Best of Laguna: 4 outside venues for summer live music

Because you clearly love your live music …

Hey my beloved readers,

Clearly, my last week’s announcement of the new Ivan’z House at Mozambique - Laguna’s swank, new, 300+ person live music venue – got you up and dancing. I’ve never seen numbers like that in reads and shares. You people are so awesome!

Click that orange link above to get to the article and all of Ivan’z House live music ticketing as well as the “speakeasy/piano lounge” Durban Room (also at Mozambique). Heck, I think I even put Ivan Spiers’ Skyloft link in there, too, for their live music.

Not to distract from Ivan’s fantastic venue, but I promised weeks ago to post my “Best of Laguna Beach” list of The 4 Best (& Largest) Outdoor Music Venues in our area this summer. You’ve simply got to get to all four of these because they’re memory-makers, for sure. (Keep in mind we have all sorts of live music in our bars and restaurants in town, and I’ll get to those soon!)

I’m starting with #1 first!

First Place
Festival of Arts Live Music

The Festival of Arts isn’t just about phenomenal artists and the amazing Pageant of Masters. It’s about live music EVERY single day of the week. (And I just discovered me in the crowd next to the taupe fedora. Who knew??)

Laguna Beach’s Festival of Arts offers such a cornucopia of talent that it really behooves you to check out the entire Festival calendar to find your own favorites. As you’ll see in this Festival Music Schedule and Ticket options, our dear Festival Music Goddess Susan Davis has once again brought in the best of the best.

The stage and table venue is fantastic, too. All concerts are free with festival grounds admission. Some select concerts offer limited “nightclub” seating in the reserved section for an additional fee. It’s worth it to me, because you’re able to bring in your own picnic or grab food and drink at the handy concessions on the grounds. Just check out your favorites for online purchase details.

2nd Place
Laguna Beach’s Sawdust Festival

Almost directly across the Canyon Road from the Festival, it’s Laguna’s Sawdust Festival devoted to Laguna Beach resident artists and their thousands of fans. There’s nothing like the Sawdust; it’s an absolute cornucopia of great art, fun food (Gonzo is definitely back with Taco Loco!) and even Patch’s famous Toe Ring Booth has returned!

The Sawdust offers three stages, and I’d venture to bet that every Laguna local has danced on “The Deck,” the largest of the three live music offerings. This year, the Sawdust is featuring more than 125 local bands. Crazy! Check out their PDF schedule here:

Sawdust 24 Music List Jun Jul

1.69MB ∙ PDF file

Download

Download

3rd Place
Laguna Beach’s Music in the Park (Bluebird)

Annually funded by the City of Laguna Beach and the city’s lodging establishments, Bluebird Park concerts take place Sunday evenings in July and August only. It draws quite an enthusiastic crowd.

Laguna’s Music in the Park at Bluebird Park attracts at least a couple hundred music fans. Photo ©City of Laguna Beach

The Bluebird concerts go from 5 p.m. to about 7:30 p.m., and you’re allowed to set up shop from 3 p.m. forward - they truly disallow people trying to save places any earlier. You can’t bring your dogs, but you can bring a picnic with alcohol.

Here’s the Bluebird Music in the Park schedule:
July 14 - TABU (Latin
July 21 - The Shagwells (60s and 70s hits)
July 28 - Upstream (I love this band. Reggae and Steel Drum)
Aug. 4 - Our fave locals band, the 133 Band
Aug. 11 - Betamaxx (1980s hits)
Aug. 18 - Tina Turner Tribute featuring Debby Holiday (she’s fantastic)

4th place
Dana Point’s (gigantic) Concerts in the Park

Each Sunday, it’s an enormous gathering for free music from TWO bands at Sea Terrace Park, which sits behind the Dana Point Library and the Waldorf Astoria grounds. These are very polished tribute bands along with big regional favorites like Tijuana Dogs and our own Laguna-based Common Sense.

Come for the great musicians and stay for the people watching because it seems half of South Orange County is here.

Hosted by the City of Dana Point, you’re allowed to bring your own picnics or purchase food and spirits on grounds. Word to the wise: Take the trolley there (from Dana or Laguna) or drive down early just to get parking or you’ll be wandering around forever.

Here’s Dana Point’s Concerts in the Park 2024 lineup:

July 14

• 2:30-4:00pm: Billy Nation – A Tribute to Billy Joel

• 4:30-6:00pm: Elton the Early Years – A Tribute to Elton John

July 21

• 2:30-4:00pm: AbbaFab – A Tribute to ABBA

• 4:30-6:00pm: The Spirit Band – A Tribute to Earth, Wind, and Fire

July 28

• 2:30-4:00pm: Uptown Funk – A Tribute to Bruno Mars

• 4:30-6:00pm: Black Eyed Tease – A Tribute to Black Eyed Peas

August 4

• 2:30-4:00pm: The Reflexx

• 4:30-6:00pm: Saved by the ’90s

August 11

• 2:30-4:00pm: Full Strength

• 4:30-6:00pm: Tijuana Dogs

August 18

• 2:30-4:00pm: Common Sense

• 4:30-6:00pm: The Aggrolites
  
  

Enjoy your summer fun and be sure to send me photos of your live music memories at Diane@TheBestofLagunaBeach.com or DM me at Best of Laguna Beach’s Instagram or Facebook (and while you’re there, please follow - I’m aiming for 150k followers before Laguna’s Hospitality Night!

P.S. To all my wonderful, glorious paid subscribers: Thank you so much for supporting this longtime labor of love. Look for a “special edition” from me this weekend … new news as promised to you first. (And you’re going to LOVE it.)