February 24, 2024 Review by Amber Crouch & Jimmy Alvarez
For the third year in a row, Long Beach hosted one of the largest festivals on the planet with Cali Vibes. Famous for its Grand Prix and other world-renowned events, the City of Long Beach was ready for attendees from all over the world to enjoy a weekend full of fantastic music, tasty food, and a plethora of activities surrounding the event.
The weather promised to be questionable, but the vibes proved to be even stronger as the rain completely bypassed the show. This year’s Cali Vibes Festival took place February 16th through the 18th and showcased some of the best musicians from all over the world. Showgoers had the option to view their favorite acts at three different stages – The Vibes, The Greens, or Boomyard – with each one bringing its own personality to the festival.
Before the gates opened at noon on day one, the crowd was ready to check off the necessary festival “to do” list. Once the doors finally opened, a sea of dancing color exploded through, and everyone planted themselves where they wished to start their day.
Starting the day off, Dub Siren HiFi blasted the beats through their specially-made sound system, elevating the sound for day one. On The Greens stage, Vermont-based musician Mihali brought his mix of reggae with hints of soulful rock to the morning. He was followed by Tomorrow’s Bad Seeds, a band local to Hermosa Beach who started shredding their reggae rock sounds.
Cali Vibes vet Eli-Mac brought the sunshine of the islands to the overcast day with her powerful voice and electric dance moves. Following her act was grandson to Bob Marley, Skip Marley, who honored the legacy his grandfather had started. His soulful voice and inspiration driven from the community resonated with the crowd as they sang the lyrics back to him.
INNER CIRCLE
Reggae bad boys Inner Circle showed everyone how funky they can get, even playing some of their classics like “Sweat (La La La)” and even their ever-famous “Bad Boys” theme from “Cops.” “Here I Come,” sang dancehall legend Barryington Levy, as he hit the stage next, performing his songs that genuinely helped shaped the sound we know and love today.
As the sun started to move across the sky, Collie Budz was hyping the fans at The Vibes stage so hard, he ended up calling a fan onstage for his third verse challenge during his song “Blind to You,” and she absolutely nailed it. The fans – and Collie Budz – were in awe as the girl sang one of the most difficult verses he has.
The Grammy nominated Orange County locals with the big island sound, Common Kings understood the assignment; they accompanied the sunset with an exciting rendition of the original X-Men cartoon theme song, followed by their latest single, “Stand by Me.”
The evening was met with heavy hitters as the crowds filled around the stages and stood their ground for the headliners they really wanted to see. Fans jammed with Tribal Seeds as they played songs off their new album “Ancient Blood” and brought the heat with their fiery solos and heavy drums. Crowd favorite Shaggy closed out The Greens stage for the day, reminding everyone that whoever it was, it most definitely wasn’t him.
IRATION
The final sets on The Vibes stage on night one truly set the tone for the rest of the weekend. Iration not only played their hits, but even covered Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army,” complete with a personalized Cali Vibes drone show.
Damien and Stephen Marley graced the stage next, bringing peace, love, and unity, along with a great tribute to their father by singing and dancing to his songs. It was wonderful to watch them perform together while footage of their father played behind them.
The evening ended with what seemed like every single attendee ready to see Stick Figure. The Vibes area was completely filled to the brim as fans watched Stick Figure “Set the World on Fire,” or at least the Vibes stage of Cali Vibes.
Day two started like day one ended – the bands were on fire. Despite prognostications of adverse weather earlier in the week, the music gods were smiling down upon Long Beach as the day could not be more perfect. With a number of high caliber acts taking the stage, concertgoers could not wait to see the legends performing.
Three stages were churning out kick-ass set after kick-ass set. It was DENM who lit up the Long Beach skyline with his infectious grooves; then Mad Caddies brought the roar of the now increasing crowd to the front and center.
Fourth-wave ska juggernauts, The Interrupters brought everyone to the main stage. With their high-energy music, Aimee Interrupter delivered on their sonic vision that has propelled them to stardom.
