“I think Long Beach’s roots in the OC punk scene, the Sublime backyard parties, the riots they had at Fender’s Ballroom, the noise complaints at Bogart’s, some of the punk shows and some of the violence and drunkenness and neighborhood issues that spilled out of the Foothill, I think that the city looked at music as something that was a component in problems,” Rand Foster said.
Foster has been an advocate for music in Long Beach for more than two decades. He opened Fingerprints record store on 2nd Street in Belmont Shore in 1992, and relocated it to 4th Street downtown several years ago. Over the course of the last decade, he said he has seen a shift in the city’s opinion of music, which he attributes to a change in leadership, as well as several positive examples of music being a good economic driver.
Through his work organizing music festivals, Foster has played a role in the city’s changing view of music. There have been many people involved, and he said it is weird to talk about because he doesn’t want to sound like he is taking credit. However, others were more than willing to speak on his behalf, including Jay Buchanan, the singer and harmonica player for local rock band Rival Sons.
“I think it starts with Rand [Foster] and Justin Hectus and Ashley [Hectus] and everyone coming together,” Buchanan said. “It just took a couple of people to really stand their ground and say look, this really can work. They built models that were practical and worked, and I think that definitely shifted people’s perceptions. Now it continues to progress and grow, and that’s huge. I’m very proud of my friends.”
In recent years, the city has hosted several large annual music festivals, including the recent Music Tastes Good. Foster said a catalyst for this trend was Summer And Music, a concert series that he helped organize which is now in its eighth year and includes the annual Buskerfest. He said the first event showed city officials and residents that having musical events could enrich the community both culturally and economically.
“I think there was kind of a collective awareness shift at about the same time. It didn’t go to one guy in the permit department who liked the idea. It was kind of this systemic thing,” Foster said. “And the city changed a little bit. The city became a little bit hipper, a little bit cooler, a lot more bike-oriented, and so having these kinds of things for people who live in the community makes sense.”
Along with officials embracing large music festivals around the city, entertainment permits seem to be easier for businesses to obtain, according to Mark DiPiazza, owner of DiPiazza’s, a music venue and Italian eatery. He said he welcomes more restaurants and bars offering live music on a consistent basis and hopes Long Beach can musically become the next Austin, Texas, instead of the sleepy city it was in the 1990s.
Bands That Made It
Long before the city’s newfound infatuation with music and music events, Long Beach produced many great local bands, musicians and artists. Music listeners worldwide know Sublime and Snoop Dogg, who mention the city on numerous tracks, and each has produced several side projects. However, the pool of talent out of Long Beach is much deeper.
The 1970s funk sensation War was formed in Long Beach and produced singles such as “Lowrider” and “Why Can’t We Be Friends?” and the best-selling album of 1973, “The World Is a Ghetto.” The surf-rock group The Pyramids called Long Beach home and enjoyed success with their song “Penetration,” which they performed on “American Bandstand” with Dick Clark in 1964.
One of the longest-running acts out of Long Beach is the folk group The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, which formed in 1966 and has been performing ever since. The group is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.
Long Beach locals (from left) John McEuen, Jimmie Fadden, Jeff Hanna and Bob Carpenter came together to form The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1966. Fadden said the band met at McCabe’s Guitar Store where they would hang out and talk music. During their 50 years, the members have moved away from the city but still consider Long Beach home. (Photograph courtesy of The Press House)
“The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band was a big deal. I didn’t grow up in Long Beach, but growing up out of the area, they were totally on my radar,” Foster said. “They kind of went out and took the world. I lived here for a long time before I realized they are a Long Beach band.”
The original members of the band were surfers who attended Long Beach schools, including Millikan, Jordan and Wilson high schools. Jimmie Fadden, the band’s drummer, explained that the group met at McCabe’s Guitar Shop, where they would gather around the coffee table and talk about songs and songwriters and traditional music during what they called the “folk-music scare of the 1960s.”
