Where It All Began

It's always such a great feeling pulling into this space. There's a stretch of road into Avila Beach Golf Resort where the cars slow down and you can feel everyone in line getting stoked at the same time, radios down a notch, shoes going back on after long drives. The parking lot itself is bumpy and a little chaotic, which for me is part of that Avila concert experience. I found a spot looking out over the lagoon toward the hillside, killed the engine, and just sat there for a second. You could hear music drifting out of the cars around me, all at once, nobody playing the same thing, but it all somehow worked.

Getting from the car to inside the gates took about five minutes. Staff was smiling, lines moved quickly, nobody seemed rushed. And then there's that bridge... The one that crosses the water before the venue opens up in front of you. Rusted truss work overhead, a line of people ahead of me carrying their chairs and blankets, the hillside and the bay beyond the stage. You're not just walking into a field... You're crossing into a space where you can let loose, and the whole night seems to start the second your feet hit that bridge.

Stepping onto the field, everything you need is available right as you walk in. Beer and merch on one pass, food not far off, lines that stayed short even once the venue filled in. There's a hill on the side of the grounds that looks out toward the ocean, and people had already claimed it early (mostly couples and a few families).

I spent some time near the vendor tents before the music got going. One booth I always stop at is Forever Stoked: coastline scenes, psychedelic waves, swirled and saturated in a way that has nothing to do with realism and everything to do with the vibe.

The crowd was at that early-set energy where nobody's worked up yet but everybody's clearly glad to be there... Then Tunnel Vision came out and people started to let loose. Off to the side, a small skank pit opened up, which at a reggae-leaning show is less mosh pit and more a fun conga line haha. Tunnel Vision showed us that reggae, punk, and ska are all ingredients in their epic musical stew!

Rex had the crowd locked and dancing from the start. At one point she looked toward the blanket section on the hill (the people sitting rather than standing) and called them out, half-joking: I'm not judging anybody out there... well, maybe a little. Let's stand up and dance. Everyone laughed. People stood up. Arms went up across the whole field, like she'd flipped a switch nobody knew was there.

By then the air was filled with music, laughter, and kettle corn, and Artikal played it like the last stop on the tour that it was.

By the time Tribal Seeds took the stage, the crowd had grown and the light had started doing the thing it does at Avila: turning gold, then pink, then that flat blue that isn't quite night yet. They brought out the horn section and worked through the catalog.

There's a guy who shows up to these shows, some of you might know him: Jimmy J, who travels to Good Vibez shows near and far from Santa Barbara, CA. Jimmy makes his own flags, hats, and other limited edition merch for the bands he loves and flies them all night from wherever he's standing. Tonight he had four: Tunnel Vision, Artikal Sound System, Tribal Seeds, and Iration. He was out there with his kiddo, flags going, having the time of his life, when security pulled him aside.

I could see they were giving him a hard time for bringing his flag pole in, but a few minutes later they let him go. Almost exactly as he walked back, Rex looked out from the stage and said, We see you out there, Jimmy. It was just one of those moments that shows that the bands care for the community as the community cares for the bands.

This is the part of an Avila night I look forward to most. The string lights come on, the sky finishes its slide from gold to deep blue, and the whole grounds change character, less daytime picnic, more summertime party. By the time Iration took the stage, the venue lights and the moon were glowing and the crowd had filled in shoulder to shoulder.

I've seen Iration many times since 2008 or so, and there's still a feeling of pure joy once they're actually playing. Every song was something I didn't want to look away from, and the closer was one for the books.

The crowd that night was everything this scene is. Young couples out on dates. Groups of friends dancing together. Older couples who've been doing this for years. Actual families, kids who've been coming to Avila shows for as long as they can remember.

I ran into old friends in the crowd, friendly faces everywhere you look. I talked to a couple from Atascadero who'd only been to Cali Roots once but were already planning their return. A group from Salinas had been coming for five years straight and already had next year's tickets locked in. So many of the people I talked to were already part of the Cali Roots Family. It's a special feeling to travel solo to any city with a show and find your people all around.

That's a Good Vibez show in Avila. A bridge you cross to get to the space. A hillside that goes from green, to gold, and then blue. A musical lineup in an intimate beachside setting. A few thousand people who keep showing up for each other as much as for the music. And of course, nothing but Good Vibez.

🤙🏽