TVD Live Shots: BeachLife Festival Day Three, 5/4

WORDS AND IMAGES: DANIEL GRAY | The beginning of May means it’s time to hit the beach—Redondo Beach, that is—for the annual BeachLife Festival, a three-day celebration of music, art, and beach life culture. The 6th annual BeachLife Festival took over Redondo Beach from May 2–4, 2025, delivering a first-class festival experience under the warm California sun. As one of the premier festivals in the country, BeachLife once again exceeded expectations with a spectacular lineup and unforgettable vibes.

Day three of BeachLife Festival started a bit gloomy and overcast weather-wise. But that in no way affected the performances or the crowd’s enjoyment. Kicking things off at noon on the Hightide stage was Lily Meola. The Maui-native brought her own sunshine and being the opening act didn’t stop her from walking through the center ramp and interacting with the crowd.

Next, it was the Lowtide stage for Big Head Todd and the Monsters. This veteran band out of Colorado was a great contrast to Meola. Namesake Todd Park Mohr provided ripping guitar work, and Jeremy Lawton on lap steel guitar made sure the audience was awake and moving.

Marcus King continued the guitar work at 2:20. Hailing from South Carolina, King’s soulful voice and soaring guitar playing, combined with Drew Smithers’ incredible slide guitar, brought more and more people to the Hidetidestage. More than one audience member walked away in awe of what they heard and saw, and more than a few were still talking about the performance at the end of the evening.

Then it was time to trek through the sand to the Lowtide stage. A massive crowd had gathered for the band that made perfect sense to be part of the Beachlife Festival lineup: The Beach Boys. Or should I say The Beach Boys with John Stamos? Stamos was featured in the billing, and he wasn’t just a guest star who was brought out for a song. He was right there rocking from minute one, singing, playing guitar, and even doing some drumming. He brought plenty of energy and seemed to be having the time of his life.

The Beach Boys’ music is now part of our collective DNA, and singer Mike Love’s stage presence and ability to get the crowd going are exactly why the beach was packed with adoring fans. One of the great things about festivals is you never know who is going to join a band on stage. A great example of this is Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray joining Stamos and The Beach Boys for a raucous opening with “Do It Again.”

Early evening, 5:00 to be exact, brought Mt. Joy to the Hightide stage. The five-piece indie rock band is based in Los Angeles with roots in Philadelphia. While the band definitely played their hits, things really came to life when bassist extraordinaire Tal Wilkenfeld (more on Tal later) joined them for “Let Loose” and Marcus King came out for “Astrovan.”

By 6:20, the sun was dropping just a bit to give Jackson Browne and his acoustic guitar a warm glow as he began his set. Starting with “The Barricades of Heaven”, the singer/songwriter/activist showed that his familiar voice has lost absolutely nothing. He reinforced that later when he traded his guitar for a waiting piano and gave strong performances of the radio hits “Doctor My Eyes” and “Running on Empty.” To close things out, Browne finished with guitar prodigy Saxon Weiss joining him on “Take It Easy” and “Our Lady of the Well.”

This is a good place to mention Saxon Weiss and all of the other performers who played on the two smaller stages during the festival. The size of the stages didn’t diminish the great music coming from it. The aforementioned Tal Wilkenfeld was with Saxon Weiss for his entire set, and it was great seeing the former bass prodigy playing with the current guitar one. More great music came from Common Sense, KBong & Johnny Cosmic, Devon Thompson, Taft Buckley, Donovan Frankenreiter, and Michael Glabicki.

The evening finished with the headliner, Alanis Morissette, taking the Hightide stage at 7:45. Some people got set up early and put out towels or blankets expecting a relaxing show. Ha! The crowd became standing room only and was filled with Alanis fans who were transported to another musical plane throughout a 25-song set. She was on fire from the opener, “Hand in My Pocket” racing across the stage, singing, playing guitar, playing harmonica, twirling, whirling, almost being everywhere at once.

She slowed down slightly for three acoustic songs, “Rest,” “Mary Jane,” and “Perfect.” Even then, Alanis proved she has one of the most powerful and unique voices in all of music, both literally and with the messages she delivers. When things got electrified again and she got to “You Oughta Know,” she had both men and women singing the rage-filled lyrics.

When Morissette’s set ended, a drained but happy audience filed out of the BeachLife Festival grounds. The 2025 Festival was now history. Who knows what 2026 will bring?

THE BEACH BOYS