“At that time, the culture wasn’t quite as diverse. But I think [Long Beach] was a place with a lot of opportunities, and it gave you the chance to explore those without being too much of an outcast,” Fadden told the Business Journal. “I didn’t fit in at school, and I had friends that didn’t fit in either. And we sort of found each other, I guess.”
Some of the career highlights, according to Fadden, were opening for The Doors, touring Russia, winning Grammys, winning albums of the year, having a record put in the Library of Congress and having their song “Mr. Bojangles” receive radio play. He said the list could go on but that “just being able to continue to do this is probably the most exciting of all – having an audience who still wants to be there for you.”
Over the years, the members of the band have moved away from the city. Guitar player Jeff Hanna lives in Nashville, keyboard player Bob Carpenter lives in Los Angeles, guitarist John McEuen lives in Bradenton, Florida, and Fadden lives in Sarasota, Florida. However, the band still considers Long Beach home, being sure to mention it at every show. Fadden even admits that he drives past his old house every couple of years when he is in town.
In an unpredictable turn of events, after years of not playing in the city, the Dirt Band was invited back to Long Beach to play the Folk Revival Festival earlier this month, on September 17, the same day as Fadden’s 50th reunion for Millikan High School.
“We could be playing a million other places in this country, ‘cause we’ve played just about any town you can think of. Yet for some reason we’re in Long Beach,” Fadden said the day before the festival. “We’re excited. We have a lot of family and friends coming. It’s going to be an event for us. It’s going to be one of those moments in Dirt Band history, as they say. Another underscored line in the pages of 50 years of Dirt.”
While the Nitty Gritty boys have certainly been around consistently for a long time, a younger generation of notable artists has impacted the Long Beach music scene of today. According to Foster, one of those bands is the Cold War Kids.
Originally from Fullerton, the band relocated to Long Beach in 2008. Matt Maust, bass player for the band, said the group has a lot of roots in Long Beach, though they did not play a lot in the city, allowing some separation between their home lives and their musical careers.
However, the band did perform at Foster’s old record store location on 2nd Street on multiple occasions and even put out a CD of a live recording from one of those performances. Maust also said the city had a profound effect on the band’s overall mentality.
“I think we developed our character of community and camaraderie in Long Beach,” Maust said. “There’s always been a side of our band that’s very much . . . about the community. Just the name of our band, it’s very all-encompassing, more than just the band.”
Foster described Cold War Kids’ sense of community as a key factor in boosting the local music scene. He explained that having the Cold War Kids live in Long Beach and have other musicians hang out at their house or come play shows in the city was a huge push in the right direction. Foster said the band brought to the area We Barbarians, Delta Spirit and members of Everest, which would become Tijuana Panthers, one of Maust’s favorite Long Beach bands.
“So it’s like this whole, kind of, fledgling scene came out of Cold War Kids having a space here [where] they would have bands come over and party and hang out,” Foster said.
Maust described the early days of the band in Long Beach and how instrumental local music engineer Matt Wignall was for the band. Wignall recorded the band’s first two singles “Hang Me Up To Dry” and “Hospital Beds” and also allowed the band to rehearse in his studio in Long Beach before they acquired a practice space in San Pedro.
Aside from Cold War Kids, Maust and drummer Joe Plummer formed a side project with Tijuana Panthers’ Daniel Michioff called Coromandelles. The group put out a record on a small DIY record label in Long Beach called Porch Party Records.
Another musician that came up through the Long Beach music scene was Jay Buchanan of Rival Sons. Originally from Wrightwood, Buchanan moved to Orange County after school and started playing music.
Rival Sons is a rock and roll band out of Long Beach that formed in 2009. Recently, Rival Sons was handpicked by Ozzy Osbourne to support Black Sabbath on its current and final “The End Tour.” Pictured from left: Mike Miley, drums; Dave Beste, bass; Scott Holiday, guitar; and Jay Buchanan, vocals and harmonica. (Photograph courtesy of Alternative Distribution Alliance, a Warner Music Group Company)
“Then I met some people from Long Beach and loved it right away,” Buchanan said. “There used to be a band called Ruby Diver back in ’99 or 2000. I was still a kid, and they introduced me to some of these clubs and some great people. I liked all of those cats right away. They’re some of my best friends.”
