Not Your Father's Root Beer's genius idea to get people to buy their alcoholic root beer: buy a can at the fest and bring it to their stall to get free swag.
The Big Pink's great live performance, although sometimes a bit heavy on the fog machine.
Discovering Allah-Las' psychedelic rock. I felt like I was being transported to a summer day in the '60s with all their catchy tunes.
Kaki King's amazing set that was part light show, part live acoustic show.
I never associated Wavves with Thee Oh Sees and Cloud Nothings, but they proved me wrong; they were punk rawk AF. My friend described it best when she said "I love how they're playing like they're at The Smell!"
The fun nighttime installations.
The impressive solar panels that powered the stage. Even though performances started running late, the lights never wavered.
The weather will finally be warming up this weekend in LA, perfect for enjoying an outdoor music festival. Sunstock Solar Festival at the Autry in Griffith Park will feature some great bands like Cults, Wavves, Kaki King, The Big Pink, and more.
The festival is completely solar-powered and all profits will go to charity. Not only will you be enjoying some amazing music, but you'll also be helping the environment and a local charity.
For you music-loving parents out there, there will be activities for kids. For those of you who come thirsty and/or hungry, there will be a full bar and food trucks.
Tickets are $20 through Eventbrite and $25 at the door. The festival will be located in a secluded corner of Griffith Park at
the Autry Museum of the American West, 4700 Western Heritage Way. A bike
valet and free parking will be available in the Los Angeles
Zoo parking lot.
I was so jealous of everyone who got to see The Little Mermaid at Hollywood Bowl on Monday because the original voice of Ariel, Jodi Benson, headlined that night. At least we got a small taste of her still-amazing-after-30-years voice at the show we attended on Saturday, where she was the surprise guest. She's an infinitely better singer than Sara Bareilles, who at least looked the part of the Little Mermaid, with her long, wavy tresses colored red halfway down and wearing a sea foam green dress. I even overheard a little girl yelling "Look, it's Ariel!"
What we didn't miss on Monday was Alan Menken's pre-show (in Monday's show he was replaced by Brad Kane - original voice of Aladdin - and Susan Egan - voice of Meg from Hercules). On piano, Menken performed a career retrospective with songs from Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Pocahontas, Little Shop of Horrors, Newsies, and Enchanted, just to name a few. I almost teared up a little, listening to the man who penned so many soundtracks from Disney Animation's golden age, when not only were the films great, but so were all the songs. During that era, animated films saw success at the box office and on the radio.
The celebrity guests also impressed, from Rebel Wilson's sassy turn as Ursula (in an amazing black shimmery dress that I could definitely picture Ursula wearing) to Titus Burgess' exuberant performance (I didn't know he had originated the role of Sebastian in the Broadway show. No wonder he was so good!).
Sadly, John Stamos' badly placed microphone prevented us from getting the full experience of his song, Les Poissons, but, amazingly, the audience stayed respectfully quiet so that everyone could hear him. His hilarious stage antics made up for the misplacement of his microphone.
I hope the success of this show convinces Disney to have more of their animated films in concert. I'm hoping for Aladdin next summer. However, they really ought to do Beauty and the Beast to promote their new live action film.
