Laguna Beach lets loose at third annual Lagadelic rock show
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Crowd surfing and circle pits, to guitar riffs and drum solos.
They are sights not often seen in Laguna Beach, but for youth looking to put their stamp on the music scene, that energy is something they want to see more of.
Jake Caliger, director of the Lagadelic music festival and frontman for Laguna Beach-based band SpliffRiff, dished on his desire to bring about such an event.
“We started jamming as a band back in late 2019, and we started off playing local shows in Laguna, and we would notice that whenever we threw [do-it- yourself] stuff, it was always super raging,” Caliger said. “That was kind of the early days of our band.
“As we started gaining popularity, putting out music and playing more shows, we started moving into some of the venues around town … We noticed that they had super-strict rules, and they were like, ‘It’s too loud’ ... ‘It’s too this’ ... ‘It’s too that’ ... ‘We’re going to stick to the bands that we’ve had for 30 years and just have cover bands play,’ because it’s safe, it’s the safe option.”
At the crossroads of conformity, Caliger and company weren’t having it. Lagadelic, he said, was started to bring in “all the sick bands that we’re fans of that are blowing up in the local Orange County music scene.”
The third annual festival on Saturday was marked by eight solid hours of high-energy entertainment, including music on two stages, a range of quirky outfits that included a cloaked wizard, and a 10-band bill headlined by national touring band Frankie and the Witch Fingers.
Additional performers included Reefas, Noisegate, Untitled, IForget, the Alive, Eighth Ball, Big Fun, Pearl and SpliffRiff.
“We were the ones that opened it up, and we had a pretty good crowd,” Brock Vargas, a bass guitar player for Reefas, said as the night came to an end. “I think our singer did a pretty good job of cultivating the energy from the crowd and hyping them up, so they were all involved.
“There was not a big pit, but there was a pit going for us, and it was a good time. I was honestly surprised at the amount of people that were there to see us play, knowing that we’re opening up a festival.”
Caliger noted that local support would be crucial to the success of the festival. The community presence included Laguna Beer Company and Wigz sandwich shop as vendors, as well as a tent for local radio station KX FM 104.7.
“We’re just good friends, and we have a good backing with the community, and we’re trying to do something super rad in Laguna Beach,” Caliger added. “I think there’s been a die-off in live music in Laguna Beach, there’s been a die-off in really rad, core, grassroots events in this town, and we’re bringing that back …
“At the end of the day, the local music scene in Orange County is growing so fast right now. There are so many sick bands coming out of Orange County, and we just want to elevate that. I think Laguna Beach is the most beautiful place to do it. This city is heavily rooted in live music, so why not bring it back in a big way?”
