Hermosa Beach Summer Concerts Vs. Manhattan Beach Polliwog Park

The Best Bands & Scene For Singles And Couples

It’s not exactly a battle of the beaches, but Hermosa and Manhattan Beach – sitting side by side in Los Angeles’ South Bay – have something of a battle of the bands each Sunday in August.

In one corner, it’s Hermosa with its Summer Concert Series featuring locally-touring bands mixing in originals with familiar cover songs playing on the sand by the pier.

In the other corner is Manhattan, which has mostly tribute bands playing in a park.

They are at the same time – tho it’s possible to blast down to the end of Hermosa as the Manhattan show ends half an hour earlier – so which is the better of the two?

Well, here’s the scoop from PubClub.com.

The Hermosa concerts are better – way better – from a singles standpoint. There are hundreds if not a thousand single people on the beach, sitting on towels and blankets in groups of other single people.

The Manhattan concerts are mostly married people, couples and families.

The Hermosa concerts are also on the sand and are a lot more accessible for many people in the South Bay. The Manhattan concerts are in Polliwog Park, which is about two miles from the ocean up Manhattan Beach Blvd.

The Manhattan concerts do have the redeeming value of it being legal to drink alcohol at it. People spread out on sloped grass and sip their wine, beer and homemade cocktails. Technically, drinking on the beach is illegal and for the Hermosa concerts people do it but must keep it concealed.

Manhattan also has a lot of tribute bands (the Beatles, Led Zeppelin and Chicago among them, as well as in the past a PubClub favorite, Scot Bruce at Elvis) while Hermosa has bands that play regularly at the live music venue Saint Rocke, some of which are better suited for a small-ish live music venue rather than a big beach.

But the scene at Hermosa is so good – especially for singles – that the bands are often more of a background melody to conversations rather than the focal point of attention.

Hermosa’s concerts also end at sunset, so you get to see the sun dropping below the pier and into the Pacific Ocean.

And after the shows, Hermosa has this won hands-down because the singles go to the Hermosa Pier Plaza bars after the show to continue their #SundayFunday.

Links:

• Hermosa Beach Summer Concerts Lineup & Review

• Manhattan Beach Polliwog Park Concerts Lineup & Review