Day 2 of Beachlife 2024 was a cloudy, chillier affair, but the music was no less great.
Before I dive in, I do have one correction to make from my Day 1 coverage. Yesterday, I said that the fest had done away with GA bathrooms near the Speakeasy stage. As it turns out, the permanent bathrooms in that area ARE GA – they simply hadn’t taken down the VIP signs from last year’s Beachlife Ranch. So my apologies for this erroneous error.
Things started earlier than on Friday, with the first acts going on at noon. While I’m not familiar with all of The Bombpops‘ catalog (love “Notre Dame” though), I liked enough of what I have heard to get myself to the Speakeasy stage early to check out the band’s lead singer Jen Pop do an acoustic set, focused on tracks from her new solo album East Side of Eden. Though she admitted to not being a morning person (or early afternoon in this case), Pop was still a delightful presence to begin the day with. Her vocals sweet with her lyrics salty, her songs had a musical innocence that disguised the bite in her lyrics. Calling out her Misfits influences and joking about Danzig‘s lack of belief in Covid, the sometimes tangential stories in between songs were part of the set’s charm.
Just before Ms. Pop finished, I moved myself over to the next stage to check out young rockers Sun Room. I became a fan of the retro-sounding group last year, having shared their At Least I Tried and Outta Their Minds EPs in our NMF playlist. The young band brought with them the young fans, with the Gen Z audience members outnumbering the older generations. The guys’ stage presence draws from the disaffected cool of The Strokes, even as their songs mesh in the surfy power pop of Weezer and Rooney. While the attitude in tracks like “At Least I Tried” would probably have played better in a small grungy bar than a beach-side stage, more surfy, pop-leaning songs like “Sunset Garage” and “Sol Del Sur” were a perfect fit. And kudos to the band’s bassist for playing with his jaw wired shut (he was recovering from a freak surfing accident).
I had intended to next go see the solo set of Kevin Seconds back at Speakeasy, but my friend Michael Hixon from The Beach Reporter told me that the fest organizers had told him Chevy Metal were not to be missed. I was initially surprised the band was still touring since the passing of the great Taylor Hawkins, but with his son Shane now behind the kit, I figured it was worth dropping by the stage. I picked up a sushi burrito and went to see the beloved cover band. The group opened with a spirited “Next to You” (one of the songs Sting left off his set list the night before). The band kept up the hits of yesteryear from passed/not touring acts like Thin Lizzy (“Jailbreak”), The Kinks (“You Really Got Me”) and David Bowie (“Moonage Daydream”). The young Hawkins got to show-off his skills with Led Zeppelin‘s “Moby Dick” – his old man would be proud. As a surprise, the band brought out legendary punk rocker Lee Ving from Fear to join them on harmonica and vocals for their final songs, including a Van Halen cover.
While they may not have all of their original members, Steel Pulse retained enough to still count as a legacy act, though the band’s original members seemed to be still as spry as their fresher counterparts. While I’m not expect on the the reggae legends’ songs, it wasn’t necessary to be in order to enjoy their politically charged yet groove-filled songs. Songs like “Ravers” were easy to dance to. Loudly spreading messages of peace and anti-racism in between songs, the band’s bassist promoted the good vibes by bringing unsuspecting audience members onto the stage to pluck at his bass, and went up into the side stages to dance with fans. If you’re a fan of reggae music, then this is a band you should see while you can.
The reggae love continued on the next stage with Kona’s Pepper. Though far more punky than Steel Pulse, Pepper‘s debt to roots reggae music comes through in their soulful vocals and dub breakdowns. The band has always been one of the best “sons of Sublime“, with songs like “Stone Love” showing great songwriting chops. In honor of the date (May the 4th), their track “Stormtrooper” was played with extra gusto. While I was enjoying the set, I had to make my way back to the other main stage for the return of Santigold.
A couple years ago, the independent artist had made headlines when she publicly discussed how it had become economically unfeasible for her to tour anymore due to the modern realities of touring costs. It was a discouraging thing to read, as talented artists like her should be selling out venues across the country and able to make a profit from it. So knowing that a full-fledged tour from her may not be forthcoming, I wanted to be sure to have a great spot to see Santigold in action. Back by two dancers/back-up singers, a drummer and a multi instrumentalist, all dressed in white, Santigold didn’t waste time getting into hits like “L.E.S. Artistes” (see video at the top of the page), “Lights Out” and “Say Aha”. I had forgotten how many great bangers the artist had, and despite being admittedly under the weather, Santigold sounded great. Her synchronized dance moves with her band made the stage show mesmerizing, and songs like “Shove It” were big audience pleasers. Even more pleasing was when she brought up a crowd from the audience to join her in dancing on stage (one over-zealous woman tried to get Santigold’s attention to espouse her love for the artist. Gold would hug her on her way off the stage later). This made for a wonderfully fun communal moment to close out her set. I’m happy festivals have recognized that Santigold is a “get”, so I hope she can continue to play live for more fest goers across the world.
