Bands go unplugged for music fest

LONG BEACH - Nearly a dozen local bands will fill Downtown Long Beach's East Village Arts District this Saturday during Summer and Music's (SAM) fourth annual BuskerFest.From 5-11 p.m., performers will play unplugged - or "busk" - for wooden nickels given by event attendees. The band that collects the most nickels will win a package valued at over $7,000, which includes custom design work, screen-printed T-shirts, totes and posters. BuskerFest will conclude SAM's season concert series on a solar-powered main stage at First Street and Elm Avenue, with headlining performances by Beachwood Sparks, a long-standing Los Angeles country-indie rock band, and the Fling, a Long Beach indie-rock band in the process of recording its second full-length album. Wild Pack of Canaries and Sea Funk Brass Band will kick off the event at 5 p.m., opening the stake-bed stages, which will be stretched along First Street between Elm and Linden avenues. From 6-8:45 p.m., 10 bands will perform stripped-down sets as they compete to earn the most wooden nickels. Competing buskers include Bobby Blunders, Brother C & Sister J, Brown & Blue, California Lions, The Dovelles, Dublin Public, Greater California, Angela Jane, Sawtooth and Squarefish. Since its beginning in 2009, BuskerFest has drawn 3,500 music fans annually. This year's event will also feature a beer garden, taco tent and information booths. More information is online at summerandmusic.com.

********** Published: August 23, 2012 - Volume 11 - Issue 19