Summer is upon us, the weather is heating up, and there’s a ton of cool things happening in SoCal. Disney just opened Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge, The Stones and The Cure are coming to town, and there’s yet another event that has the locals talking: the inaugural On The Water Festival at Huntington State Beach.
Synergy Global Entertainment (SGE) and Slightly Stoopid have teamed up to present the Oct. 12-13 festival featuring that live jam band (twice!) as well as 311, The Interrupters and local Huntington Beach legends Dirty Heads.
“We are playing our home town with our favorite bands literally down the street from my house where I surf on a daily basis,” says Jared “Dirty J” Watson, Dirty Heads’ co-founder and co-lead vocalist. “These two days of music are going to be unforgettable.”
It’s also relatively close to being a home festival for headlining blues/R&B/reggae/punk purveyors Slightly Stoopid of San Diego and fourth wave ska outfit The Interrupters of Los Angeles. (While 311 hail from Omaha, Nebraska, the soulful alt-rockers have sold their branded beer and cannabis vape pens throughout Southern California.)
Slightly Stoopid is the only act performing sets both days. After Saturday performances by Chronixx, J Boog, Alborosie and The Expanders, Slightly Stoopid closes that night. They then return for a rare acoustic set on Sunday, when Dirty Heads, 311, The Interrupters, The Expendables, Hirie and Law fill out the bill.
It’ll be an insane couple of days for sure, and since Orange County-based SGE is working with featured radio anchor KROQ on the festival, you just never who might also show up to play. (Be on the lookout for a few more announcements before this one hits the surf and sand.)
In addition to great music, the festival includes a vintage poster gallery courtesy of Slightly Stoopid, which has collected rare tour and festival posters. Some will be available for purchase and others will be auctioned off for charity. Meanwhile, Taste of Baja will have unreal eats and brews available to festival-goers.
As one of the premier entertainment companies on the planet, SGE has over the past few years brought us such shows as Taste of Chaos, Surf City Blitz, Ohana Fest (for LiveNation), Sabroso Fest, Knottfest, Back to the Beach and Real Street, just to name a few. Not long ago, John Reese, the SGE grand poobah, told us that he wants to bring epic shows to the Southland and that OC is ground zero for many of the promoter’s plans.
SGE has managed to accomplish this by working alongside titans of Southern California radio like KROQ, KLOS and Real 92.3. For On The Water, SGE is partnering with Rockstar Energy Drink, Firestone Walker’s 805 Beer, Modelo, Pacifico, Sailor Jerry, Mike’s Hard Lemonade, Beso Del Sol Sangría, Brew Dr. Kombucha and Electric Standard Co., among others.
Tickets to the two-day fest go on sale on Friday at 10 a.m. General admission tickets start at $39.99 for a single day and $69.99 for the weekend. Ticketing packages, VIP deals and other options are available. Start your search at onthewaterfest.com.
