Described by the band Face to Face as “a backyard BBQ with thousands of people at the beach,” the annual SABROSO Craft Beer, Taco & Music Festival rocked out at Dana Point earlier this month.
Generous performances were the order of the two-day fest, by bands including Flogging Molly, Bad Religion, Lagwagon, Strung Out, The Suicide Machines, Adolescents and D.I. on Saturday and The Offspring, Descendents, Black Flag, Face To Face, Plague Vendor, Red City Radio and Orange Blossom Special, on Sunday.
It was the 6th annual festival, and drew 20,000 fans to the beach-front location at Doheny State Beach. Along with the music, there was craft beer sampling, gourmet tacos, Lucha Libre wrestling, and a taco-eating contest. At the latter, world record holder Takeru Kobayashi won again, in a close contest with Molly Schuyler. He ate a stomach-churning 157 tacos in 10 minutes.
Without consuming this many tasty tacos, attendees were able to indulge on the Sabroso Best Of Show winning taco from Pink Taco – poached octopus with chorizo, potatoes, onion, and peppers, as well as vegan jack fruit tacos, Baja-style tacos, and the popular Fiesta Gourmet fried beer battered shrimp on pickled cabbage.
All could be topped with Gringo Bandito – an award-winning hot sauce from Dexter Holland of The Offspring. To wash it all down, yes, there was beer. 150 craft brews in fact, served up each day until 4 p.m.
Favorites included Russian River Brewing, locals Artifex Brewing Company, Burgeon Beer Co., and Wild Barrel, and newcomers to the craft beer scene including he Shop Beer Co. and Papa Marce’s Cerveceria.
And there was cider…
Among the musical highlights was a Saturday performance by Adolescents, with a tribute to founding member Steve Soto, who passed away last June at age 54.
Opening band The Suicide Machines and lead singer Jason Navaro got the crowd going; fans body surfed to head-banging sounds from Strung Out and Lagwagon on Saturday; on Sunday, Plague Vendor was a tough act to follow, but follow they did. The punk scene doesn’t tire easily.Punk is definitely alive and well…so what if there were enough grey hairs on stage to start a small retirement facility.
Punk classic acts like The Offspring, Bad Religion, Black Flag, Descendants, and Flogging Molly proved their mettle, turning in strong sets, as the crowd on the packed lawn danced, cheered, and vibed long after dark.
SABROSO Craft Beer, Taco & Music Festival is produced by music festival production company Synergy Global Entertainment, Inc. (SGE) and California’s craft beer festival producer Brew Ha Ha Productions. There was a charitable twist, too: a portion of the proceeds from the fest will be donated to the Doheny State Beach Interpretive Association (DSBIA), and Big Brothers Big Sisters.
Genie Davis; general festival photos: Jack Burke; The Offspring band photos by Anthony Duty; photo above by Lizzy Gonzalez.
