Long Beach Show – RMS Queen Mary

Good report.

Last night, Friday, August 13, I ventured to Long Beach to hear Roger McGuinn and Joan Baez at the first 2010 Queen Mary concert at Harry Bridges Park. I primarily want to discuss the venue for the benefit of those attending Lucinda’s show on August 26.

However, I’ll first mention that the music was very good. Roger McGuinn delivers an excellent solo show, and he knows what the audience wants to hear, and he plays his Rickenbacker 12-string (and other guitars) through the Byrds’ songbook with dedicated experience. And he respectfully thanked Mr. Dylan for writing most of the songs…

Friendly Disclaimer: The following words about the venue describe my observations on August 13. I can not promise the same conditions for August 26. Caveat emptor.

I really liked this venue. The ticketed area includes all of the park, and with minimal facilities and a small audience, there was lots of space to walk and explore before and during the show. The area is beautiful at twilight, with the sun reflecting on the water and the distant buildings, and flocks of seabirds, including herons, diving in the water.

The stage is built at the northwest end of the park near the water. In front of the stage is 1 alphabet of rows of plastic “Humphrey” chairs, cabled together. However, unlike Humphrey’s, these Long Beach rows offer tremendous legroom, perhaps 4-5 feet between rows. Tonight, the alphabet ended about Row “Q”.

All the remaining area is General Admission standing, sitting, or walking. And this area is huge. The map on Ticketmaster showing a small GA area behind the chairs is grossly inaccurate. The GA area extends 50-75 yards back to the concessions (see next), and also wraps along the sides of the chairs, and to the seawall. Again, with the small audience last night, the GA ticket was quite adequate. In fact, many GA folks periodically took seats in the empty “P” and “Q” rows, as the show progressed.

At the south end of the park, perhaps 75-100 yards from the stage, are the concession tents. There is a full bar with wine, beer, and mixed drinks for $7-$9. Bottles of water are $3. There are food tents, selling chicken, BBQ, hamburgers, and roasted corn. Near the concession area, there are portable restroom facilities. I saw no water fountains.

The event staff was helpful, pleasant, and minimal. There were ushers helping people find their seats–but since the row/seat numbers were quite obvious, the ushers soon faded away when the show started. Several Long Beach police officers were present, and they seemed to enjoy their music assignment, in preference to patroling downtown Long Beach on a Friday night.

The mellowness of the event might be attributed to the age of the performers and the audience–this was definitely a 40-70 age crowd.

Some logistical notes: The entrance to the concert is at the east side of the park, just off the parking lot. The remainder of the park is fenced-off, to prevent unticketed entry. If you need to buy tickets, you must purchase them at the Queen Mary ticketing building, adjacent to the ship, about 100 yards east of the concert entrance. There is no service charge for those tickets–the $35 GA ticket was $35 total.

Also, I would advise bringing a jacket or sweater; the temperature falls to the low 60’s, and there are breezes off the water.