While I know how good Local Natives are live, having seen them play an intimate set at Neuehouse in early 2023, I decided to stay where I was to have a good spot for Devo. Throughout the day, Devo hats and shirts were abundant – the band had a lot of die-hard fans in attendance. I spoke to a few fans while waiting, one who had never seen the band in person before, so this was clearly a special moment for him. Others had seen the group many times over the years, and had lined up for frontman Mark Mothersbaugh‘s book signing earlier.
When the band came out and went into “Don’t Shoot (I’m a Man)”, I felt liquid hit my leg. I turned to see something I definitely did not expect to see during a Devo set: a fight. A young woman (20’s) had splashed an older woman (50’s) with beer and was grabbing her hair and throwing punches. Audience members tried to drag the young woman off, causing her to fall to the ground. As they pushed her back, the young woman’s boyfriend started protesting and also began throwing fists with the intervening audience members. As the ruckus moved further back, it became a bigger mess of people falling to the ground, and different people being dragged into the fight while trying to stop the chaos. By the time a security guard made his way from the front of the stage into the GA crowd, there wasn’t much left for him to do. I would learn later that the problem started with the boyfriend pushing his and his girlfriend’s way to the front, and then continuing to be pushy towards the people between him and the gate. When the older woman told him to stop pushing, his girlfriend sucker punched the woman and the fight broke out. While there are always those types of entitled, obnoxious fans who think they can force their way past fans who waited patiently, the mix of alcohol in this case led to them being unruly. The big issue here is that because of the new VIP section between the stage and GA, it’s almost impossible for security to see what’s happening in GA. My recommendation to the festival organizers: Assign security to the back of the VIP section to monitor what’s happening in GA!
Once all of that craziness was over, I was able to return my attention to the legends on stage: Devo! My knowledge of the band didn’t extend far beyond “Whip It” and later single “Fresh”, but seeing how many big fans were there, I was excited to see why the group had retained such a dedicated fanbase over forty years. Songs like “Peek-a-Boo!” and “Going Under” were easy sing-alongs, and I soon got how the band had remained relevant. Though their songs were often lyrically idiosyncratic, they made them into big, catchy crowd pleasers that sounded as good as any other traditional rock n’ roll song when played live. They also made their stage show a blast with various costume changes, video interludes, wacky background loops, and unconventional dance moves. While certain moments like the Booji Boy in-joke were over my head, they didn’t take away from the fun at the heart of all of the band’s music. I’m glad I was able to catch the group on this final run.
It had been a long day, and there was still Incubus to see. I had seen the band way back in college when they were touring behind Morning View. During the early 2000’s, the band were unstoppable, racking up platinum albums and radio hits one after the other. Following 2006’s Light Grenades, the band took five years off before releasing their next album If Not Now, When?, and then six years until their next full-length. Somehow during these breaks, some of the heat wore off as music tastes went in new directions, and the band weren’t getting the same amount of radio hits or accolades. When they were announced as one of the headliners this year, I was a bit surprised. I could see them as number two on the bill, but were they still big enough for headliner status?
Well, the crowds didn’t go anywhere, and based on the videos on the screens of hundreds of people singing along to the hits, the answer is yes. The band is making their full-force comeback. After the hard-hitting “Quicksand”, the band played a trio of hits; “Nice to Know You” (a fascinating composition, with its loud/soft/loud dynamic), the catchy “Anna Molly” and psychedelic “Stellar”. I was here for it. The band then dug into some deep cuts (“Sick Sad Little World”, “The Warmth”) that lost me a bit. I was brought back for the excellent “Pardon Me”, and after that, I found my desire to stay being overtaken by my exhaustion. As I left the venue, I heard the band’s take on The Beatles‘ “Come Together”, and their lounge-rock track “Are You In?”, with a snippet of The Doors‘ “Riders of the Storm” interweaved into the song. This made me think about why the band had survived the era of nu-metal and butt-rock mostly unscathed. Though their songs were heavy, there was always an artiness to them – an adventurousness that delved into classic rock and psychedelia along with hip-hop and electronica that made them more evolved than the average early 2000’s band. I’m glad they’re still around, even if I couldn’t muster up the energy to stick around until the end of their set.
Day 3 was still to come!
The Indy Review 
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