As someone who attended more than a dozen music festivals this year, I can say firsthand that most lineups are pretty homogenized. You see the same few dozen acts across each bill, peppered by a couple unique bookings. I saw Florence + The Machine headline four festivals in six weeks this year. I’ve seen LCD Soundsystem at a festival five times this year.
Then you come across a lineup like downtown Long Beach’s inaugural Music Tastes Good Festival, you start wondering why bigger, more established festivals are so lazy with their booking.
The three-day festival runs from September 23-25. It features Sylvan Esso, The Specials, Iron & Wine, Squeeze, Dr. Dog, De La Soul, Rival Sons, Warpaint, Gallant and a slew of other bookings across a wide range of genres. There’s something for everyone.
“I had two agents say, ‘What the hell did you guys book?'” says Jon Halperin, who shared curating duties with festival founder, Josh Fischel, per LA Weekly. “Some told us it sounded like the best festival in the country and others thought we were crazy. Who has Cambodian Space Project and The Melvins on the same bill?”
Even better, a three-day ticket will only run you $120.00. Saturday is the only day that’s packed beginning to end, with a soft-open Friday and a soft-close Sunday. If you wanted to attend just the meaty Saturday lineup (The Specials, Iron & Wine, Squeeze, Dr. Dog, Warpaint, Melvins, Vintage Trouble, Girlpool, The Dead Ships, many more), it’ll run you $75.00. That’s pretty awesome value.
Three-day VIP and Saturday VIP ticket buyers will also get a special farm-to-table dining experience.
I’ve lived in LA for two-and-a-half years and have yet to go hangout in Long Beach. I think I’ve found the perfect introduction thanks to this festival.
The festival has partnered with KCRW and will feature a heavy food aspect – which explains the “tastes good” aspect of the festival name. It also will run adjacent to the downtown Long Beach Metro Blue Line stop, making it easy to get to and from. The festival is also sponsored by RideYellow, which is offering a special on their app for attendees of the festival. The code “MTG” will get you $15 off your first ride and 25% all rides in Long Beach.
I’m actually a little surprised how little some of my LA music friends are aware of this festival. One of my friends who is in music marketing at a major agency didn’t even know about it but once I told him the lineup, he was like, “Wait WTF that sounds awesome.” If you’re hearing about this for the first time, spread the word and support a first-year festival that’s off the beaten path from the usual.
Check out the full lineup below!
BUY TICKETS TO MUSIC TASTES GOOD, SEPTEMBER 23 TO 25 IN DOWNTOWN LONG BEACH
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