Jeff Goldblum and the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra stole the show at Arroyo Seco Fest

Photos and Story by Terry Miller

Pasadena’s Arroyo Seco Weekend …the long and winding road

It took city officials, Arroyo neighbors and GoldenVoice several years to iron out the logistics for Pasadena’s two-day Arroyo Seco festival held last weekend.

The lofty affair featured a healthy roster of fine young musicians and veterans like John Mayall from the old Bluesbreaker days to true classics like Tom Petty.

This past weekend, June 24-25, was Pasadena’s answer to Woodstock combined with a mini Coachella combined with a pinch of Blues and Jazz Festivals thrown in for good measure.

Lots of people of all ages and the compulsory scantily clad music lovers taking ‘selfies’ dominated Brookside for two days of peace, love , music and expensive food and drinks.

Some, like Dave Isaac -a Brewmaster from First Water Brewing company – estimated the festival brought in 40,000 people but others revised that figure to 25,000.

Jeff Goldblum and the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra quoting the score to “Jurassic Park,” literally stole the show for this reporter. He was magnificent, vibrant and very silly, as is Goldblum’s persona.

Did I tell you it was hot? Baking, in fact. So much so that paramedics from Pasadena Fire and the Red Cross treated a number of heat related illnesses, especially on Sunday when the temps hit triple digits.

Trying to cool down on the Brookside Golf course wasn’t easy or cheap. In fact, the average drink ranged for $12-16.

Those who were smart stuck to good old water which was free in some places like the information booth and all the refill stations around the festival.

Philip Cosores summed the festival up magnificently on Consquences of Sound website. “The Festival, despite a cost of admission, on par with the other Southern California music festivals, the event oozed with the concept of disposable money, where $37 pork ribs and $150 dollar picnic baskets were served to music fans who wouldn’t scoff at dropping cash like that for a quick festival bite. You’re still as likely to see shirtless bros as you are at its Indio cousin, only here they are covered in back hair, pushing a stroller with one hand and holding a craft beer in the other. Instead of donning expensive, single-use outfits, people brought expensive, single-use blankets to lord over unnecessary expanses of space, cursing and threatening if anyone dared to step too close to their territory.”

Arroyo Seco Weekend was indeed, like all concerts, part fashion show, part music and part frustrating, particularly at the end of the day trying to scramble to find your car in poorly lit areas of the parking areas on the golf course.

However, for an inaugural festival, the GoldenVoice folks put on one heck of show and will surely revisit for next year to fix. There were lots of kinks and places for improvement and I’m sure when Sir Paul McCartney rolls into Pasadena next year, the festival gurus will have ironed out those quandaries.

1. Jeff Goldblum trying to belch out a tune in the heat.

2. Jeff Goldblum singing  in the heat at Arroyo Seco.

3. Mildred Snitzer singing in the heat at Arroyo Seco.

4. Thousands of fans braved the heat at Arroyo Seco.

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