Sting, Incubus, ZZ Top Shine At BeachLife Festival Before High Winds Force Early Shutdown [Photos/Videos]

Trey Anastasio made his BeachLife Festival debut in 2024—just not in the way that anyone had hoped or anticipated. Minutes after organizers canceled the proceedings due to high winds, the Phish frontman was spotted leaving King Harbor in Redondo Beach, CA on the back of a golf cart. Once Trey had left the building, any lingering hopes of catching Trey Anastasio Band (or Fleet Foxes, or My Morning Jacket, for that matter) in the South Bay were officially dashed.

But even an unfortunate ending like that couldn’t spoil what was otherwise another spectacular weekend of music by the beach. The aforementioned cancelations aside, the lineup still offered plenty of noteworthy acts to draw festival-goers from all over Southern California and beyond.

Friday brought some serious British adult-contemporary starpower to bear, between Seal and Sting. The former regaled the audience with stories and personal notes—including his thoughts on songwriting, regaining his sense of purpose from performing, and the chance phone call from Hollywood producer Joel Schumacher that catapulted his career. That all came in between Seal’s smash hits, including “Kiss From a Rose”, “Crazy”, and “Love’s Divine”, the latter two of which he performed while in the thick of the crowd.

Sting closed out the night by playing it cool onstage, as a man and his bass would. The 72-year-old plucked a plethora of hits from his solo catalog, among them “If I Ever Lose My Faith in You”, “Fields of Gold”, “Brand New Day”, and “Desert Rose”. But the most exuberant reactions during Sting’s performance came to new-wave standards from The Police, including “Message in a Bottle”, “I Can’t Stand Losing You”, “Roxanne”, and “Every Breath You Take”.

The rest of the lineup on Friday offered ample variety as well. Between the ripping guitar of Southern California native Donavon Frankenreiter, the Canadian folk-rock of City and Colour, and the hip-hop-infused reggae rock of Dirty Heads, BeachLife’s opening-day vibes were more than eclectic enough to keep just about any live music lover happy.

That was just as true on Saturday, even as rock took control of the aux cord. Incubus led the way, with a headlining set that spanned its more than three decades in music. The Calabasas-bred bunch brought to life signature tracks like “Stellar”, “Pardon Me”, “Warning”, “Wish You Were Here”, and “Aqueous Transmission”. Along the way, lead singer Brandon Boyd had his opportunities to belt out crisp covers, from The Beatles’ “Come Together” and David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance”, to snippets of The Doors’ “Riders on the Storm” during “Are You In?” and Portishead’s “Glory Box” amid “Vitamin”.

The leadup to Incubus on Saturday was no less impressive. Reggae and ska were on full display, between Santa Cruz’s The Expendables, Hawaii’s Pepper, and—most legendarily—Birmingham, England’s Steel Pulse. Chevy Metal brought some pure 1970s rock to bear with help from Shane Hawkins, son of the late Taylor Hawkins, filling his father’s seat on drums. Santigold teased some of the new wave elements that DEVO later brought in spades, particularly when the jumpsuit-clad group dropped its smash hit “Whip It” early in its set. Penultimately, Local Natives served as another Southern California-based warmup act for Incubus on the High Tide stage.

Though the wind cut short Sunday’s slate, the acts that managed to perform before weather intervened ensured the end of the festival was still satisfying for those who showed up early enough.

Sugar Ray made its fifth annual appearance at BeachLife, with lead singer Mark McGrath regaling the crowd with jokes and self-deprecation galore in between Top 40 radio hits like “Someday”, “Every Morning”, “When It’s Over”, and “Fly”. St. Paul & The Broken Bones was arguably Sunday’s best set, thanks in no small part to lead singer Paul Janeway’s impassioned imitation of James Brown—and mid-set sojourn into the VIP area of the High Tide stage.

Margo Price and Courtney Barnett both shined as solo female vocalists, albeit under the auspices of distinct genres. Margo’s twangy-yet-honest honky tonk country had fans at the Low Tide stage dancing in the sand to “Hurtin’ (On the Bottle)”, “A Little Pain”, and “Four Years of Chances”. Courtney followed that up by bringing her dry, lo-fi indie punk to the High Tide stage, with rambling classics like “Avant Gardener” and “Pedestrian at Best”.

ZZ Top got what turned out to be the last crack at it before the wind took over, and the band didn’t disappoint. The Houston-based trio celebrated 50 years of music with a slew of hits, including “Gimme All Your Lovin’”, “Sharp-Dressed Man”, and “Legs”. Billy Gibbons and company were able to sneak in just a handful of notes from “La Grange” before the festival organizers cut the sound and instructed everyone to vacate the premises.

Though the early shutdown was a disappointment—especially for those hoping primarily to catch Fleet Foxes, Trey Anastasio Band and/or My Morning Jacket on Sunday—that did little to detract from the excellence that had been on display for two-and-a-half days.

Those who have come to love and appreciate BeachLife can only hope that the weather-induced mishap won’t weigh on the festival financially, and allow it to come back in full force come 2025. Check out a gallery of images from BeachLife Festival 2024 courtesy of photographer Josh Martin below, along with a collection of fan-shot videos by Mo Sin Clutch unless otherwise noted.

Sting — “Message In A Bottle” — BeachLife Festival 2024