The Best of SAM is Still Ahead!
13 Events. 64 Acts. 90 Days of Summer. The award-winning Summer And Music (SAM) series returns to Downtown Long Beach for its sophomore year. Back and even better than last year, this summer's series promises a return of some of your favorites (think Battle of the Tribute Bands) with many new musical surprises in the bag.
With an enormously successful inaugural season last year - bringing in an estimated 25,000 attendees and garnering substantial media attention and critical acclaim - SAM is once again taking over the streets of Downtown Long Beach.
Next Event: August 20 - 21: Flugtag Wildcard Shows
On Friday night, from 6:30 - 8:30pm, all the Flugtag flight crafts will be on display at Rainbow Harbor. Come stroll the area and listen to live music.
Then on Saturday, immediately following the Flugtag event, enjoy the Mike Pinto Band playing live from a solar-powered stage at the south-most portion of Pine Avenue. Originally from the Philadelphia suburb Fairless Hills, Pa., Pinto blends together an extraordinary variety of sounds-including reggae, ska, dub, surf rock and Latin rhythms-all accented by his notable acoustic guitar chops and a distinct, imploring voice
August 28th: Buskerfest
The crown jewel of our celebration of Local Music returns to the East Village Arts District. Join us as top-tier local acts take it to the streets for an opportunity to open the main stage when our nationally celebrated (but still local) headliner takes over the neighborhood.
Live music will hit the sidewalks of the East Village Arts District once again during the second annual BuskerFest Aug. 28, from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m., as local bands and solo artists busk for wooden nickels and a chance to win five full days of recording time at The Compound Studio in Long Beach.
Designed to be the grand finale of Summer And Music (SAM) 2010-Downtown Long Beach's award-winning, sustainable concert series providing an entire summer of free music to the public-BuskerFest will conclude on a solar-powered stage at First Street and Linden Avenue, with headlining performances by three home-grown, national acts: Delta Spirit, Crystal Antlers and Pawn Shop Kings.
Last year's event was an unprecedented success, drawing 3,500 music fans and an undeniably strong sense of community to the streets of downtown Long Beach. With live buskers flooding the East Village, roving audiences voted for their favorite act and Long Beach's Cold War Kids closed the night with an intense, free show. BuskerFest 2009 yielded a sense of Long Beach pride that music enthusiasts and community leaders are still talking about a year later.
Due to the overwhelming support of the last ArtExchange fundraiser at the former site of Acres of Books, they will be having another fundraiser in hopes of clearing out the approximately 15,000 books still lining the shelves of the former Downtown institution. Read the press release here.
For more information on SAM events, click here. To view information about street closures, please download the SAM Fact Sheet here.
If you are a business in Downtown Long Beach and want to be involved in the SAM promotions, please click here.