Buchanan said when he showed up, the scene was rich with bands that played often, usually at an art co-op in an industrial park on Pacific Coast Highway near the 710 Freeway. He said that was the scene’s hotspot for shows and parties. The space also doubled as home to many musicians, including Buchanan.
“When I got to Long Beach, I was attracted to the chops that everybody had. Everybody was really nice, but it was definitely a very insulated family scene. And I knew that it would take a little while – and it did – to get on the inside,” Buchanan explained. “But next thing I knew, I was living at the space in one of those rooms there, and it was all just musicians that were living there. It was like whatever that island is where Pinocchio goes to, and he and all the little boys turn into donkeys.”
Mark DiPiazza reminisced about Buchanan when he was just starting in the local scene. He recalled having Buchanan fill in as the sound technician at his previous venue, Java Lanes. “Rival Sons is probably the biggest Long Beach band right now out there,” DiPiazza said.
Speaking about Rival Sons, Foster also said the band is currently one of Long Beach’s biggest champions in the music world. He brought up how the band was handpicked by Ozzy Osbourne to support Black Sabbath on their current and final “The End Tour.”
“It’s a dream come true. We’re a rock ‘n’ roll band to our core. I feel like that’s what Rival Sons is. And rock music has really taken a beating,” Buchanan said. “To be hand-picked by Ozzy and offered an entire tour as the sole support band – the only support band – it’s Cinderella story type stuff. And we’re out here every night playing to, like, 30,000 people. It’s a huge opportunity for us, and to be passed the torch that way is the s–t you dream about.”
Rivals Sons also played at Long Beach’s latest music festival, Music Tastes Good, as the headlining act on day one, Friday, September 23. This was the first time the band has played its home city since the 2015 Buskerfest. A week before Music Tastes Good, Buchanan said he couldn’t be happier about playing in the city and that he was “over the moon” that he gets to see family and friends.
Other notable local artists mentioned by Buchanan, Foster, DiPiazza and Maust include Free Moral Agents (whose founding member Isaiah “Ikey” Owens would go on the play with The Mars Volta and Jack White), Avi Buffalo, Crystal Antlers and This Wild Life.
Local Venues And Current Music Scene
With so many musicians concentrated in one city, residents need quality venues in which to watch them perform.
“There’s nothing like live music for me,” DiPiazza said. “Yeah, you can watch on your computer, but, like, you can watch a baseball game, but if you’re in the stadium it’s a lot different. Or you can watch a concert on TV, but if you’re there, it’s like night and day. That’s how I feel.”
DiPiazza has been a music staple in Long Beach since 1995 when he opened Java Lanes and began hosting shows. In 2000, he opened DiPiazza’s and closed Java Lanes two years later. Since opening, his new location has hosted countless shows featuring local bands and artists.
When there’s live music, typically a $5 or $7 cover is charged at DiPiazza’s so that he can afford to pay the bands. He said he finds it funny hearing stories about other venues that might charge $10 or $15 for a cover and have a decline in tickets sales, considering people have no problem paying hundreds of dollars for already famous artists such as Fleetwood Mac or Beyonce.
DiPiazza said he’ll occasionally have customers balk at his cover charge, but once he explains that the money goes directly to the performers, they gladly pay. After all these years, DiPiazza said he and his wife still love the business and are excited for the future of music in Long Beach.
