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Step Into The Sun at Great Park Live
August 21st, 2025 Review by Amber Crouch
Slightly Stoopid invited fans to Step Into the Sun with Iration and Little Stranger this summer and it was the perfect way to send off the season!
The Great Park in Irvine made for the perfect setting for this party with its wide-open spaces, accessible parking, and variety of local food and drink vendors ready to supply tasty treats for the evening.
As the fans made their way towards the stage, one couldn’t help notice the giant Great Park balloon (the park’s hot air balloon) hanging above the crowd, disguised as Pac-Man.
The Step Into The Sun tour has been running since early June, marking California Roots in Monterey, CA as the starting point for these three bands on their journey into the sun. With three stops left on the tour, the bands made sure to make this a night everyone would remember.
As the Golden Hour took over, leaving blue skies with gold backlighting, artist Jimmy Ovadia took the stage to start things off.
Kevin and John Shields (surprisingly not related) are the powerhouse duo that makes up the reggae/hip-hop/alt mashup that is Little Stranger.
Bringing the most nostalgic ‘90s vibes with their creative samples and catchy lyrics, the crowd loved “Sing It High,” “Brain Fog,” and the guys even whipped out the melodica for “Coffee and a Joint.”
What really blew my mind was the energy these two harnessed as the openers – really relaying that excitement to the crowd and the crowd giving it right back. One of the coolest parts of their set was their mashup of their song, “Red Rover,” and the Gorillaz’ “Clint Eastwood.”
By sunset, the sky looked like it had been lit on fire by the sun, making a perfect backdrop for Iration to begin their set. With the crowd now fully packed, the horns blared and the show started. First on deck was “Daytrippin,” one of their latest singles, “Automatic,” and “Reelin” was right behind.
Iration recently collabed on a song with Little Stranger called “Say Goodnight,” and we were fortunate enough to see Jarv of LS come out and do his part with the band.
Going off their usual setlist, the fans were treated to an epic cover of “The Joker” from the Steve Miller Band.
Then they moved into a smooth transition of “Angel” by Shaggy with Miles of Slightly Stoopid joining in for a freestyle. During their time playing “Stay Awake,” their horn section left the stage to play while standing on the railings of the middle aisle, giving fans a show!
Iration finished up their set with their timeless hits, “Fallin,” “Control,” and they ended with “Time Bomb” as the whole band took center stage to “Say Goodnight.”
While waiting for the final band of the evening, the pitch black sky was lit up with an eclectic collection of lasers signifying Slightly Stoopid was taking stage.
The crowd roared with electricity as the night sky was electrified with every color imaginable. The rad boys of Ocean Beach opened up with “Niceness” and worked their way through “Wicked Rebel,” “Del Roy,” and “2am.” The fans truly enjoyed the sounds of eternal summertime, courtesy of Stoopid.
Little Stranger returned to the stage to add a little bit of their style to “Somebody,” bringing more of the same energy they had started the night off with.
Fans were treated to Slightly Stoopid’s recently released track, “Upside Down,” featuring Chali 2na, and the band said they just finished working on the music video that day. Making sure to keep the crowd on their feet, they played some of their classic ska songs, “Nobes” and “Hold It Down,” even including a heavy punk jam that had two circle pits going on each side of the stage.
Winding things down for a few minutes of the evening, the band had the stage lights off with the crowd using their phone lights while they sang “Closer to the Sun.”
With the lights dancing and the Great Park Balloon floating above us, it was honestly pretty magical. Being able to hear “Anywhere I Go” off “Chronchitis” was a sweet treat as well, as was “Slow Ride” from their recent collaboration with Sublime and Stick Figure.
Ending the evening the band brought out their friends and sang their rendition of “Young, Wild and Free,” truly bringing an end to the summer in the best way.
While the Step Into the Sun tour has come to a close, the tour continues. You can still see them at upcoming mega events like Reggae Rise Up in Las Vegas October 5th, and Mission Bayfest in San Diego on October 17th.
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by Sean McCracken
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