Rock Tribute Bands Play May Thru Labor Day In This LA Mountain Village
As I crawl up Highway 18 in my car, shifting down to second gear to negotiate the curves and careful to keep my eye on the road while trying to sneak peeks of the dramatic drop-off views just out of the passenger-side window, I know I’m headed someplace different for the weekend.
I’m headed to Lake Arrowhead for a Los Angeles weekend road trip at the invitation of a friend who has a cabin here. He treats me to days on the lake aboard his pontoon boat and in the evenings we go to the free Summer Concert Series in the Village.
The concerts are fun. There are tribute bands from rock legends – the 2017 lineup includes the Rolling Stones, Beatles, Led Zeppelin and the The Doors, among others – and take place every Friday and Saturday evening from mid-May thru Labor Day. Click here for the entire 2017 lineup of bands.
Our routine is pretty simple. My friend knows everybody in town and we have to pop into a couple of the bars beforehand to shake hands (or, more accurately with my friend, to clink glasses). We have a wine at The Grapevine then check out what craft beers they are pouring at the Lakefront Tap Room.
We then wander over to the venue, grab a couple of beers and enjoy the music. It’s hardly the wildest scene I’ve ever been in and is nothing close – not in the size and liveliness of the crowds to the singles scene – to the Hermosa Beach Summer Concert Series that takes place a couple hours away from here on Sunday evenings in August.
Still, it’s enjoyable. Quite enjoyable, in fact. The bands are good, sometimes really good, and you get to rock out to great and recognizable music and you’re outside. People are dancing, they are singing and smiling, you’re wearing shorts and sandals and it doesn’t take much for me to realize that life is pretty good up here.
The concerts are an easy, carefree way to spend a weekend night and are soooo far mentally away from L.A. There are tall pines all around you and the Village looks down on a blue lake.
I mean to think that in two hours one can go from the beach, where I live, or the congestion of, say downtown L.A. (or congestion pretty much anywhere in L.A.) and be here listening to a rock tribute band is pretty amazing.
Lake Arrowhead Village Address & Map
• 28200 Highway 189, Lake Arrowhead, CA
You really captured the fun side of Lake Arrowhead during the summer. The concerts are fun and exciting. One band I really enjoyed was the Motels. I look forward to seeing what’s coming in 2018!
Thanks so much Jeanette. I do have the lineup of bands for 2018 in a separate post so I’ll have to link that to this story. See you there!? –– PubClub Kevbeaux