The Pier hosted artist Meet & Greets at the 3rd Annual California Roots Festival over Memorial Day Weekend in Monterey, CA. With a stellar line up, The Pier was able to host Meet & Greets with J-BOOG, SOJA, and Passafire on Saturday and The Green, Iration, and The Expendables on Sunday!
The Pier has hosted previous Meet & Greets with bands in the past ranging from SOJA’s Strength to Survive Tour to Mike Pinto Band’s EP Release Party. But to host 6 Meet & Greets over 2 days at a festival hosting thousands is a challenge. The Pier staff did a great job capturing the moments with photos and taking down contacts. Fans got to meet their favorite artists, have merchandise signed & pictures taken as timeless mementos.
We spend the day listening to our favorite tunes in the car on our way to work, playing them while we are hanging out with our friends, and catching live shows when the bands drop into town. Reggae-rock is a way of life. It is an expression of love and positivity through the music we cannot get enough of. These artists become people who greatly influence our daily outlook on life and keep us motivated to push forward.
[Editors Note: Were you at The Meet & Greet & had your photo taken? See if it’s posted here in our Facebook Gallery]
So let’s be real here, these people become influential icons in our life! Here at The Pier, we work to bring the reggae-rock community together by tying the experience between the fans and the artists. With an ideology of “for the fans, by the fans,” we share our passion for the music together by simply being fans ourselves. And the California Roots Festival was the site for bringing the most we could to the fans that love the scene.
Having the opportunity to meet all of these artists in abundance like this is absolutely exhilarating! They are humble beyond words and 
such rad individuals! But not going to lie, being in their presence is such an adrenaline rush to the point of where you feel star struck!
Fans at the California Roots Festival were awesome and respectful while waiting in line to meet, express their love for the music, get merch signed, and a photo taken with the artists. While waiting in line talking with the fans, you could see their eagerness to meet the bands! The guys were stoked to shake hands with the band, where the gals in line were nervous to catch a smile and meet the good lookin’ musicians.
Families joined in the lines with youngsters happy as can be to meet artists that sing songs they know all the words to. J-BOOG shook hands with dads and held kids, while The Expendables signed shirts and custom skateboards with their name on it. The diversity of the Meet & Greets only shows the influence that reggae-rock has on so many people of all ages and lifestyles.
All while being captured by our very own David Norris, the event was meant to bring everyone together. Which it did! Some of the same fans even came by to each Meet & Greet, giving The Pier the opportunity to get to know them as they continue to meet each of the bands who create and inspire us all on a day to day basis.
We appreciate all the fans that came out to meet these amazing artists. Especially for beign so patient while we made sure each fan had an equal opportunity with the bands. The Meet & Greet event at the California Roots Festival was a learning experience for us here at The Pier & we are proud of the success as well as the excitement it brought to all the fans and bands alike! None of this would have been possible had it not been for the promoters and folks behind Cali-Roots who enabled all of us fans with such a great opportunity.
Lets extend some extra love to J-Boog, The Green, The Expendables, Iration, Passafire & SOJA for making that extra time to come out to sign autographs, take pictures, share smiles, hugs and connecting with fans on a personal level. Really goes to show that this is a community like nothing else in the music industry. It’s love.
Read our Cali-Roots Concert Article Recap w/more Photos by clicking HERE
Article By: Alyssa Torres
Photos By: David Norris & Daniel Garcia
[Were you at The Meet & Greet & had your photo taken? See if it’s posted here in our Facebook Gallery]
More Photos from the Meet & Greet…
