SoCal’s BeachLife Festival Announces Willie Nelson As First Headliner: Exclusive

Willie Nelson In Concert
John Davisson
– Willie Nelson In Concert
SXSW, Austin, TX
Los Angeles’ BeachLife Festival, a celebration of Southern California’s beach culture, has announced that it will feature Willie Nelson as part of its live music experience.

The inaugural shindig is set to take place May 3-5 at Redondo Beach’s Seaside Lagoon, with many musicians joining the red-headed stranger, as well as culinary stars, surfing and skateboarding components, all organized around the theme of celebrating the beach life. 
Tickets are available now at a holiday discount rate of $229. A limited number of three-day VIP passes, which include dedicated VIP entrances, wristbands for reentry, premium bathrooms, a VIP hangout lounge and pool, elevated viewing decks and preferred restaurant reservations are all on sale now. 

While co-founder Allen Sanford is a SoCal native, the other co-founder Rob Lissner is a transplant from Chicago, who fell in love with the local beach culture as he entered a business partnership with Sanford and settled roots on the coast. A portion of ticket sales will be donated to charities including Surfrider Foundation, 5 Gyres and Redondo Beach Police Foundation.

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BeachLife festival
– Rob Lissner


“Working with a team of smart people that I like and respect to bring legendary musicians and a unique festival experience to a few miles of my home is as good as it gets. Making a small difference in support of local and marine focused charities is a big cherry on top,” Lissner told Pollstar. “We couldn’t be more excited about the lineup (coming in January), and experiences that will make the first year a memorable one.”

Sanford, the owner of several restaurants in LA and the venue St. Rocke in Hermosa Beach, and Lissner, who managed entertainment partnerships for Facebook, were originally supposed to open a venue together, but instead joined forces to create the concert streaming service LiveList. The entire BeachLife Festival will be streamed on the service. 

 “In addition to working with third party festivals to demonstrate the value of developing, streaming, and distributing engaging live music content, BeachLife gives us the opportunity to write the playbook as we see it,” Lissner said. “Our ultimate goal is to be the ‘TV Guide’ of live music and a utility for live music fans to easily get information about the live performances that are most relevant to them. 

“Lack of information is the greatest barrier we’ve seen to driving viewership for the tens of thousands of free live concerts available annually.”

Also, the two partners Sanford and Lissner are finally looking to open their joint venue, The Venice West, next spring.