Marina Green Park
Long Beach, California
February 16th-18th, 2024
With their hit list being front and center, fans sang along and skanked to “Take Back the Power,” “Title Holder,” “Gave You Everything,” and “Bad Guy,” before they band closed with “She’s Kerosene.” The Bivona brothers were on fire, and their fans ate it up, while Aimee proved again why she is slowly becoming the Gold Standard, maybe even Platinum for vocal prowess in the world of Ska.
Despite being very early in the day, I have to say Wiz Khalifa may have stolen the show. OK, so there were other big names, but Khalifa made you feel his words, and his smile and energy led everyone to believe he was genuinely happy to be there and performing for the crowd.
Songs like “Black and Yellow,” “Roll Up,” “23,” and “Young, Wild & Free” brought the house down.
As the sun dipped into the Pacific, Sublime with Rome rolled out to the cheers of the entire venue.
Rome was his normal high-energy and happy self. Opening with “Waiting For My Ruca,”
Rome had everyone singing along immediately. Other great songs like “Smoke Two Joints,” “Badfish,” “Date Rape,” and Descendents’ “Hope” amped the crowd.
With a very short intermission, Slightly Stoopid bounced out to the stage. The crowd erupted when Miles Doughty and Kyle McDonald stood before them. “Come Around,” “2am,” and “Everyday People” got the biggest response from the enormous crowd.
The sun was now gone, and the moon looked over the venue and everyone was ready to see the Queen: Gwen Stefani.
With back-up dancers taking the stage, the crowd erupted as Stefani emerged in her purple-sequin, ska-inspired outfit.
Playing songs from her personal and No Doubt catalog, the crowd sang along to every song. That said, the No Doubt songs seemed to bring a deeper reaction from the crowd.
“Sunday Morning,” “Hey Baby,” “It’s My Life,” “Bathwater,” “Underneath It All,” “Don’t Speak,” “Spiderwebs,” and “Just a Girl” had the crowd screaming and skankin’.
As the day came to an end, the crowd cheered and cheered, and like a good entertainer, Stefani came back out for one last song. “Hollaback Girl” was the song of choice, and although it was not a No Doubt song, everyone knew the words.
Day three came with some clouds, but it was nothing that couldn’t be handled. San Clemente’s very own Tunnel Vision woke everyone up with their surf rock serenades while Dub Siren HiFi got the party going in the Boomyard.
Boostive, a dub hop reggae group out of the San Diego County area, and led by Davina Dub, had a variety of musicians, dancers and a live artist showcasing the power of music, art, and creativity.
LA local Lauren “LJ” Johnson of Bikini Trill had the crowd moving and swaying to their electro surf rock sounds, a surefire way to ensure we dance the rain clouds away.
Heavy on the horns and always ensuring a funky time, Ohio’s Tropidelic is a six-piece band that had fans jumping and pulling out all the stops when it came to grooving.’ Soon after was Bumpin Uglies, led by Brandon Hardesty with a tasty unique reggae ska style and some literary rap flow.
Bringing more Cali flavor back to the stage was Through the Roots from San Diego who provided us with the perfect audio backdrop for the beach shore festivities. The Green from Hawaii followed and made us wish we were on The Islands as the reggae lovers had fans holding loved ones close to sing songs of togetherness.
Representing the West Coast, we had none other than rapper and producer Too $hort throwing it down and reminding us what his favorite word is. Fortunate Youth’s jam session had all of the reggae community members together for what looked like a sweet family reunion. Many embraced friends and family as the songs resonated with their feelings of love and happiness.
Closing the night out were three heavy hitters, each different from the next. From the East Coast, we had rap group The Roots with superb instrumentals accompanied by heavy lyrics and smooth rhymes (which I personally thought was awesome to see at Cali Vibes).
The final act on The Greens stage was Ice Cube, treating the crowd to old school favorites along with some of his newer music. He put on an incredible show for fans that had waited all weekend to see him.
With the festival coming to end, the crowd was ready to watch Rebelution end the night strong. Always so heartfelt, but full of energy, their music had people feeling a range of emotions and hoping that the set would last forever.
This year truly gave us an amazing Cali Vibes. The weather ended up being perfect and the music was just right. Long Beach provided another perfect backdrop for this incredible festival yet again.
