After canceling its second year in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, BeachLife Festival returned to Redondo Beach for an epic three-day music event, featuring a diverse lineup on a beautiful, laidback beach setting for all kinds of music lovers. With plenty of space and keeping an intimate, comfortable fee, BeachLife offered four stages hosting more than 50 artists and plenty of room for vendors and activities for attendees to enjoy.
The Festival
As a relatively new event, BeachLife was established in 2019 to celebrate southern California’s beach life culture, with music, art and community. After canceling last year’s festival, BeachLife finally had a memorable return on September 10th through 12th, 2021.
Though the event had limited capacity and offered a changed lineup from the ‘forgotten 2020’ rundown, BeachLife still managed to bring in some big name acts, while also providing a fun and safe environment for all attendees.
With roughly 9,000 people in attendance, there was tons of energy and entertainment to keep people thrilled throughout the entire weekend. Industry heavyweights, such as Jane’s Addiction, Cage The Elephant, Counting Crows, Fitz and the Tantrums, Ziggy and Stephen Marley, Ben Harper, Portugal the Man and Gary Clark Jr. took the stage over the weekend. The laidback atmosphere and all-inclusive fun were just what fans needed after dealing with the past year and a half of the pandemic. This curated, one-of-a-kind experience is highly recommended and is definitely one not to be missed! This festival was a big win for Redondo Beach and another positive indication that this is the city for music events in the future!
Photo cred: J.P. Cordero
The Lineup
At this year’s BeachLife Festival, plenty of artists spanning a vast variety genres and eras were on the lineup, ranging from nostalgic 80s and 90s rock bands, like Jane’s Addiction, to modern-day alternative indie rock group Portugal. the Man to reggae icons Ziggy and Stephen Marley. BeachLife introduced the fourth stage this year, The Jack Daniel’s Speakeasy Stage, along with its Subaru Pacific Hightide Stage, United Card Events Lowtide Stage and the Riptide Stage. Notable acts on the Hightide Stage (beside the aforementioned) included Tomorrows Bad Seeds, Larkin Poe, The Revivalists, Sugar Ray, Cam, Men at Work, Counting Crows and Thievery Corporation. The Lowtide Stage hosted bands, such as Silversun Pickups, Cage the Elephant, English Beat, The Wallflowers, Fitz and the Tantrums, Fortunate Youth, Gary Clark Jr. and Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals. The Riptide Stage brought on some great up-and-coming bands, including Zella Day, Paris Jackson, The Aquadolls, Gen3, The Main Squeeze and Too Rude. Last, performing the new acoustic Speakeasy stage were Tom Curren, The White Buffalo, Michael Angelo, Jim Lindberg (of Pennywise), Jason Devore (of Authority Zero), LAW (featuring Jakob Nowell), Jason Cruz (of Strung Out) and Mama Troy.
The Venue
Arriving at the beachfront event in King Harbor, you’re greeted with a super-low-key vibe, stunning sweeping views of the ocean and large sandy and grassy areas that are sure to be a place for your dreams to come true. After decades of stagnancy and deterioration, the harbor came back to life as a welcoming outdoor venue for the festival’s musical atmosphere.
After the massive success of BeachLife’s first iteration, 2021 made sure it was known that the fest is here to stay.
The location and vibe of the venue provided much-needed space, giving artists and attendees the chance to breathe and enjoy being out in the fresh air without having to fight a heavy and loud crowd or pay through the nose for entrance.
The layout was perfectly designed for fans to have easy access to all four stages, delicious food vendors, craft beers and cocktails, and games and activities, such as cornhole and Jenga. The stages were Hightide a large grassy area, Lowtide in the sand, the smaller Riptide and the newest Speakeasy Stage for acoustic sets, with perfectly-coordinated set times to give fans enough time to migrate to see their next desired artist.
Photo cred: J.P. Cordero
Conclusion
BeachLife was a fantastic festival experience for the three-day run this year! You’d think that the artists and people working for the event are probably exhausted, but the incredible amount of effort put into making the event a great experience shines through on all of the people in attendance, the people who volunteer their time to make the festival possible and the artists who played. Even though it has spanned two years, the festival shows promise of steadily growing over the years and will likely be recognized as one of the most sought-after events in California. We highly recommend you check out the BeachLife website and Facebook event page to see future festivals the staff will be hosting in the coming years!
Cover photo & thumbnail photo by Ken Pagliaro
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