There may not have been much literal sunshine at this year’s BeachLife Festival in Redondo Beach, CA, but that didn’t stop the sea of GenX parents, weekend warriors, and bucket-hat rookies from soaking up the vibes, the tunes, and the salty breeze at King Harbor at last weekend’s 2025 edition of the event. With pleasantly overcast skies, a laid-back atmosphere, and a lineup tailor-made for folks who grew up riding in the backseat to Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill, BeachLife 2025 was three days of feel-good fun, fuzzy memories, and full-circle moments.
The stacked lineup—from Morissette, Lenny Kravtiz, and Sublime to Jackson Browne and The Beach Boys with John Stamos—brought the heat, even if the marine layer wouldn’t budge.
The weekend kicked off with Lenny, the ultimate cool-cat fire-starter, delivering a headlining set that oozed funk, rock, and timeless swagger. “TK421” grooved like a lost Prince classic, and a run of “American Woman” into “Fly Away” and “Are You Gonna Go My Way” lit a fire under the crowd. For the encore, the 60-year-old paired “Let Love Rule” with a heartfelt speech about compassion, togetherness, and flipping the script on the division that’s been riding heavy. It felt like a call to arms—if those arms were covered in bracelets and dancing in the breeze.
Earlier in the day, UK rockers The Struts hit the stage with a stadium-sized attitude and glittered-up glam. Lead singer Luke Spiller admitted the band hadn’t played together in a while, though you wouldn’t have known it from their set. “Too Good at Raising Hell” hit just as planes soared overhead, leaving smoke trails and adding perfect drama to Spiller’s command to the crowd to “shake your asses.”
O.A.R. leaned into the nostalgia with ease, pulling from their high school cafeteria origins all the way through to “That Was a Crazy Game of Poker”. The Rockville, Maryland-based band paid homage to the festival’s locale with California, and tagged Sublime’s “Pawn Shop” during “Dareh Meyod” to foreshadow Saturday’s headliner.
Aloe Blacc might’ve had the cleanest set of the day: soulful, sharply dressed, and crowd-inclusive, encouraging a full-on Soul Train dance line during “Can You Do This”. The Orange County native bookended his set with “I Need a Dollar” and “Wake Me Up”. with a nod to his sampling of Elton John on “The Man” in between.
Phantom Planet closed its cozy set at the Speakeasy Stage with (what else?) “California”, sending The O.C. faithful into a nostalgic haze, while Digable Planets took us back even further, dropping smooth jazz-rap and teasing Ice Cube and Grandmaster Flash with lyrical nods.
Come Saturday, Sublime made its 2025 return to BeachLife—not with Rome Ramirez, as they last did in 2023, but rather with Jakob Nowell, son of the late Bradley Nowell, front and center. It was an emotionally charged and authentically gritty homecoming. “Santeria”, “Badfish”, “Date Rape”, and even a breezy take on “Scarlet Begonias” (a nod to the Grateful Dead via the Sublime filter) had the crowd swaying with beers in hand and toes in the turf. The vibe was unmistakably Long Beach.
Sugar Ray, BeachLife’s unofficial house band thanks to part-owner Mark McGrath, served up its usual self-aware, Gen X comfort food. “Every Morning”, “Fly”, and a surprisingly groovy cover of Ginuwine’s “Pony” got people moving, while McGrath reminded everyone (repeatedly) that yes, he knows he’s on every 2000s playlist ever made.
The afternoon saw a resurrection of ska spirit from Long Beach Dub Allstars, who peppered in Operation Ivy, Sublime, and Marley covers like salt on fries. Susanna Hoffs brought shimmering ‘80s pop polish with her solo takes on The Bangles’ catalog, highlighted by “Hazy Shade of Winter” (via Paul Simon), “Manic Monday”, “Eternal Flame”, and a crowd-singing “Walk Like an Egyptian.”
Over at the Marley Family camp, Skip Marley—joined at times by brother Soul Rebel Marley—laid down the roots, paying homage to his grandfather with classics like “Jammin’”, “Is This Love”, and “Get Up Stand Up”. It was pure sun-reggae serenity on a gray afternoon.
Cake kept things weird and wonderful, diving into hits like “The Distance” and “Short Skirt/Long Jacket” with its signature sarcasm and deadpan delivery.
Sunday belonged to Alanis Morissette, who turned the festival’s final hours into an empowering, cathartic singalong. Her voice? Still ferocious. Her energy? All-in. Her signature spins? Still dizzying.
“You Oughta Know” was predictably volcanic, while “Hand in My Pocket” and “Thank U” served as reminders that no one writes self-reflection quite like Alanis.
Before her, The Beach Boys—with Mike Love the lone original member represented—rolled out wave after wave of SoCal sunshine. With John Stamos switching between guitar and drums and Mark McGrath making repeat cameos, it was a joy-filled surf-rock love-fest complete with pelican flyovers, “Barbara Ann” singalongs, and a heartfelt “Forever” dedicated to Full House fans and lost loved ones. Christian Love, Mike’s son, ably took the lead on vocals at times, including during “Good Vibrations”.
Marcus King brought swampy Southern grit, dropping Allman Brothers and Marshall Tucker covers alongside his own soul-rock stunners like “The Well” and “Wildflowers & Wine”. The man can play, and the crowd knew it.
Jackson Browne slowed things down with a thoughtful, generous set that included “Running on Empty”, “Doctor My Eyes”, an emotional “Sky Blue and Black”, and a resonant “These Days” along with some not-so-subtle comments on the times we live in sprinkled throughout. “I can’t remember the last time I played a festival,” he mused mid-set. He might want to start doing it more often.
And let’s not forget Mt. Joy, who blended folk-rock with a sprinkle of covers (“Teenage Dirtbag”, “I Know You Rider”) and collaborations with Marcus King and bassist Tal Wilkenfeld.
All told, BeachLife 2025 was a celebration of California culture, sonic sunshine, and the kind of easy-going community spirit that you just can’t fake. From nostalgic jukebox heroes to new-school soul-shakers, from ska medleys to soulful croons, and from family tributes to oceanside jams, BeachLife made good on its promise once again:
Great bands. Great vibes. Cold drinks. No stress. Even if the sun didn’t shine much, the music certainly did.
Below, view a gallery of photos from BeachLife Festival 2025 via Josh Martin.
