Summer and Music festival in Long Beach July 25

On Saturday, July 25, from 1p.m. to 7 p.m., seven of Southern California’s top tribute bands will battle head to throat for cash prizes and tribute fame, rocking out Downtown Long Beach’s Rainbow Harbor amphitheater with spotless renditions of everyone from Bruce Springsteen to The Rolling Stones.

Hosted by Summer And Music (SAM)—Downtown Long Beach’s re-vamped, summer-long music series featuring more than 40 shows—this battle of the bands may even be more impressive than the real thing. Better yet, it’s FREE, conveniently located outdoors at the Nautical Band Shell in Rainbow Harbor, between Gladstone's and PF Chang's on South Pine Avenue.

Any band buff can brag about their favorite music legends, but not many can play the part. Not the case with these tribute groups. In fact, the day’s lineup includes a slew of talent so close to the real deal, you’ll be double-taking all afternoon.

To name a few, No Duh (the acclaimed No Doubt clone), Stepping Feet (a dead ringer for DMB) and The Rising (as close to Bruce Springsteen as you’ll get these days) will compete with favorites like Vitalogy (Pearl Jam’s mirror image), Hollywood U2 (as close to Bono as you’ll get these days), The Cured (The Cure for what ails Robert Smith fans) and Satisfaction (fully equipped with Mick Jagger swagger, speaking of legends).

Killer DJ grooves will be spinning for the first hour. At 2 p.m., bands will begin competing two at a time on the outdoor stage, moving to the next round after a decibel reading from the crowd’s applause and a vote by celebrity judges - including The Press Telegram’s Tim Grobaty - on authenticity, stage presence and musicianship. After the third round, the two tribute bands favored most by the audience and judges will win more than $3,000 in cash prizes.

Responsible for the rejuvenated music series, Downtown Long Beach Associates and the Long Beach Redevelopment Agency understand that there is too much incredible local music to ignore—tribute bands included. So, they’ve partnered with two local event-savvy music gurus—Justin Hectus (co-founder of Schooled In Song) and Rand Foster (owner of popular Belmont Shore record shop Fingerprints)—to plan this summer of stellar sound.

At SAM’s Battle of the Tribute Bands, you can munch on some powdered sugar fried dough, eat your butter pecan ice cream and listen to some of the finest collective tribute music Long Beach has to offer. What are you waiting for? Elvis?