Mark DiPiazza, pictured inside his music venue and restaurant, DiPiazza’s, has been a staple of the Long Beach music scene for more than two decades. His first venue, Java Lanes, opened in the city in 1995 and closed in 2002. In 2000, DiPiazza opened his current venue at 5205 E. Pacific Coast Hwy., across from the Recreation Park Golf Course. (Photograph by the Business Journal’s Larry Duncan)
“It’s cool to be in a little venue and watch these guys come up and watch them make it. It’s very, very cool for me,” DiPiazza said. “I think the music scene is getting better and better. I say let everybody have a license to do live music – the more the merrier. If you can’t compete and you’re too slow, then you’re not booking the right bands.”
Alex’s Bar is another standout venue in the city that has seen the music scene evolve. Buchanan recalls when Alex Hernandez opened the venue in 2000. “I remember thinking, ‘Great, he’s trying to do something good. The city’s going to shut him down,’” he said. “But he made it work. Whatever mysticism or spell he cast over everybody, it’s good to know that he has survived.”
While having many smaller venues for locals to play, Long Beach has had a gap in its music world since 2008 when the former Vault 350 closed. The Vault was a mid-range venue with a crowd capacity of around 1,200 people. Venues such as this are perfect for national or international acts that draw crowds too large for small clubs such as DiPiazza’s and Alex’s but are not yet able to fill larger venues such as the Terrace Theater or Carpenter Center.
The vacant venue has experienced several failed attempts at a comeback over the years; however, Michelle Molina of Millworks in Long Beach purchased the property in June of last year and hopes to fill in this missing piece of the city’s music scene.
“People are expecting us to hit it out of the park when we open, so we won’t just do something like slap up some drywall and open with just our friends playing music and PBR on tap,” Molina said. “Those are all great things, but I think the expectations [are higher]. And it’s got to be just as special for the entertainers as it is for the audience, so we’re taking our time.”
Once completed, the remodeled venue will have a general admission capacity of around 1,500 and will host an eclectic schedule of shows, not focusing on any one genre specifically. Molina also hopes the venue will operate with shows seven days a week, including all-ages shows. She explained that the thriving under-21 generation of music fans “deserve that respect and a place where they can come and listen to bands and support their friends in bands and walk away with a great experience.”
Many of the details regarding the venue are being kept from the public because Molina wants the opening to be somewhat of a surprise. She did mention that the previous developer opened up the ceiling, exposing the vintage tile and plaster work, which she said is very beautiful and gives the venue a cool, historical vibe.
The new name of the venue is also being kept secret, with Molina taking a page from J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” series, referring to the space as “That-That-Will-Not-Be-Called-The-Vault.” Despite previous estimates of a completion time, Molina said there is not a set timeframe for the venue to open but hopes the new venue does not affect any of the smaller venues in the city.
“We don’t want to cannibalize from anyone who is already doing great shows here. It’s a small town. We’re all friends,” she said. “Our city is so diverse that we need to be able to not only provide music with that diverse programming intent but also expose people to music they might not otherwise go see.”
The Future of Music in Long Beach
With countless outlets for live music and an abundance of talented musicians, Foster said the Long Beach music scene has a lot of momentum. He said that he has seen support for local music increase from when he first opened up shop on 2nd Street.
“What that turns into and how that manifests itself? Anybody’s guess is as good as mine. I’m encouraged by it,” Foster said. “I like to see very young bands, and people are moving here to start bands. It’s just an amazing spectrum of talent here, and the city is embracing it, which is great.”
Foster hopes residents will continue to support local musicians so they can focus on their art instead of being baristas to make ends meet. Buying records, going to shows, taking a friend and paying the cover charge are ways to support the local music scene, Foster said. By doing this, bands can continue doing what they love and appreciate the city they call home.
“For me, I’m a Long Beach guy, and . . . any band that I’m going to be in is going to be a Long Beach band. And I established that very early on,” Jay Buchanan said. “I don’t know where it started, but it’s a tradition for a Long Beach band to say it right out of the gate, ‘Hey, we’re so-and-so. We’re from Long Beach.’ So it doesn’t matter where in the world we are. ‘Hey, we’re the Rival Sons from Long Beach, California.’ There’s a pride in that.”