After an incredible opening day at Redondo Beach’s ‘Beachlife Festival,’ fans filed into the beachfront venue to see another strong lineup of artists headlined by Incubus and DEVO. Walking in, it was hard not to notice the amount of fans wearing Incubus merch and DEVO energy domes among the festival goers. The earlier sets weren’t as exciting as some of the others from the weekend, but it didn’t matter after a thrilling set from Santigold.
Having never seen Santigold live, this was one of the acts that influenced my decision to fly into my first-ever Beachlife Festival. In 2022, Santigold opened up in an Instagram post and later to Variety about the difficult decision and situation that led to her canceling her Holifield tour supporting her new album, Spirituals.
“As a touring musician, I don’t think anyone anticipated the new reality that awaited us,” she wrote. “After sitting idle for the past couple years, [musicians] rushed back out immediately when it was deemed safe to do shows. We were met with the height of inflation, many of our tried-and-true venues unavailable due to a flooded market of artists trying to book shows in the same cities, and positive [Covid] test results constantly halting schedules, with devastating financial consequences. All of that, on top of the already-tapped mental, spiritual, physical, and emotional resources of just having made it through the past few years. Some of us are finding ourselves simply unable to make it work.”
The fan’s excitement to see Santigold was palpable as Santi White took the stage with a drummer, multi-instrumentalist, and two backup singers who danced along with White throughout the set. Together, they combined and brought a high-energy act both on the stage and for festival goers surrounding the main stage. Santigold played hit after hit with songs like ‘L.E.S. Artistes,’ ‘Disparate Youth,’ ‘Shove It,’ and more. The energy of watching from the sandy beach on a beautiful day made it a very memorable festival act.
LOCAL NATIVES
Following Santigold was Orange County’s own Local Natives. The beachside California festival was a perfect setting to see Local Natives. They were incredible live. The set felt almost cinematic at times like it was a scene from an early 2000s teen drama, which was even more fitting, being walking distance from the filming locations from the O.C. Their performance turned me into a fan that will follow and always recommend seeing them live. It was one of the highlights of the entire second day.
WELCOME TO DE-EVOLUTION
However, the ultimate highlight of the day was seeing DEVO. An impressive opening video montage perfectly set the tone for the evening before the legendary band took the stage, donning costumes as they literally brought the crowd and made them feel part of their de-evolution journey. A consistent theme among each video package and costume change was the very de-evolution of which they carried the name. You see labels trying to take away their artistry and creativity and how they fought back with a now-famous campaign highlighting the band’s related idea that instead of continuing to evolve, mankind had begun to regress, as evidenced by American society’s dysfunction and herd mentality.
The level of storytelling they brought to the stage for a festival act was impressive. It doubled as an outstanding musical performance while feeling like an effective music education for a band that pushed boundaries and carried a unique musical legacy. Humor is a thread among everything DEVO does. The band started as a joke when they were students at Kent State University and carried them through collaborations with the likes of David Bowie, Neil Young, and more.
Standing on the beach as DEVO tossed out their infamous energy dome hats was a top ten music moment for me seeing the creativity that they brought to their set and that a band that has been doing it for as long as they have are still re-inventing and trailblazing when it comes to storytelling.
Incubus was the final band and clearly the most anticipated of the evening among the audience. The grounds were filled to capacity, and it was difficult to move around with the anticipation of a Grammy-nominated band. Incubus returned to touring in 2023. Bassist Ben Kenney was no longer touring with the group and was replaced by Nicole Row, who was impressive throughout the set. Seeing the care and memories that fans had with this band and its music was moving to see among the crowd. Whether it was the hits or B-cuts, fans knew every word. Where the gaps from actual performances left more to be desired were filled by the pure nostalgia of the band and the energy of the crowd.
Overall, it was. a perfect California day with a highly curated California soundtrack, creating scenes that felt straight out of the TV shows or movies I grew up with.
