5B Artists + Media, Which Represents Punk & Metal Bands, Takes Over Free August Shows
Here’s some good news for those of us living in the Los Angeles Beach Cities: the free Hermosa Beach summertime beach concerts will indeed take place in 2019.
There was some question about that when the city and former promoter Allen Sanford of Saint Rocke – which had put on the concerts for the past several years – had a falling out, leaving the status up in the air while the city searched for a replacement.
It found one in 5B Artists + Media, an international artists management and events company. The concerts are highly popular events, a weekly picnic on the sand in August that is a summer highlight event for people in the area.
At look at 5B Artists + Media’s website, tho, causes me to take pause. Its artists are all in the punk and heavy metal genre, which is more fitting for concerts and nightclubs catering to those kinds of fans. Which I am for the most part, but this looks to me to be in complete contrast to the city council’s recent “family beach” approach to running Hermosa. (Which I disagree with, by the way, but on the surface this seems like an odd pairing to say the least.)
My first thought was a flashback to when the city booked Rebelution, a reggae punk/rock music band with a huge fan base that flooded and overwhelmed Hermosa with a, well, less than Hermosa type of crowd. Drinking at the summer concerts is a “behave yourself and we’ll turn our head” affair, but these people were blatant to the point there was a line at the liquor store like you normally find on a Friday or Saturday night at the Pier Plaza bars.
That was back in 2009 and quickly afterward, Sanford stepped in to basically bring his Saint Rocke music venue to the sand with more moderate bands that played in his club.
Now for all I know, 5B Artists + Media will bring in the second coming of the Beach Boys rather than the likes of Megadeath (a LA heavy metal band), Kreator (a German “thrash metal” band according to Wikipedia) or The Bronx, an LA-based punk band.
The lineup has not been revealed, so it’s impossible to say at this point if the company will feature its current bands or maybe has some new acts it wants to showcase. Will Pennywise be one of the bands? The Hermosa Beach group is one of 5B Artists + Media’s acts.
Cory Brennan, CEO and founder of the company, lives in the South Bay and told the city council “I want to bring my daughter; she’s 13. We know what those boundaries are,” which had to generate some sighs of relief in the room. Brennan also said 5B Artists + Media will work with KROQ to promote the event.
He also wants to add a beer garden, tho away from the beach at the location of the Fiesta Hermosa beer garden. This is an interesting concept but could you take your drinks onto the beach? Would a beer garden cause the city to set up 6-man-type security and barricades at the beach entrances? People would balk at this because they bring their own provisions onto the sand.
Frankly, I’ve always said that you could put a few people on stage with guitars, drums and a microphone and still have a great day. The bands have always been secondary, more like background music as a nice “olive in the martini” to the weekend’s cocktail party that is life in the Beach Cities.
Locals don’t turn out to see and hear the bands; they turn out to sit on the beach, have a picnic with friends and to meet and mingle with other locals. I remember when bands like the Drifters and Temptations (or what’s left of them) played the concerts. I was fine with that, and Sanford took it to more of a “concert” level with the likes of Robby Krieger of The Doors.
You also don’t need name, touring or even popular bands to attract people to the concerts. South Bay’ers will be turn out on Sunday afternoons regardless of whom is on the stage. Tho it would be nice to see local bands – Barley, Jeremy Buck, Rising Phoenix, Shari Puorto and the long-playing Joe’s Band – playing the concerts.
What bands will 5B Artists + Media bring to the beach? Something locals can enjoy, I hope.
RELATED POST:
• 5B Artists + Media Gets Two-Year Deal To Put On Hermosa Beach Summer Concerts
Corey Brennan is an investor in Beachlife and does business with Allen Sanford. It is unfortunate that the city did not really do its full due diligence on Corey Brennan.
Thanks for your informative comment!