BeachLife Festival: Few worries, masks as fans return to hear live music

It didn’t fuss Marcela Gutierrez that she had to question to Redondo Beach from her location successful Reseda connected Thursday to amusement her COVID-19 vaccination card. And Gutierrez didn’t attraction that she had to parkland a mile distant successful a residential country and hazard a summons erstwhile she made the instrumentality travel to Seaside Lagoon connected Friday.

After much than a twelvemonth without attending a performance the 24-year-old was ecstatic to person the accidental to basal successful beforehand of respective stages astatine the BeachLife Festival, possibly adjacent getting up to the beforehand enactment to spot Jane’s Addiction — her favourite set — connected Friday night.

“I’m astir choked up astir it. It’s yet feeling real. Not that everything is normal, but contiguous I deliberation it’s going to beryllium a large time to hide astir everything else,” she said conscionable earlier she entered the festival.

Sign up for our Festival Pass newsletter. Whether you are a Coachella lifer oregon similar to ticker from afar, get play dispatches during the Southern California euphony festival season. Subscribe here.

After canceling successful 2020 owed to the coronavirus pandemic, BeachLife returned to Seaside Lagoon Sept. 10 to footwear disconnected 3 days of euphony and amusive successful the sun. The opening time lineup included much than a twelve acts specified arsenic Jane’s Addiction, Silversun Pickups, Save Ferris, Tomorrow’s Bad Seeds and others connected 4 stages, including the caller SpeakEasy Stage with acoustic performances by punk musicians, surfers and skaters.

The festival continues Saturday with Counting Crows topping the measure and wraps Sunday with Ziggy and Stephen Marley performing a acceptable of songs by their precocious begetter Bob Marley.

“This is conscionable the benignant of time we thought astir and yet radical are enjoying themselves and we’re getting distant from it for a portion and that’s what we wanted to do,” said BeachLife co-founder Allen Sanford, arsenic helium walked crossed the artificial tract by the main signifier connected time 1 of the three-day festival.

While Gutierrez parked a region distant and had a spot of a locomotion to get to the festival, erstwhile she arrived astatine astir 2 p.m., astir an hr aft gates opened, determination was virtually nary enactment to get in.

“We’re cruising close through,” she said earlier entering done the main gate.

Set up akin to BeachLife’s inaugural tally successful 2019, the 18,000-person capableness festival grounds included a assemblage that Sanford said successful August would beryllium importantly little than 10,000 people, the threshold astatine which Los Angeles County’s disguise mandate applies for “mega events.” He declined to accidental however galore tickets were sold.

On Friday afternoon, the assemblage was easy into the thousands, but importantly smaller than the festival’s debut successful 2019, which had a capableness of 12,000 people.

While waiting to participate the festival, Gutierrez said she was considering wearing a disguise anyway, conscionable to marque definite she’s safe.

Beyond the smaller crowd, determination weren’t galore ocular clues that BeachLife was happening during the pandemic. Nearly everyone successful the attendance astatine the outdoor lawsuit walked astir without masks, including fans, immoderate nutrient vendors and bartenders and constabulary officers connected site.

Crowds mingled arsenic accustomed astatine the assorted barroom areas and bobbed heads close adjacent to each different successful beforehand of the assorted stages arsenic they did backmost astatine the inaugural fest successful 2019.

However, BeachLife did require attendees to amusement impervious of vaccination oregon a antagonistic coronavirus test to participate the festival. The festival besides offered on-site accelerated coronavirus tests for a fee.

“It conscionable feels good, man, nary worries, nary thing but euphony this weekend,” said 52-year-old Peter Collins of Costa Mesa arsenic helium walked connected the soil by the Lowtide signifier during Save Ferris’ aboriginal day set.

And since the festival is each astir celebrating the chill formation vibes, determination were respective areas with games and a spot with respective hammocks dispersed retired for those who needed a powerfulness nap earlier the adjacent set.

There were a fewer families successful attendance connected Friday, including 48-year-old San Diego nonmigratory Bill Kilby and his 14-year-old lad Devin Kilby, who played ping pong adjacent the Lowtide stage.

“My lad and I spell to a performance each summertime astatine slightest erstwhile a twelvemonth truthful aft COVID we were itching to get backmost retired truthful we’re stoked,” helium said.

Both were vaccinated earlier coming to the amusement and felt harmless with the information protocols astatine the festival.

“It’s not similar we’re throwing caution to the wind. There’s benignant of a bully equilibrium of making definite we’re harmless and not excessively overmuch lockdown,” helium said. “It’s decidedly a bully vibe. Killer upwind and euphony and thing by the water, it’s similar the champion things successful the world,” helium said.