SoCAL Music Festival

None of the menu items we liked are there anymore (quinoa chile, lettuce wraps) and the staff barely speaks English. Maybe they sold or got taken over. We got two orders to go and they are basically all brown rice

Really cool to be able to attend a music festival in downtown San Diego. Not a fan of some of DJ’s that played but the Cold War Kids killed it. No lines for anything but that is probably because no one there. People wonder why no good bands come to SD, it’s probably because no one shows up.

WHAT: Fail… I was expecting more than a hippy, hipster fest and it was sooo small. Not as many people as I expected too which I guess was nice since it wasn’t super crowded. I guess I was expecting more to do and see. A few booths for radio stations and newspaper, the music stages, some art, some food… There was a couple of fair rides.. skateboard display… Just seemed mish mash of not much in a small space.
PRICE: We got discounted tickets from San Diego 6 News for $ 20 (which was 50% off) and all that covered was admission. Rip off even with the discount.
CONCLUSION: I will be doing something else next year for Labor Day Weekend but at least I went to see what it was all about. Maybe if it were free and they added a lot more vendors it would be better…

The next Street Scene? I think SoCAL Music Festival has the potential to be just that…
Pros:
— A festival in Downtown SD! Long overdue
— Lots of room and well planned
— Great set up where the sound from the stages didn’t bleed into each other
— Affordable beer. $ 5!
— Reputable bands
— Plenty of food options
— Great sound for an outdoor event
— Plenty of restrooms
Cons:
— I wish there were more national acts
— I’m not a DJ kind of guy so I wish there were more bands and less DJs
— The only beer option was Carona
After all is said and done, I had a great time at this event and I hope that they continue this every year. Let’s make this the new Street Scene!

So I ended up in San Diego this past weekend, and I got corralled into coming to the Socal Music Fest. First of all, what’s up with the name? Nobody could remember what this event was called, as it has the most generic name for a music festival I’ve ever heard.
I looked at the line-​up, and I imagine the budget for the bands was $ 100. Total. I recognized Cold War Kids and Too Short, but that was it. Attending this event made me long for the days when we used to go to San Diego Street Scene and see a grip of bands we actually have heard of and enjoyed!
Then there was the beer… I went to grab one, but since the event was sponsored by Corona, that’s ALL they had for beer. I mean come on, have some other options and just price them higher than Corona. Nope! Corona was the only choice, which I don’t think I’ve ever seen before.
I did have a fun time, but pretty much because I went with awesome people. Otherwise I would have passed on it.