Music festival will go on
A popular music festival in danger of cancellation earlier this week because of noise and sponsorship worries appears to be back on the calendar — but without Smash Mouth.
After some back and forth among organizers, Laguna Beach and a former sponsor that led to some last-minute changes, the city issued Blue Water Music Festival officials a temporary use permit Thursday, organizer Rick Conkey said. The music and art showcase is scheduled for March 28 and 29 at the Sawdust Art Festival grounds.
Noise was a key concern. Representatives from [seven-degrees], an event venue next to Sawdust, claimed decibel levels last year were too high, Community Development Director Greg Pfost said.
One of the permit’s conditions requires an on-site person monitoring sound levels, which must be kept below 70 decibels.
Sawdust President Jay Grant told the City Council on Tuesday that the organization received no complaints of loud noise last year. However, [seven-degrees] Executive Director Dora Wexell was quoted in newspapers after the 2014 festival as saying the music had interfered with events at her venue.
Wexell declined to comment on the matter this week.
To alleviate the noise concerns, Ivan Spiers — the owner of Mozambique restaurant in Laguna Beach and a sponsor of Blue Water — initially agreed to rent [seven-degrees] for after-parties both nights of this year’s festival, said Steve Kawaratani, who represented Blue Water in the permitting process and consults for Spiers.
On March 9, Spiers withdrew some of his sponsorship and the offer to rent the facility “because he felt the festival was not going to be as successful as it potentially could be,” Kawaratani said. “Ivan is a tremendous guy, a lover of music ... but he thought the preparation was not there.”
Spiers could not be reached for comment.
Blue Water’s former spokeswoman, K.C. Mancebo, said that without that sponsorship, the festival was unable to pay for some of the scheduled acts, including Smash Mouth, which hit big in the 1990s with “All Star” and “Walkin’ on the Sun.”
Mancebo, like Kawaratani, also consults for Spiers.
Earlier this week, a spokeswoman from Smash Mouth’s booking agency, Monterey International, confirmed that the group was no longer scheduled to play at Blue Water.
Instead, the band plans to play at Mozambique on March 28, according to the restaurant’s website. A woman who answered the phone Thursday morning confirmed that show was still scheduled to take place.
With the permit now issued, Mancebo said Thursday that Spiers will sponsor four bands at the festival: Bushwalla, Truth & Salvage, The Record Company, and The White Buffalo.
The Blue Water festival has traditionally brought together a weekend’s worth of musical acts, with proceeds going to various charities. The event is run in association with Blue Water Green Earth, a nonprofit founded by Conkey to support environmental and social causes.
If You Go
What: Blue Water Music Festival
Where: Sawdust Art Festival, 935 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach
When: March 28 and 29
Cost: $100 to $400 for a two-day pass ($25 for children), $55 to $225 for a one-day pass ($15 for children)
Information: https://www.bluewatermusicfestival.org