While the sun set behind the skyscrapers and bubbles blew through the crowd, music filled the streets of downtown Long Beach at Summer and Music’s fourth annual Buskerfest Saturday night.
Before the competition began, Buskerfest started off with the Sea Funk Brass Band and last year’s winners, Wild Pack of Canaries. Both bands played on the “busking” stages, which were decorated flatbeds of trucks.
The competition featured ten local, relatively unknown bands. Bobby Blunders, Brother C & Sister J, Brown & Blue, California Lions, The Dovelles, Dublin Public, Greater California, Angela Jane, Sawtooth and Squarefish all took to the busker stages to try and win wooden coins from the audience.
Squarefish opened with their mellow lyrics and pleasant pop sound. The first few bands played to smaller, yet receptive crowds, all modestly gaining coins here and there. The crowd remained that way until The Dovelles took the stage.
The Dovelles, a musical mix of the lovely ladies Jenny Stockdale, Alyssandra Nighswonger, Mary McKeever and Tess Shapiro, attracted the biggest audience of the night. Their Americana-style harmonies and vintage look charmed the audience. The steady line of people waiting to put coins into their paper bag proved that they were the band to beat. Vocalist Mary McKeever said the band’s success relies on teamwork.
“We all inspire each other,” McKeever said.
California Lions, a six-person band with a sound that resembled an unplugged Rilo Kiley, played quintessential California beach music. People danced and clapped along to songs like “Big Sur Sun,” “Palisades 1987,” and many other original songs inspired by California.
Sawtooth, a bluegrass/roots band, got the crowd going with some original stomping tunes, which sounded like they came straight from the south. The biggest crowd-pleaser was the cover of Prince’s “Purple Rain.” When lead singer Sean Blake began to sing the song, some of the audience erupted in a symphony of hoots and hollers, and eventually all joined in singing the famous lyrics.
The Flings played after all the competitors finished their sets and the coins were being tallied.
The Dovelles were announced as the winners. The win came as a surprise to the nine-person band.
“This is only our second show so winning feels totally surreal,” vocalist Alyssandra Nighwonger said.
“I didn’t even hear them announce us as the winners!” Jon Sacks, drums, said. “I heard it from a friend afterwards.”
The prize for winning Buskerfest was a merchandise pack, which included design services, T-shirts and stickers, all worth about $7,000.
“We’re going on tour soon, and this prize will be perfect if we can get it all done before we leave,” McKeever said.
Each band put on a great show. Some were harder to hear than others, but no matter the out come, all earned a place in this showcase of local talent.