With a set list that reads like the track list of a greatest hits album (such as The Very Best of The Beach Boys: Sounds of Summer), along with beverages having been flowing all day long, the crowd was up for plenty of fun and (slightly drunken) dancing with this legendary Saturday night headlining act. The set ran as follows:

1. “California Girls”
2. “Dance, Dance, Dance”
3. “I Get Around”
4. “Shut Down”
5. “Little Deuce Coupe”
6. “Little Honda”
7. “Surfer Girl”
8. “Salt Lake City”
9. “Don’t Worry Baby”
10. “Darlin'”
11. “Feel Flows”
12. “Wild Honey”
13. “Sail On, Sailor”
14. “Do It Again”
15. “Let Him Run Wild”
16. “Wouldn’t It Be Nice”
17. “Sloop John B” (traditional)
18. “God Only Knows”
19. “Good Vibrations”
20. “All Summer Long”
21. “Help Me, Rhonda”
22. “Barbara Ann” (The Regents cover)
23. “Surfin’ U.S.A.” Does it get any better than listening to The Beach Boys music, beach side, in a town that is name dropped in the song? And I don’t mean the performers are just saying the name of the town because that is where they are playing, but the town is actually in the lyrics. “Redondo Beach” received a huge cheer from the crowd.
24. “Fun, Fun, Fun” I had to borrow the lyric from this song for the title of this post.

Haggerties and Swamies
Pacific Palisades
San Onofre and Sunset
Redondo Beach, L. A.
All over La Jolla
At Wa’imea Bay

Everybody’s gone surfin’
Surfin’ U.S.A.

– from Surfin’ U.S.A. by The Beach Boys

The final bonus — yes, this set with Brian Wilson is available online too. What an incredible day!

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