Live Nation created a really nice traveling showcase of current, talented indie rock/pop acts for South and Central Florida...a good value with affordable ticket prices. I liked all the acts that I saw : Capital Cities, Surfer Blood, Fitz and the Tantrums, The Neighborhood, Matt & Kim, The Joy Formidable, Two Door Cinema Club, and Passion Pit. I had seen four of them before...FATT, M&K, TJM, and TDCC...and they were unquestionably the best of the lot. I've traveled to numerous big destination music festivals over the past decade, including several Coachellas and some Lollapaloozas and Austin City Limit Fests just to see these type of acts; and it was a pleasure to have something like this event within a 1.5-hour drive from home, albeit on a much smaller scale. In fact, the fun atmosphere and vibe of the attendees reminded me a bit of the early years of Coachella before it became extremely big and popular. Most of the people's first priority seemed to be enjoying the music rather than just partying or chatting with friends, which was refreshing. It was also nice to see a wide demographic range there from kids in their early teens to people in their 50's, including whole families! There was a quite a significant contingent of Gen-Xers in their 30's and 40's, like myself, who have always had an appreciation of the new and alternative music scene since they were kids and have never stopped...probably something that LN didn't originally anticipate. I liked how there was a little down time between the acts, which allowed you to move from the amphitheater main stage to the second stage in the rear. Also, the food trucks and variety of craft beers was an excellent touch. The only negatives were that the lines for the food trucks and specialty beers were way too long, their products in short supply, and the sound quality at the second stage was at times not up to snuff, especially during The Neighborhood's set. Hopefully, these things will be rectified if there are future Coastline Festivals. I really hope LN organizes it again next year around Veterans Day weekend with the same format and array of talent.
