When I found out that the Beachlife Festival in Redondo Beach, California, was on the actual beach, I instantly knew I needed to make a trip to experience it. The festival’s lineup perfectly fits the city it is set in, too. I booked my flight from New York City and a hotel within walking distance from the festival grounds to check out the growing festival.
Day one was headlined by Sting and featured other artists like Seal, The Dirty Heads, Donovan Frankenreiter and G.Love, and more. Logistically, it was one of the easiest and most smooth festival entrances that I’ve experienced.
Entering the gates, it was clear that I wouldn’t have met the target demographic on any Facebook marketing strategy. It was an older festival crowd. Part of that is likely due to it being in the middle of a Friday workday, but look at Friday’s lineup, and it will help explain it, too. Seal’s first hit single was released in 1991. Sting’s first solo album came in 1985, and The Police’s first album came out in 1978. Each have had over three decades of musical dominance.
Looking around the festival you could see almost tiers of fans and friend groups spanning across the decades. The festival was different than others that I’ve been to as I walked to the main ‘High Tide’ stage which had artificial turf stretched over a space as large as a football field filled with festival goers who have laid down blankets and set up camp in front of the stage making it hard to navigate the makeshift turf field. A seated area isn’t uncommon in my festival experience, but it is nice when the festival sets up a place where fans can stand closer to the stage for a better view.
Nonetheless, I did the almost tightrope walk between the rows of the blanket-lined field to watch the Donovan Frankenreiter and G. Love set. It’s an interesting collaboration that they do. G. Love and Frankenreiter both rotate being the lead singers on songs. The set was a bit off. Sonically, it didn’t sound great. The Frankenreiter-led songs were more enjoyable than G. Love’s. The most interesting thing from the set was an artist creating a live painting of the two as they performed.
Following their set was City and Colour on the Low Tide stage. A stage on a literal beach automatically bringing great vibes. For years, I’ve tried to force myself to be a City and Colour fan to no avail. Today at Beachlife Festival finally did the trick. Hearing the music live elevated it far above the studio tracks.
Up to this point, the festival was a bit slow-paced, and I was preparing for a potentially critical review, then Seal took the stage. I had somehow never seen Seal perform live before, but there was a palpable shift in energy when the four-time Grammy Award winner entered the stage.
Dressed in all white, Seal walked to the very edge of the High Tide catwalk with an almost God-like aura. That symbolism was validated when the previously seated crowd rushed to push as close to the iconic vocalist as possible. The contrast between Seal’s sets and the previous festival sets was immediately noticeable.
Going into the day, I expected an enthusiastic reaction from Seal. As an artist and person, he exceeds icon levels, but the reception was above anything I could have expected to the adorning Redondo Beach crowd. Seal hadn’t even finished performing the third song of his set before I saw the first tears of the night and certainly not the last.
Seeing that reaction distracted my attention away from the stage, and I started scanning the crowd. The Beachlife Festival grounds were filled with supreme joy. I don’t think I’ve seen so many smiles in one place. Among the crowd, I was likely in the youngest age demographic. I was swallowed up in a sea of fans from the Baby Boomer generation and even above. Many were jumping and filming the legendary artist’s performance.
Between songs Seal displayed care for the crowd, stating multiple times how much he wish he could talk to them and know how each is doing. He also mentioned more than once and voiced his opinion for only having an hour set. “How am I going to put 35 years into an hour?” With that statement came clarity for some of what I had witnessed with Seal. More than just making the crowd feel cared for and having a loveable accent, Seal has been part of people’s lives for 35 years. And despite doing this for over three decades, at least this day at Beachlife, Seal performed with the energy and enthusiasm that he likely did just after the release of his debut self-titled album.
The 61-year-old hasn’t missed a beat and is one of the most charismatic performers I’ve seen live. Again, going to the crowd, he talked about the most meaningful compliments fans give his music is how it has helped them in life. He mentioned one he received recently: “I grew up with your music,” to which he joked, “So did I,” with a laugh. In the audience, fans shouted, “I did too.” One fan near me yelled out “You saved me in college.”
Again, Seal’s banter with the crowd brought context. There was an uncommon energy in the crowd that I was trying to put my finger on. These older generations were in the crowd screaming and reacting like fan’s in a viral One Direction video in 2013. Seal’s added context brought beautiful clarity. His music was part of the soundtrack of some of the most seminal moments of their lives: High School, College, love, heartbreak, and you name it, Seal had a song for them. They likely saw him during those years. It’s rare for me to have feelings of deja vu, but strangely, I was feeling deja vu for strangers as I watched their reactions. It was moving. These are experiences that I hope to have with my favorite artists in two decades.
All of these feelings were things that I felt before he performed his biggest hit, ‘A Kiss From a Rose.’ That performance was worth the price of admission alone. It was magic. Seal explained the amazing origin story of how he wrote that song messing around with new music equipment that he didn’t know how to use as he tried to make an orchestra sound with just his voice. He described how he didn’t show a song because he didn’t think it was good enough without a friend pushing him. The song ended up in Batman Forever and then onto the charts. A fun story, but an even more fun performance. Couples were dancing, more people were crying, and overall it was awe-inspiring.
Immediately after that, Seal jumped from the catwalk into the crowd and sang nearly all the rest of his set with thousands of festival goers circling around him. If I thought his aura was God-like before, you should have seen this. I don’t particularly appreciate making religious comparisons, but it is the only way to describe what fan’s reactions were being up close and personal as his impressive vocals echoed across Redondo Beach. He touched fans physically and emotionally as he sang more of his music. It was a beautiful close to a moving set.
I could have gone home happy after Seal, but there was still the headliner Sting to see. Another icon. I waited near the stage and watched people waiting between sets rewatching Seal videos on their cell phones. The crowd was really friendly with many wanting to discuss how great Seal was, how excited they were for Sting, and more.
The same things that applied to Seal with fans growing up with his music was true, and sometimes even more true with Sting. Whether as a solo act or with The Police, Sting had influenced so many big moments for fans at Beachlife Festival. When Sting entered the stage it was like I got hit with a sucker punch of energy. How does the 72-year-old singer-songwriter still perform with this intensity? I’m thinking of becoming vegetarian because Sting is and if I could do anything half as good as he performed at 72, than I don’t ever need a steak or chicken nugget again.
Most impressive with Sting was that throughout his hour-and-a-half set, every song was a hit. Most came from his Sting catalog, and some songs from The Police made an appearance, like Roxanne, Message in a Bottle, and Every Breath You Take. One of my favorite parts of his set was the way he complimented his band the entire night with multiple shout-outs. He gave each a chance to shine with a solo that he would follow with praise. It was cool to see him elevate them on his headlining platform. If there is a perfect set. It was this one.
It was a wonderful first day of the Beachlife Festival, well worth the trip. Also, I have to call out how incredible the logistics were for leaving. They opened multiple exit for a perfect and speedy flow for people to leave festival grounds and the planning was impressive.