BeachLife Festival brings music, food and art together to celebrate beach culture

The BeachLife Festival, a celebration of beach culture, art, food and — of course — music, returns to Redondo Beach with a lineup of more than four dozen bands on four stages, including acts such as The Black Keys, Gwen Stefani, The Black Crowes, the Pixies, Modest Mouse, Poncho Sanchez, Band of Horses, John Fogerty and others.

While the music plays, talented chefs will be cooking multi-course meals served at a pop-up restaurant right on the side of the main stage and people will be able to check out a music-inspired art show where they can buy original pieces created by famous musicians.

The festival returns to Seaside Lagoon May 5-7 and will once again be anchored by music, food and art.

The music

Get ready to take a 40-ounce chug of freedom because the festival is giving people a nostalgic look back at one of the most celebrated local bands.

“We’re amongst some really talented folks on the bill and it’s just going to be so awesome,” said Rome Ramirez, who along with original Sublime bassist Eric Wilson make up Sublime with Rome.

The band, which formed after the death of Sublime leader Bradley Nowell, is taking the stage on day two of the festival, performing Sublime’s 1992 debut album “40oz. to Freedom” in its entirety.

With their set taking place around sunset on the Lowtide Stage, which is located on the sand and faces the ocean, this could be one of the musical and emotional highlights of the festival.

“This being their first record and what put them on the map, I feel like this is a very very important thing. It’s a big commemoration of what Sublime is,” Ramirez said.

The 23-song album is a mix of hip-hop samples, rock, ska, reggae and punk with some lyrics in Spanish and includes songs like “Smoke Two Joints,” “Date Rape,” and “Badfish.” It helped launch the Long Beach band into iconic status and turned them into hometown heroes.

“I just think this is an album that still sounds fresh. It still does. I’ve been listening to the album while rehearsing and just kind of diving back in and as I’m listening back I’m like, ‘This is so fire, it’s so good,’” he said.

For Ramirez, performing the album live is a way to honor the legacy of the band and its founder.

“Eric has told me before that every time he’s up on that stage all he can think of is Bradley. And I know it sounds cheesy but Brad is with us in everything we do. This was his band, you can hear it in the music, see it in the crowd,” he said

But a day before Sublime with Rome goes old school on the sand, a seminal alt-rock band will be showing a more mature side of themselves on night one of the festival — albeit at an earlier time then they’re used to.

“We’re going on at 6:30, the sun is still out, what the (expletive) is that about,” said Joey Santiago, guitarist of the Pixies, joking about their early evening set Friday evening at the Hightide mainstage.

He quickly acknowledged though that this is actually a pretty good time slot at a festival.

“We played Coachella 2004 when the sun was setting and it is a magical moment,” he said, adding that the beachside setting will only add to the magic.

“I am all for the atmosphere here, that is perfect. I’m glad people are on the beach,” he said.

Fronted by Black Francis, the Pixies are counted as one of the most significant bands of the late 1980s alt-rock movement, serving as a major influence for artists such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Radiohead and Weezer.

Songs like “Here Comes your Man,” “Where Is My Mind,” and “Debaser” are alt-rock classics and last year the band, which broke up in 1993 before reuniting in 2004, released its eighth studio album, “Doggerel.”

“You’re going to hear some of the new songs for sure and then we’re doing the songs people came to see,” Santiago said.

The new album offers a less punk and a more mature sound compared to some of the band’s earlier work. It still rocks but also adds a bit of folk and pop into the mix.

“The punk days were starting to wear out for us, as they should. I don’t know about you but seeing people my age still doing that doesn’t look right,” Santiago said.

The rest of the acts on the lineup however, look just right for Santiago.

“The acts there, yeah, I’m actually going to stick around and check people out,” he said.

The food

Since the festival’s inception in 2019 food has been a key component and a headlining event as well with star chefs preparing high-end meals right on the side of the mainstage at the DAOU SideStage Experience.

Guests at the 100-seat pop-restaurant are served a $100-$275 prix fixe menu crafted by a different chef each day of the festival.

Detailed menus have yet to be ironed out but cooking on May 5 is Josiah Citrin, the Michelin Star-rated chef and owner of Santa Monica’s acclaimed Mélisse Restaurant. On May 6, Chef Antonia Lofaso, the chef and owner of three acclaimed Los Angeles restaurants — Black Market Liquor Bar, Scopa Italian Roots, and DAMA — will be taking over the kitchen.

To close out the festival on May 7, chefs Lijo George and Max Boonthanakit, owners of the Michelin-starred downtown Los Angeles restaurant Camphor will serve the side stage crowd. Camphor recently served a prix fixe dinner at Coachella.

This year there will also be brunch served May 6-7 by pastry chef Stephanie Boswell and Jacob Ramos, who is the culinary director for the BeachLife Festival.

“I wanted to put the best people on the stage to cook and I think we accomplished that,” Ramos said.

He said each chef will try to match the vibe of the music with their menus.

“When you’re listening to The Black Keys and you got Josiah Citrin, a Michelin-starred chef, we could not get a better chef to perform with a Grammy-winning artist,” he said.

“And it’s L.A., it’s right on the ocean, I don’t think there’s a better way to get an experience like that,” Ramos said.

Adding to the food experience for those who don’t want to shell out extra bills to eat well is a lineup of vendors that include locals like smashburger spot Proudly Serving, and popular food spots like Spicy Pie pizza and Poutine Brothers.

“Even the vendors, all of them have very good food, with very good chefs. You’re not going to find a bad piece of food anywhere inside this festival,” Ramos said.

The art

Artwork from One red hot chili pepper and a whole lot of talented musicians will be on display and for sale at the festival’s Punk Rock & Paintbrushes pop-up gallery, which focuses on art inspired by music.

“It began to highlight the talent of professional musicians but in a different way, through their visual art. Whether that meant painting, photography and in any medium,” said Emily Nielsen, the founder of Punk Rock & Paintbrushes.

About 400 pieces of art will be displayed at the festival site.

The lineup of rock star artists showing off their artwork this year include Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, Pennywise vocalist Jim Lindberg, LAW’s Jakob Nowell, The Revivalists’ Andrew Campanelli, Jason Cruz of Strung Out and others.