Point Loma Summer Concerts announces LomaPalooza, a community concert commemorating 15 years of summer concerts at Point Loma Park. The event will feature home grown bands and musical groups and will take place right in the middle of the Point Loma Summer Concerts season on Saturday, July 25. The concerts committee is currently accepting applications from musical groups who live, work, or attend schools in Point Loma and Ocean Beach. “We thought it would be nice to give back to the community and allow the many local bands and groups a chance to perform,” said Martha Phillips, chair of Point Loma Summer Concerts.
Expect a festival atmosphere with activities for kids, booths from local nonprofits, and food from the Peninsula Lions Club. The event is expected to begin in the afternoon; the last band will finish at 8:30 p.m. Fans are encouraged to come for fun, listen to their friends perform, and meet new neighbors.
The inaugural season of the Point Loma Summer Concerts began in 2001 with performances by The Westwind Brass, Glen Fisher and the GoManGo Invasion Orchestra, The U.S. Navy Band Southwest, The Peter Sprague Samba, and The Surf Kings. Crowds were estimated to be 300-500 at each concert, and the committee had a nurse who volunteered at the nurse’s station. These days, crowds swell to nearly 3,000 – and the committee is required to have an ambulance on site. The concerts are now a community tradition, with strolling teenagers who attended their first concerts in strollers.
While many aspects of the concerts have changed, the warm community atmosphere remains the same – as do many of the concert’s sponsors, including the original presenting sponsor, Willis Allen Real Estate, which hasn’t missed a season. The 15th regular season is on Friday evenings beginning July 10 with Detroit Underground, then continuing with Eagles cover band Desperado on July 17, Pop Vinyl on July 24, Wild Nights on July 31, and the return of Jumping Jack Flash to close the season on Aug. 7.
To apply to LomaPalooza, e-mail [email protected]. For more information about the 2015 Point Loma Summer Concerts, go to www.plconcerts.org.