There aren’t many better ways to return home from a trip than to have a great show a few hours after your plane lands. Better yet, it was a benefit….for US. Well, technically for a new ice cream truck, since Newt got rear ended last month. Thanks to Meghan for putting it together and to Alex’s Bar and all the bands who played for making it possible. We ended up bringing home over $900. We’ll be sure to do something super-special with that money on our new truck Beauregard, and will post it here once it’s done.
It’s pretty amazing how many great bands there are in Long Beach right now. I was born here and started going to shows around town in high school and I’d say there’s more quality bands now than ever before. Some of our favorites showed up on Friday night to rock out, including The Soft Hands, Bella Novela, Greater California, Telomere Repair and Repeater. Gooch and Cory took care of making sure there was free cream to sling so I got lucky and just got to listen to music all night, and maybe drink one-too-many big cans of PBR.
The Soft Hands were on right at 9 and I wanted to be sure not to miss them. They’ve played our X-mas party before and also rocked out at Gooch’s 30th b-day party at Pappy and Harriet’s a little while back. They brought the perfect energy to get things started. Bella Novela was the one band I wasn’t too familiar so I was most excited to see them. Classic rock is too easy a way to describe them. Jackie, the singer, who happens to work at Alex’s, reminded me of a better sounding Gwen Stefani from my early days of seeing No Doubt play a dozen times. The drummer was like Meg White on happy-steroids and the guitarist sounded like he was fronting MUSE. Maybe their description of themselves is better, “Spaghetti-Western Wizard Rock.” No matter what, they impressed and left everyone with smiles on their faces. It was feel good rock n’ roll and I’m looking forward to seeing them again.
I thought Greater California was last and it worked out better that they threw them in the middle. It was a stripped down, mostly acoustic set with Shea from OPEN Books standing in on bass. This was my favorite setup for them, their music sounds better in a relaxed, comfy (I took a seat on the floor for half the set), and organic environment. Terry, the lead singer for Greater California, was telling a story about when we randomly crossed paths in New Orleans on Halloween and I had completely forgotten that he dropped me off at a Hornets basketball game and I gave him the keys to Newt to drive around town… ha.
Telomere Repair is a band I dug a bunch a while back but then didn’t hear from them for a while. I had a CD but it was hand made and wouldn’t play in any player I had. It was great to hear them again and remember why I liked them so much. Long Beach is stacked with great musicians and Erik, Matt, and Chris are among the best. I’m not sure how my neck wasn’t sore the next day from head banging.
Last up was Repeater, who just consistently get better and they prepare to launch their Ross Robinson produced record on the masses sometime this year. I’m crossing my fingers that things go well for them. It could take a little while because Steve might get tied up with his other project fronting Fear and the Nervous System, which should also be out sometime this year as well.
Thanks again to everyone who made the benefit possible. I can’t remember the last time I had that much fun in Long Beach. I ended up paying the price the rest of the weekend though 
This question is only tangentially related to the article, but I figured you’d be the kind of person who could answer it. I and some friends are always bemoaning the apparent lack of any good venues in Long Beach, which to look at your article seems foolishly incorrect. The question is: are there in fact good places in Long Beach to see (or play) shows that aren’t bars? If so, WHERE?? Thanks.