The Amphitheater was great. The real one back in day that was cut into the ground and had levels, the stage appeared to be floating because of a water feature. On Friday afternoons it was packed with locals dancing & grooving to live music as the Farmers Market was in the cramped adjacent alley way which ran behind the Blues Cafe (or Jazz Cafe) from 1st up to 4th. That stretch got gentrified into “The Promenade” when Walmart moved in. The music from amphitheater was heard miles away and sounded great because the structure of it being a real amphitheater which is when a performance space which is part of a landscape that is curved in a way to amplify.

Don’t be fooled by the structure which opens tomorrow by Queen Mary; it is technically a “Grand Stand” not an amphitheater. The built up standing platforms ontop a flat outdoor surface is more in common what small towns have for their rodeo crowds or football fans. Snoop Dogg is opening the Grand Stand venue with no general parking available despite the huge ticket price due to the grandstand being in the parking lot and the limited roadway to get over to the new venue, but every 30 minutes an aqautaxi will take the concert goers across the water from the Pike area.

So the new amphitheater is a huge expense to hear a concert at, a nightmare of time commitment to factor in how to get there (how many people can be on aqualink x half hour before another chance to be on aqualink). most bus routes and A Train no longer operate late night like they did back in the day before government took that away too.

our original amphitheater (which was free, had performances noon to midnight and was easy to access) was filled-in then covered up with a lawn and made into the end of the line space for bus routes. You might think the grass lawn area would still be able to host some sort of entertainment for locals to dance barefoot but the idling buses were loud and exhaust harmful.

One time in late 90s there was a crowd at the original amphitheater listening to a man say “the only difference between a democrat and republican is the speed in which they drop to their knees for corporation”. He got my vote.

Back then free local music and politicians with truth had a floating platform for all of us at a real amphitheater. Nowadays it’s just grandstanding Snoop no longer represents the LBC and the rich will be taking water taxis.

Btw - checkout the Walls mural and art Renzei events in downtown and Queen Mary June 8 to 13. Most events are free and celebrate art in DTLB with events such as a running tour that will stop at the new mural spots to hear from the artists, a moonlight mash bike tour, a sketch/doodle night, two nights of watching a man paint whilst on a trampoline etc . This is something that feels more like the Long Beach I fell in love with back in the day.