Foo Fighters’ drummer Taylor Hawkins played the BeachLife Festival in Redondo Beach during its inaugural year in 2019 with his cover band Chevy Metal.
More than two years after his death in 2022, his teen son, Shane Hawkins, is following in his father’s footsteps, by not only becoming a world-class drummer, but also keeping “dirt rock” alive and well as part of Chevy Metal.
Shane Hawkins, along with guitarist Brent Woods and singer Wiley Hodgden, took to the stage on Saturday, May 4, to celebrate Taylor Hawkins’ legacy, as well as the band’s return to the BeachLife Festival, which is celebrating its fifth year this weekend.
On stage, Hodgden recognized the younger Hawkins as a “teenager tearing it up” on the drums.
“I was there the day that kid was born,” Hodgden said of the prodigy.
In their set, Chevy Metal covered Thin Lizzy and The Rolling Stones and closed with Van Halen’s “Let’s Talk About Love.” When Chevy Metal performed at the 2019 BeachLife, the band mostly covered Van Halen deep cuts and hits.
Lee Ving, frontman for the Los Angeles punk band Fear, which started in the late 1970s, joined the band for a Black Sabbath cover and to help close out the set.
On Friday, music fans were treated to the smooth vocal stylings of Seal, the synopated rap of Dirty Heads, the hard beat blending of Donavan Frankenreiter/G. Love collaboration and, of course, the much-anticipated headliner Sting.
Day two’s entertainment in the Redondo Beach Harbor, meanwhile, continued with new wave pioneers Devo, followed by headliners Incubus.
Mark Mothersbaugh, who co-founded Devo with his brother Bob more than 50 years ago, was also on hand Saturday to sign his new book, “Apotropaic Beatnik Graffiti.”
Thousands of people converged on Redondo Beach for the second day in a row, though there appeared to be slightly fewer people on Saturday than the day before.
Anthony Padua, who had just dropped $160 for an autographed, classic Devo red tiered helmet, was busy near the LowTide stage as people fist pumped and saluted him. Older festival goers knew the drill. For the younger ones — his generation, he had to educate them.
“(Devo) is unlike anything else out there,” the longtime fan said.
Padua became one at 5, he said. He likes how creative their music is. He only came to BeachLife for Devo — but he’s had a great time checking out all the different genres of music.
“It’s fun,” he said, “and it has lots of energy.”
My Morning Jacket, Trey Anastasio, Fleet Foxes and ZZ Top are the headliners for Sunday, May 5, which will close out the three-day festival that attracts around 30,000 annually.
