It was announced this morning on the World Famous Kroq that singer, songwriter and producer, John Feldmann of Goldfinger and Blink-182 drummer, Travis Barker, are putting on the Back To The Beach Festival on the state shoreline of Huntington Beach, CA boasting an unbelievable line-up of nostalgic 90’s ska-punk.
Feldmann met Barker back in the nineties when Barker was the drummer for The Aquabats who would open up for Feldmann’s Goldfinger. Fast forward more than 20 years and they’re teaming up to put on a first of its kind ska-punk music festival.
The idea for the festival came to Feldmann last year while on tour with NOFX, telling KROQ: “The first show I ever saw was the English Beat at the Greek Theater up in Berkeley. Ska music has changed my life, since I was a kid. I’ve always been into 2nd wave, two-one, Madness, the Specials and I’ve never been to a festival that is just all feel good music.”
John continues on, explaining: “I hit up Travis Barker and said we should do something that no one has done before. John Reese, our friend, had the idea of doing it on the beach in Huntington Beach, the epic-center of ska-punk, and Travis was in.”
John Reese is known for doing a number of festivals, most recently partnering up with Barker on his Musink Festival that combines Punk Rock, Tattoos and Cars.
The Back To The Beach Festival will be a 2-day event taking place on Saturday, April 28th and Sunday, April 29th. The line-up for this festival is something about as ideal as it gets for any fan of the 3rd-wave ska sound of the 90’s. What makes this festival so outstanding, in addition to its 90’s nostalgia, is all of the new music that most of these bands will likely be playing, if not have out by the time of the festival. Then there’s there imagination of the on-stage collaborations which makes this even more exciting.
Saturday April 28th:
Day One Line-up:
311, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, The Aquabats, Hepcat, Less Than Jake, Mad Caddies, The Suicide Machines, Big D & The Kids Table + more!
311 continues their 90’s nostalgic run of shows in 2018 as they’ll close out night one after Mighty Mighty Bosstones appear to play direct support. Less Than Jake, The Suicide Machines, Mad Caddies & the BossTones are all rumored to have new music set to drop this year as I’m sure this festival will be a great platform to debut much of the new music live. With Travis Barker putting the event on, I wonder if he returns to his roots and suits up in his old Aquabats uniform to play drums? If there was ever a time, Travis, we would all agree that this would be it!
Watch: Mighty Mighty BossTones – “The Impression That I Get”
Sunday April 29th:
Date Two Line-up:
Sublime with Rome, Goldfinger (w/Travis Barker), Fishbone (original line-up), Save Ferris, The Interrupters, Mustard Plug, The Aggrolites, The Untouchables + more!
Sunday has the sexier line-up of bands, especially when you have Travis Barker playing drums for Goldfinger’s set. Fishbone is performing with their OG line-up which sounds terrifyingly fantastic, especially for long-time fans or for anyone who has seen their documentary, “Everday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone.”
What are the odds Sublime with Rome plays “April 29th 1992”? Save Ferris has embarked on their resurgence with plans for a new record in 2018. Same goes for what John Feldmann calls the best 4th Wave Ska band in The Interrupters who have brought new life to the genre of ska-punk to a new generation of rude-boys & gals.
Watch: The Interrupters – “Take Back The Power”
In Closing:
I don’t know if the order in which the line-up was presented will be the actual order in which the bands will play. It clearly states more groups will be added. One big name that is surprisingly missing is Reel Big Fish. It’s hard to imagine a festival like this taking place without their presence and I’d have to imagine they’d feel the same — Same could be said about No Doubt.
I think the only bands on this entire line-up that we’re unable to verify some form of new music being pursued for 2018 would be the Untouchables. 311 has been seen in the studio but they’re still promoting last years Mosaic while Goldfinger continues to celebrate their first record in 9 years with 2017’s The Knife.
Tickets will be available starting Friday, February 23rd at 10am PST with 2-day VIP Lounge tickets going for $199.00. Kids under 10 get in free with paid adult admission to the Lil Punk Kidzone full of carnival games of chance, inflatable bounce houses and even sand castles to build! You can find out more information at BackToTheBeachFest.com
Related Links:
Back To The Beach Fest Website
Back To The Beach Fest Facebook
Article by: Mike Patti
Watch: Fishbone – “Party At Ground Zero”
Watch: Goldfinger – “Tijuana Sunrise”
