First published in the April 29 print issue of the South Pasadena Review.
I’ve never been to the Eclectic Music Festival and Arts Crawl, and I’ve lived in South Pasadena for all 14 years of its existence.
There I admit it. I’m guilty. I promise it won’t happen again.
After all, what better way to return to public in-person events with music this Saturday from 3-10 p.m. And it is all — pardon the pun — around town.
Like I said, it started 14 years ago, with just three bands and a few hundred attendees who came together to listen. It grew slowly over time and by 2019, with Mission Street closed off, around 18,000 people gathered to listen to bands on stages all over town.
That’s a lot of people. I mean it’s not Woodstock, but I hear it did cause some safety concerns among local officials. The pandemic unfortunately shut things down in 2020 and 2021.
This year, the South Pasadena Chamber of Commerce, which co-sponsors the event with the city, predicts that there might be 8,000 or more people who wander through town and stop at any of the 13 stages to enjoy the music.
“We could never have imagined when it started that it would grow like this,” said Chamber President Laurie Wheeler. “Stores stay open later. A lot of them have musicians or artists to bring in customers so that there is something special in almost every store. It brings people in South Pasadena and they get to know the community and what we can offer to them, and they come back again to shop or eat.
“It’s has become a signature event for our community,” she added. “It is sort of like the arts crawl” — another of the Chamber’s periodic events in town — “on steroids.”
And the best thing about it is it is free to attend, though you must pay for the food or drinks, which goes to pay many of the musicians. The city co-sponsors the event and helps provide permits and logistics.
Wheeler said that this year, the Chamber wants people to be outdoors as much as possible, in observance of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic.
“We want people to be as comfortable as possible,” she said.
This year, Mission Street will be open for traffic, but be prepared for other street closures, which I’ll outline at the end of the column.
And for those people with energy to spare — I know I won’t fall into this group — Metro is sponsoring a “Mission to Mission” run-walk-skate from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, and there will be closures of some parts of Mission Street and others. You might want to do your grocery shopping early to avoid the crowds and closures over the weekend. You have probably seen the posted signs on where there will be street closures and no parking.
But I digress. More on the “Mission to Mission” day later, and back to the Eclectic Music Festival.
Brad Colerick, the festival music director, had all his bands booked for the 2020 show when the onset of the pandemic forced planners to pull the plug and ultimately skip two years. Now, Colerick thinks the festival couldn’t come at a better time.
“People are starved for this kind of thing,” he said. “It should really bring people out.”
Colerick has an enlarged canvas to work with this year. There will be music in the parking lot of the former South Pasadena Unified School District main office, along with an artisans alley showcasing arts and crafts. There will be 67 musical acts, which Colerick said is more than ever. Jeweled Universe will jump the gun a bit, starting about an hour early with entertainment in its cabaret area in back of the store.
There are also going to be some album premieres. An album titled “A Town South of Pasadena” features some of the musicians who will perform during the day at SOPA on Hope Street. Dave Plenn, a longtime musician and songwriter in addition to being the owner of Dinosaur Farm on Mission Street, will be celebrating the release of an album.
Colerick said that a group of 11- and 12-year-olds from San Gabriel called The Rooted Band will be playing some of its own new music. Then, there are the groups that have been showcased before, including The S.P. Transit Authority, a band noted for often covering songs by the rock band Chicago, has played at every festival. Louis Cruz Beltran, a crowd favorite at past festivals, will be bringing his Latin jazz to the main stage at the Metro Gold Line Station.
Plenn will be playing guitar with a band and has often been joined by his son Taylor, who plays the saxophone.
“It is a wonderful thing,” Plenn said. “There’s good music and the stages allow local bands to show what they can do. What it does for local businesses is it brings in foot traffic. It gets people talking about the city and eating in the city.
“There are a lot of creative people who live in South Pasadena. I’d say it is a higher proportion of artistic people who live in this city” than in other places, he added.
Wheeler labeled the music as “family-friendly,” with a mix of hip-hop, Latin, jazz and rock and roll, and there are certainly an eclectic group of musicians providing the talent.
There are musicians from Mission Tile West who will perform, including co-owner Tisa Adamson who will sing with the band. The South Pasadena High School jazz band is also scheduled to perform.
Colerick told me that there is an “unhoused” person who performs under the name of Sgt. Lepper, who has performed for tips on street corners, scheduled on Saturday. Sally Adamson of the South Pasadena Theater Co. met him through St. James Episcopal Church and asked Colerick to record his music. Colerick said it not only fulfilled a dream for the man, but he was also good enough to take a spot on a stage.
Colerick begins taking applications to perform in December, and he said there are always bands that want to come back year-after-year. He is well-versed in spotting talent. He ran a “wine and song night” at the café at the golf course until the pandemic closed things down. He then went online with a Zoom-based show and he’s since branched out to start a similar program in Phoenix.
The 626 Golden Streets “Mission to Mission” event is also sponsored by the cities of Alhambra and San Gabriel, which are along the event route. There will be stages along the path with music, food and entertainment. It is going to be quite the coming out party for South Pasadena and it’s none too soon enough for some people who want to get out and let loose.
“We’re always happy when these kinds of events happen,” Wheeler said. “It brings out people from elsewhere and it also brings out city residents. I’m always getting the question, ‘When did this start?’”
I’m not a dancing in the streets kind of guy, but I’ll be there watching, tapping my toes and singing along.
Enjoy.
Editor’s Note: During the Eclectic Music Festival, Meridian Avenue will be closed from Mission Street to El Centro Street, and El Centro Street will be closed from Meridian Avenue to Fairview Avenue. For times and locations of the acts, go to theeclectic.rocks.
For further information on the “Mission to Mission” event, visit 626goldenstreets.com. Traffic and parking will be affected along the route of the race.
