From updating and reclaiming the Long Beach Arena to opening the Long Beach Bowl at The Queen Mary this fall, Long Beach is returning to live music roots. And it frames Mayor Rex Richardson as the Mayor of Amps. It solidifies a campaign for more arts and culture that he has been advertising since first stepping into office.
First announced at his State of the City address earlier this week, it wasn’t just the flashy renderings. Or the (wildly OG-like) appearance of Warren G to talk about the importance of Long Beach culture. Or the harkening to our rich, diverse live music history. It was the amalgamation of these things paired with tangible steps forward taken by the city. We are getting an amphitheater. We are going to improve the Long Beach Arena. And we have a collection of local, legendary music lovers to assure that more steps are taken.
Long Beach Bowl by The Queen Mary is set to open this year, with ASM Global heading operations.
Richardson unveiled what his long-advertised Long Beach Bowl concept would like at his annual address. Showing off a Five Points-like facility—which, despite its success, was disassembled and closed in 2023—that would take over part of the Queen Mary’s parking lot, Richardson announced the venue will be complete by the end of the year.
“This facility will become a centerpiece for live performances with 10,000 to 12,000 seats,” Richardson said at his address. “It will offer unforgettable experiences for residents and visitors. And it will support our local small restaurants. Our shops. Our businesses. All these entities will benefit from increased foot traffic before and after major concerts.”
ASM Global will be heading operations. (They’re also the operators of the Convention Center, overseeing everything from its catering contract to its operations of the Arena.) Acquired by Legends in 2023 and finalized last year—making it one of the largest sports and entertainment venue operators in the world—the Long Beach Bowl will join ASM’s roughly 400 existing venue clients across the country.
Bringing the Long Beach Arena back to its incredible, concert-centric roots.
Richardson has long been saying that live entertainment is the “fourth leg” of a city’s cultural economic stool. This joins meetings and conferences; events; and sports. While the first two are on lock and sports is a bit more complicated, Richardson believes that focusing on live entertainment is an easy way to boost cultural capital and economy.
At his address on Tuesday, he harkened to our city’s rich music history—a bittersweet mixture of things. The nostalgia-driven highlight of venues gone like the Municipal Auditorium. The collage of the Arena’s historical lineup of artists, from James Brown and Prince to David Bowie and Iron Maiden. In this, Richardson reminded the audience that Long Beach was an epicenter for live performance. And it could be once more.
“I’m requesting our City Manager negotiate with ASM Global to bring a renewed focus to the Arena,” Richardson said. “We will embark on a public-private partnership using dollars generated by activating the arena to pay for those improvements. And, in turn, bring our Arena back as a significant revenue-generating asset. This will pay for its improvements and fuel the economy of Long Beach.”
What does this mean? Drawing in more concerts from acts that deserve headlines. And this means not ridding ourselves of but meshing with the space’s use as the Pacific Ballroom. The Ballroom uses the Arena to create on-the-spot, customizable spaces for convention, regional, and local events throughout the calendar year. (And that is obviously a smart move. According to a study by Kleinhenz Economics, the Ballroom’s estimated economic impact across the past decade has been $428 million.) It means creating more box seats or VIP experiences for future concerts.
To oversee these massive endeavors, Mayor appoints an epic crew of Long Beach’s best in the music industry to oversee the project.
“Honored to be part of the discussion on the future of entertainment in the city I love.”
These are the words of Alex Hernandez, the owner of the legendary Alex’s Bar and a legend himself when it comes to having defined Long Beach’s live music scene. He joins a powerhouse roster of Long Beach locals—artist, writer, and actor Vince Staples; Fingerprints owner Rand Foster; Downtown Long Beach Alliance CEO and President Austin Metoyer; and Long Beach Symphony’s Kelly Ruggirello—that will make up the Mayor’s Entertainment Strategic Advisory Committee.
Their task? To convene meetings, symposiums, and focus groups—including restaurants, entertainment venues, labor, and local businesses—to “outline outreach and publicity efforts to help these businesses benefit from the higher volume of visitors who will be coming to Long Beach,” in the words of Richardson.
Of course, for the co-chairs themselves, it really boils down to the music, the people who love music, and how it can help the city.
“I think the most fundamental key to the committee is that each co-chair is from a different strata in the city,” Rand Foster, owner of Fingerprints said. “We have small business, those that act as a venue or deal directly with artists, a business improvement district that has a larger view, and those direclty in the industry as artists. And we were tasked with identifying candidates to bring to the table, and working as community advisors on all of the City’s music and entertainment initiatives.”
And yes, with the Long Beach Bowl and Arena updates, a proper Long Beach Walk of Fame is being proposed.
Yes, there is the Motorsports Walk of Fame, a direct connection to our city’s Grand Prix and up annually at the racing event. But Long Beach deserves a far more permanent, upstanding space dedicated to our creatives, heroes, legends, and athletes.
“One key initiative we will explore is the development of a Long Beach Sports and Entertainment Walk of Fame,” Richardson said. “It will celebrate the rich legacy of Olympians, athletes, and entertainers with special ties to Long Beach. This project will honor our city’s contributions to the world of sports and entertainment and inspire future generations.”
As to where and when? We shall see.
It’s a bit of a pipe dream by the Mayor IMO. I do appreciate the outside of the box thinking. However, you have a metro market that is becoming oversaturated with live entertainment venues. Between Intuit Dome, YouTube Theater and The Forum not too far away. Plus with deep pockets to buy the A list talent to preform. They will opt to play there before Long Beach. Same with LA Live, Hollywood Bowl, The Greek. Unlikely you’ll be having folks come from parts of LA County coming down to Long Beach for a show. OC has its own $4B project with OCVIBE already broken ground which will dominate with the residents over there before coming to LB. Better to have the City leaders focused on festivals which there are fewer of locally, vs one off shows they will have to get into a bidding war. ASM which is owned by AEG will always opt to send the best profitable talent to LA Live first before LB. Likely ending up with a lot of C list talent instead. Only attracting locals, which do not bring in new dollars the city is hoping for. Better to find your niche and master it than get into a arms race you are a decade behind in already, without a billionaire backing it.
Anthony, I couldn’t disagree with you more! Long Beach as a city and the pockets of Long Beach individually are not only a proven hot bed of talent and diversity but also a destination right in the middle of OC and LA! From Downtown to the Traffic Circle or Bixby Knolls to the East side, Fans love to come to the LBC for a great show @ Alex’s Bar or a 3 day Festival like Cali Vibes… It’s easy to get in and out of Long Beach (most of the time) and the hotels are here if you plan ahead and book rooms. I ran a live music venue for a few years (12 or 14) and I can tell you that local, national and international touring artists love Long Beach, to play, to stay and even for a vacation. And by the way, Legends- ASM is AEG is SMG and it’s time for an Outdoor Venue on the water that can attract the BIG Name talent that already love Long Beach! Support Live Music! Support Long Beach and let’s do this!