With each passing year, the live-music footprint grows and expands in Downtown Long Beach. On any given night, residents and visitors can find live music in one form or another while cruising the streets looking for a spot to eat, drink and be merry.

 

Countless restaurants and bars now have a live-music element several nights of the week. Whether it’s a small jazz band, a pianist, or a singer with an acoustic guitar, musical ambiance is a growing trend.

The 2015 New Year’s Eve event, which featured several stages of live music, attracted nearly 13,500 people. (Photograph courtesy of the DLBA)

 

Downtown has also seen an increase in the number of music festivals and events, including the Music Tastes Good festival, Live After 5 events, Buskerfest, the Long Beach Jazz Festival and many more.

 

“Seeing the number of businesses that are supporting the music industry by having musicians in to perform and do events, and how most of the programming downtown is now music-based, it seems like something finally clicked, and people realize that music is a great reason for people to get together,” Rand Foster, owner of Fingerprints record store, said.

 

Foster’s record store was originally located on 2nd Street in Belmont Shore but relocated to its current location on 4th Street in the East Village at the end of 2010. One of the main pushes to move was support from the Downtown Long Beach Alliance (DLBA) to hold the Summer and Music series in the downtown area. Foster saw an opportunity for a more musical culture in the downtown area and wanted to be a part of it.

 

Fingerprints is host to sporadic live shows, including acts such as the Foo Fighters, Thrice and Taking Back Sunday. Foster said that, at one point, his shop was one of the only places that had live music events downtown and that, by encouraging more business owners to support local music, he may have made his own events a little less special. But, he continued, that is a small quibble because he has furthered his goal of helping to create a music scene, and he has kept local musicians playing in town.

 

“I think it’s extremely important. I think that music, almost singularly, has the ability to really change a space for the better,” Foster said. “[Visual] art does it to an extent. But art tends to be less interactive, with some people viewing it as an extension of wallpaper, where music really does kind of grab onto you and engage you. Music, to me, is the most immediate of all the things we file under ‘art.’”

 

Dan Halperin, talent buyer for the Music Tastes Good festival, said that music events and festivals are a great way for Long Beach to bring bands and artists to the city that otherwise would never play here, opting instead for established venues in Los Angeles and Orange County for tours. Festivals and one-off performances get them in front of Long Beach residents.

 

“It’s just what makes this city great. We can all live without it, but I just think it adds so much to how vibrant this city is. People are taking notice,” Halperin said. “It’s just such an eclectic city. I wouldn’t live anywhere else other than Long Beach.”

 

Halperin said that, little by little, large-scale music events have been occurring responsibly and demonstrating to city officials that they can be worthwhile economic drivers, as well as add to the vibe of the downtown.

 

“I think it contributes to the artistic nature of this city. There’s a reason why POW! WOW! comes here and does its events. And there’s a reason why The Loop exists over there on Pine and Ocean,” Halperin said. “There are so many musicians who live in this city. So many bands formed in this city. So many bands broke up in the city. I mean, it’s silly for us to only have a handful of venues to see live music.”

Tall Walls, a Long Beach band, won the 2015 Buskerfest, which included a cash prize that enabled the group to release their latest record, “Oil & Gas,” on November 17. Pictured from left are: Greggory Moore, percussionist; Roberto Escobar, bassist; Jay Penev, former drummer; and Daniel Perkins, singer and guitar player. (Photograph by Sylvana Uribe, courtesy of Tall Walls)

 

Summer and Music had more than 12,000 in attendance over the course of the events, inducing Buskerfest and Shugazi, according to Gina Dartt, marketing and events manager for the DLBA. She added that Live After 5 has featured 130 bands and artists at 24 shows since beginning in 2014. Also, last year’s New Year’s Eve event attracted about 13,500 people.

 

“Having events like this to really shine a light on our local talent is paramount to keeping the arts scene thriving,” Dartt said. “Downtown’s New Year’s Eve has unquestionably become a staple for music lovers, not just in Long Beach but throughout the Southland.”

 

Music festivals and events benefit not only the city’s economy and the residents who get to enjoy the music and the atmosphere, but also the local musicians themselves. Daniel Perkins, guitarist and lead vocalist for Long Beach band Tall Walls, said the way the city civically takes bands from the scene and gives them so many public opportunities to perform is unique.

 

Perkins described events like Buskerfest as a marriage between the business community, the city and the artistic community, which really benefits everyone by allowing musicians to play locally and bringing patrons to the surrounding businesses.

 

“Our band was the winner of the Buskerfest just over a year ago. And, without a doubt, that gave us the springboard to go outside of the city,” Perkins said. “We played an event at the Rose Bowl that was promoted by Goldenvoice that was a vegan beer and food fest. We played in the backyard of the executive producer of ‘The Simpson’s’ for a private party with Weird Al Yankovic, Rancid and The Specials.”

 

In a more tangible expression of the band’s benefit from the city’s musical events, they received a cash prize as the winners of Buskerfest, which Perkins said effectively funded the band’s latest record, “Oil & Gas,” that was released on November 17.

 

“Businesses are lucky to have the artists, and artists are lucky to have the businesses and the city to help them out,” Perkins said. “As a resident of Long Beach, kind of taking off my musician cap for a minute, I think it’s a really great part of what’s creating a lot of momentum in this city – authentic cultural momentum.”

Brandon Richardson is a reporter and photojournalist for the Long Beach Post and Long Beach Business Journal.