Beach games, ska music, and punk music brought people together for the second annual Back to the Beach Festival to rock out with headliners Blink-182, The Used, Goldfinger, and other rock bands April 27-28.
Fans from all over including Kaitlyn Lane from Tucson, Ariz., arrived with her husband, children, and sister-in-law, to enjoy the festival.
“I love the Lil Punk Zone, you have to have a wristband to get in and they have face paint, and games for the kids to play,” Lane said.
Various vendors and organizations in attendance held booths related to the festival, including the non-profit organization, To Write Love on Her Arms.
The organization was there to help bring awareness to mental health, as well as to showcase the work they have done with suicide prevention. One of their campaigns “Tomorrow Needs You” helped raise money during World Suicide Prevention Day/National Suicide Prevention Week.
It would not be a festival without food and drinks. Back to the Beach had plenty of food options to choose from such as teriyaki bowls, nachos and funnel cakes.
Save Ferris, a ska punk band from Southern California, performed an outstanding set where they performed their hit cover “Come on Eileen.” They also performed their hit song “I Know” from the “10 Things I Hate About You Soundtrack.”
“I don’t know what I love more between festivals and headlining shows. When we do a headlining tour, it is far more intimate and at the end of the show we are all good friends,” said Save Ferris’ lead singer Monique Powell.
Even with a limited set time Powell had three wardrobe changes during the performance.
“The costumes are everything for me with the fish nets, and corsets and you can’t help but feel good about yourself when you have all this stuff on, Powell added.” I understand why drag queens do what they do it’s pretty rad.”
The festival continued without a problem, until the Huntington Beach band, The Aquabats!, were unfortunately cut short to make time for the rest of the bands to perform. Despite being cut short, The Aquabats came out with giant inflatable sharks and pizza for fans to use to crowd surf and throw around the pit.
The Los Angeles based band, Goldfinger, treated fans with special guests performances during their set. Performance from lead singer Nick Hexum from 311, singing “Amber” and lead singer Rome Ramirez from Sublime with Rome performing “Date Rape.”
There was no denying that most of the attendees were there for Blink-182. Especially for diehard Blink-182 fan, Ana Delgado, she traveled all the way from Mexico City. She came dressed up as the nurse from Blink-182’s album “Enema of the State” to see the band perform. During the band’s set, they invited Delgado on stage to watch the show from the stage.
Blink-182 performed the entire “Enema of the State” album to celebrate the 20 anniversary of the album. Upon leaving the stage Blink-182 was called back on for an encore and they continued to play “Feeling This”, from their 2003 self titled album Blink-182 and “Bored to Death” from their 2016 album California. They finally ended their set with the 1997 hit “Dammit” from their Dude Ranch album.
Long Island, New York resident Anthony Rodriguez was another attendee who really enjoyed the festival. He said, “We will be back every year from now especially since the ska and punk scene in New York isn’t that big over there.”
Back to the Beach not only brought out the 90’s nostalgia but it was able to welcome a family friendly environment for all ages to enjoy.
