Beach Goth, a new break-through rock genre that has been heard popularly through the halls of SDA and on social media accounts. This genre first gained popularity after the Beach Goth festival came again to Orange County this past October with tons of well-known Beach Goth, indie, and pop punk bands in the line-up. But the starter of this new genre and festival are The Growlers, a unique surf-rock inspired band that has been getting bigger since their mini-festival has graced the ears of California music lovers; which is why they will be back in February at the Observatory in San Diego for two nights.
The Growlers formed in Dana Point California in 2006 and have been associated with many different record companies including the popular indie record label, Burger Records. Their music is easy to listen to and combines many different genres like country, surf, pop, punk, and rock. With their growing popularity in California, they have come back yet again for a short 2016 winter tour to promote their re-released EP, “Gay Thoughts,” and promote that this year they will be creating a new record.
Their last extremely successful album, “Chinese Fountain,” which came out in 2014, was what started their new-found popularity and success with California beach and indie music lovers. Now, they’re ready to take on their 2016 California Winter tour, “Smile Now, Smile Later,” that starts on Feb. 13 in Santa Cruz and ends on Feb. 17 in North Park, San Diego. I will be attending the Feb. 16 show, the first of the two shows, at the Observatory in North Park, San Diego to see The Growlers for the first time with guests Jonathon Richman from The Modern Lovers featuring Tommy Larkins on the drums.
Tickets were $25 with about $12 of service charges and fees for General Admission and the VIP ticket bundle was $65 and available for each of the five nights of the tour. The VIP package included a ticket with a reduced service fee, a two-sided “Smile Now, Smile Later” white unisex tour shirt, and a “Smile Now, Smile Later” maroon cotton bandana.
With the Growlers being a hilarious, entertaining, and extremely talented surf-rock band, I can tell the concert is going to be extremely fun to go to with all my friends and we will be singing along to every song. I hope to also see SDA students there that are going to support the Growlers in their newly rising popularity!