After thirteen years of living in Los Angeles, there are still a few things that I miss about my homeland of Texas: Tex-Mex, the abundance of both public and private swimming pools and an inherent understanding of the necessity of regular, summertime BBQ gatherings. With temperatures well over 100 degrees this past weekend, my heart ached for one of these proper backyard BBQ’s hosted next to a glistening swimming pool. So when I saw that the folks of the community-conscious We Love Long Beach were throwing a neighborhood BBQ complete with all the glorious staples such as BBQ served up by the LBPD, volleyball, face painting, free ice cream and a raffle, plus music from local favorites Deep Sea Diver, I knew where I would be. These are the same people who have a thriving local book club and serve up burritos to the homeless, I mean do these people know how to bring a community together or what?

With the sun beating brutally down, I gulped down my free Vitamin Water and sat down under one of the nice tents to enjoy Jessica Dobson aka Deep Sea Diver deliver her scheduled afternoon performance. The backyard style set-up with scattered amps and a beat up P.A. was more than appropriate for the community gathering. Rockin’ it with an electric guitar and a buddy on drums, Dobson provided some tremelo heavy, garage-style, surf-cultured gems that delighted everyone and eventually just turned into an outright jam session. Long Beach, you guys know how to kick it.

— Jennifer Brandon