The first annual OB Global Rock Fest is taking place at the pier parking lot on on April 18th, 2009. The late, great George Carlin famously said, “As a rule I never attend the first annual anything.” In this case, I think we should all make an exception.
The event is being promoted as “Carbon Neutral” because the stages will be powered with Solar energy and there will be plenty of environmentally conscious vendors in the grassy area between the wall and Abott street.
The event takes place between 9:00am and 8:30 pm. The San Diego chapter of the Surfrider Foundation will be hosting a beach cleanup at 9am and will offer a free beer to those who volunteer and are at least 21 years of age.
The event is being held to raise funds for the OBMA to help pay for other community activities throughout the year. There will be a main stage in the parking lot next to the pier with some terrific bands playing:
- 10:45-12:00 Ishmael & The Peacemakers
- 12:30-2:00 Cash’d Out
- 2:30 – 4:00 The Electric Wasteband
- 4:30 – 6:00 The Knights of Monte Carlo
- 6:30 – Close C. Money and the Players, Inc.
There will also be an all ages area with vendors and side stage acts:
- 11:00 – 12:30 Jason Ott
- 1:00 – 2:15 The Big Fellas
- 2:15 – 3:15 The hypnotist, Lobster Bob
- 3:30 – 5:00 Bad Science Fiction
- 5:30 – 7:00 Kingfish Jones Band
Sponsors of the event include our very own Winstons, Karl Strauss Brewing Co. , San Diego City Beat , Surfrider Foundation’s San Diego Chapter and BeGreen.
So come on out for some spring time fun, bands, beer and environmental awareness!
{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
so, we’re raising dough for the OBMA via eco-green stages, are we now? there was an article about how the OBMA was MIA during the library crisis. were they or were they not – that is the question?
actually the music planned sounds great! i’ll be there, and give my money begrudgingly to the OBMA.
Hey bodysurfer dude – the Electric Wasteban is a local OB group.
Cool. Not sure I’m ready to hop on the OBMA hatewagon quite yet, my jury’s still out on the whole library thing. But my partner has been looking forward to Cash’d Out for some time now…
hey gang, we calls em as we sees em. just cause frank called out OBMA (and Denny already responded) doesn’t mean we think they’re all bad. remember the story here at the OBRag always INCLUDES the comments. rock on.
Hey, don’t get me wrong. Doug is right, there are lots of good OBMA members and other merchants and businesspeople in OB. (Merchants on Voltaire are not in OBMA I think – could be wrong.) My uncle Frank Webber owned the OB Camera store on Newport for decades. My mother worked there fulltime after my old man lost his job at Convair, and I also worked there at the Camera store during summers and at Christmas.
There are lots of good-hearted merchants in OB. Some of them have disappeared however due to high rents on Newport. Remember Paras bookstore? Gary in his pet store?
Merchants in a community like OB are very important. It’s often the businesses that give a “look” to the community – it’s where the community gets its identity. Yup, even the vacant storefronts on Newport give our neighborhood a certain identity. But the role that small businesses play is guided by their self-interests. When the businesses are at their best, they realize that something like the local library is very important to the health of the community, its continuation is in their self-interests, and they would do something to support the public facility. Here, in OB’s case, the OBMA as a group did not do anything to support the library when it was on the cutting block.
The point is not to continue to wag our finger at the merchants, but to get them to realize that they need to step up to something like the library, and not to just keep holding events to make money for their organization. We need the OBMA – and they need us – their customers.
We say to the merchants: Just do the right thing.
I guess “Rock Fest” is just a blanket term these days as I don’t think any of these acts consider themselves “Rock” in the truest sense of the word.
Cash’d Out does put on a great show though so it does sound like a good excuse to get down to the beach, have a great time and raise awareness.
I’ll be there!
I’ll be there but would rather give my money to Surfrider Foundation.
A little defensive, eh gormlie?
Dave Gilbert – interested in doing a review of the bands?
OB Joe – just trying to ‘splain meself as I melt under the withering criticism …
Is this event just open like booths on the street or is it in an enclosed area? I’m trying to decide if I should bring my dog out, but if it will prevent me from enjoying beer I will leave him at home. Suggestions? To dog or not to dog? He’s a big guy too, not one of those you can throw in your purse when they get in the way! LOL
I’m thinking they’re going to fence off the pier parking lot and make it a beer garden/main stage concert area and then have open booths and a side stage on the grass, kind of like Oktoberfest. Can anyone confirm for me, and do they let dogs in the fenced area?
Technically you’re not supposed to have dogs on the grass, beach or boardwalk in that area, plus I don’t think you want to subject your dogs ultra-sensitive hearing to such loud music, I know I wouldn’t and I love my dogs.
I’d say take the big guy to dog beach 1st, and then come down afterwards. Then you can party without having to worry about him and you’ll feel good that you got him out and about as well.
I just read in the Beacon that there will be a $3.00 cover charge to enter the beer garden area. That’s the first I heard of there being a cover charge. And the proceeds are to help OBMA with civic duties such as removing graffiti, cleaning gutters, etc…
I passed by the event, listened to the music outside the beer garden scene, and ate a sausage sandwich. All good. It really appeared to be a repeat of the Octoberfest just without the Octoberfest logo. Same scene, same booths.
It seemed somewhat backward to sponsor a beach clean-up and then have booths and beer-swigging people converge on that same “clean” beach. And around the booths area I didn’t see any recyclers – bins for only recycled stuff. I had to carry around my can and then deposited it in front of a trash bin.
hey joe, pretty mild complaints from your negative nabob. and I say that with love, man.
It’s unfortunate that you see the clean up efforts as backwards Joe. I understand what you’re getting at, but the clean up efforts were meant to be seen by the attendants of the concert in order to raise awareness about the problems our beaches have with litter. The clean up yielded over 200 pounds of trash that morning between the hours of 9-11:30. Obviously, getting a crowd of 1000+ drunk in the parking lot is going to lead to more garbage, but there were more people back out this morning helping to clean up. Although those efforts will go largely unnoticed. If even one extra person saw what was being done with the clean up and made a conscious decision to not throw their cigarette butt on the ground or walk an extra 20 feet to find a trash can then it was a success.
Molly and jon – okay; jon – thanks for getting back – this is what this is for, altho’ I still think I make a good point about the recycle bins or the lack thereof. I mean, with all the emphasis on eco, green, etc and not to have recycle bins is simply not thinking the event through – on that issue I mean.
You did make an excellent point Joe. Not sure why they wouldn’t have recycling bins next to the cardboard trash cans. Seems easy enough to do. Being the first year for this event, it seemed like it lacked a little focus. I’m sure if they do it again next year they will have learned a thing or two. Overall though, I thought it was a lot of fun and a what beautiful OB day!
See the new post about the concert and new pics.