Switchfoot and the Green Team

Every July, local band Switchfoot hosts an unusual surf contest to benefit disadvantaged kids and then performs for free on Moonlight Beach in Encinitas. It wasn't until shortly after last year's Bro-Am that I discovered the band - my current favorite - so I'd been waiting nearly a year to attend the 10th annual event. Seeing their film Fading West two months ago only stoked my anticipation. Finally the day arrived and we biked to the Old Town train station to catch the Coaster to North County.

Del Mar beach from the train

Crossing San Dieguito Lagoon

We arrived by late morning and ate our PB&J sandwiches, then watched a bit of the kids' surf contest at D Street.

Looking north from the D Street stairs

The surf jousting contest, which is pretty much what you'd guess, looked pretty fun:

I lingered a bit too long at the jousting and had to dash up the beach (relatively speaking, in view of the crowd and soft sand) for my shift as a volunteer with the Rob Machado Foundation's Green Team. I was tasked with weighing sorted bags of garbage and recyclables, to track the trash diverted from landfills (886 lbs of recycling from 1572 lbs of waste created!).

View from the RMF booth

Several bands played early in the afternoon and the crowd grew dense ahead of Switchfoot's appearance.

Waiting for the main event

When I heard a cheer and then the first notes of Dark Horses, I was out of the booth and into the throng.

Switchfoot on stage! And nobody liked the tall guy in the big hat.

When the crowd completely cut off my view of the stage, I tried to weasel my way through to a better position. I was thwarted by a tangled thicket of tan half-clad bodies, beach chairs, and sandy blankets.

My actual eye level. It sucks to be short at a beach concert.

This was the band's view

Luckily Scott had secured a spot atop a fire ring and somehow I was able to find him. The sound wasn't as good off to the side but at least we could see the band from there.

(Dare You To Move sounds better here. Or you can watch the whole concert here.)

Their show was over in a short hour and we were off home on the train. Can't wait till next year! Maybe I'll bring a ladder.