The KAABOO Music/Arts/Comedy/Food Festival took over the Del Mar Fairgrounds, site of Del Mar Racetrack the weekend of September 16-18. Mere yards from the Pacific Ocean and on a property that is vast, KAABOO and the impressive line-up for a second year festival drew me to it.
Southern California has been lacking in a big time coastal music fest for a long time. (Yeah, I know there’s a few out there but nothing on the scale of this). First year’s attendance, I came to find out, was somewhere in the neighborhood of 15,000 people. Certainly a manageable crowd and not too overwhelming for both security and attendee alike. This year, at over 40,000 attendance, that fact would not hold true.
The question that came to mind so many times over the three day event was, “How on earth do you cover this festival?” The distance between the two bigger stages was quite a jaunt from one end of the facility to the other. Add in the hoards of people also trying to navigate the pathways and it became a challenge to see anything, let alone what I really wanted to see. Nevertheless, I saw some great music.
DAY 1- KAABOO
Arriving just before noon and securing parking I made it to the main stage in time for a meet and greet with JAM Cellars, a sponsor and purveyor of delicious wines. After a mimosa and a breakfast burrito, I caught the first act of the day; Lawrence Taylor. The young man unfortunate enough to share a name with a legendary NY Giants football linebacker. Regardless of his name and even more unfortunate time slot, Taylor kicked off the day nicely warming up the early birds with some tasty tunes.
Other highlights from day one include Hermosa Beach’s own Barley. Always a great time at a Barley show. Only disappointment…30 minute set was just not enough for me. Orianthi, better known as Michael Jackson’s guitarist, took the main stage and blew everyone away with some mad guitar skills including her version of Jimmy Hendrix’s Voodoo Child.
A bit of wandering around and checking out the endless choices of food and drink led right back to the main stage for Saint Paul and the Broken Bones followed by 80’s group, Hall & Oats.
The crowd at the main stage was building at this point because it was time for some Jimmy Buffett. Buffett delivered the hits as you would expect and the enthusiastic, yet slightly over-served, crowd sang along with joy.
Last stop for the day was the late night building where DJs were spinning. I wandered in there shortly after 10pm because Snoop Dogg was going to be spinning and I couldn’t miss that. Puffing on what appeared to be a cigar but more likely a blunt, Snoop performed as DJ Snoopadelic. Just a little bit of that and I was ready to hit the road. Two more days to go…
For more photos of KAABOO Day 1 CLICK HERE.
For more videos of KAABOO Day 1 CLICK HERE
