“Keeping it Local” with Andrew Rowley of 91x – The Summer of Music hits San Diego

You can hear Andrew on 91x every sunday from 8-10 p.m.

This is the summer to get your music fest on in San Diego. Last weekend, we had Fiesta Del Sol in Solana Beach, and Art Around Adams in Normal Heights. Spending time at both, I realized that San Diego has its hands wrapped around some pretty noteworthy festivals on its radar. As long as I can remember, there has always been some kind of music festival in San Diego that we could attend. Festivals such as Street Scene, Warped Tour, Del Mar Fair, and even 91X’s X-Fest have all been staples in the San Diego summer music scene. Now it just seems like there are more events popping up that want a bit of the action.

Fletchers Cove in Solana Beach was a the perfect setting for the 30th Anniversary of Fiesta Del Sol. Rain was in the forecast but the sun came out to party for this event. Produced by the Belly Up Tavern, there was a solid line-up for this years Fiesta, with a good mixture of local and national acts including West Indian Girl and Donavon Frankenreiter. Did I mention that this entire two-day festival was free? Thousands of people came out, not to mention the hundreds of dogs that I saw and petted as I was enjoying my time. It was very animal friendly. Surrounding the grand stage area were dozens of local artists, craft dealers and other vendors adding to a great vide and community builder.

So in the same weekend I went from one of the oldest San Diego music festivals to one of the more newly revamped events, Art Around Adams. Yes, I know Art Around Adams has been around for a few years now, but past years were nothing like it was last weekend. Taking place in the heart of Normal Heights, AAA took over the Adams Avenue Recreation Center. This event had a real festival feel to it, with four stages spread about the park and about 30 bands in all. The bill was mainly all San Diego bands, which I am a big fan of, so it was nice to see a bunch of my favorite local bands play all in the same place roughly around the same time. Bands like Circa Now, Dynamite Walls, The Burning of Rome, and All Leather participated in this year’s Art Around Adams. One of the more entertaining sets was by DJ Edgartronic on the main stage. His high-energy set got EVERYONE dancing; even myself and I DO NOT DANCE. It was very fun. It wasn’t just about the music though, as there was plenty of art and film to check out too. It was a very well rounded event, and I’m definitely looking forward to see what it will be like next year!

With summer just beginning and already a few festivals under my belt, I am ready for what the summer has to offer. One of the newest music festivals coming back is the 2nd annual North Park Music Thing, happening August 7-9. Previously known as North by North Park, The North Park Music Thing is a music festival/music workshop that highlights dozens of bands from San Diego and other Southern California cities.

Also, a great tradition in San Diego, Street Scene returns and is once again back in the East Village. Street Scene is August 28-29 with such headliners like M.I.A., Black Eyed Peas, Silversun Pickups, Modest Mouse and many, many more. They are also giving some local bands some love too. Grand Ole Party, Wavves, and Crocodiles are scheduled to perform also.

So now you are maybe a little bit more informed, hopefully, about some of the San Diego music festivals coming along this summer. For updates on all of these festivals and everything else on local music, tune into Loudspeaker on 91X every Sunday night from 8-10pm for local San Diego music. Now go out and buy your tickets, get your sunscreen ready, get your best hipster wardrobe together and enjoy the summer festivals!