O.B. Sand Blast

This summer, Don Ho (not his real name) held a series of live-music events at the end of Brighton Avenue in Ocean Beach. Dubbed "Sounds on the Sand" and held under the auspices of Ho's production company (Don Ho Productions), the first party was on Memorial Day weekend.

"Two days before Memorial Day weekend I was, like, let's have a band on the beach. My buddy lives in one of the condos [at the end of Brighton Avenue], and he was down with us tapping power from him if we claimed responsibility if anything was to happen.... We just wanted a free party on the beach for the people -- for everybody."

The stage was constructed of "the cheapest three-quarter-inch plywood we could find." Carpeting prevented drum kits from sliding around and other band equipment from getting too sandy. Ho says the PA was supplied at a reasonable rate by one of his friends who owns Vista-based Goblin Records.

On separate occasions this summer, Psydecar, Vegitation, Electric Waste Band, Cape May, Wise Monkey, the CHI Club, and Plump played. A couple of bands were prevented from playing by a police sergeant who visited the events with regularity.

"He would ask us for our sound permit, knowing well in advance that it's impossible to get a sound permit within two miles of the beach and on the sand. He said that if we had any sounds come out the PAs they would come back and confiscate all the equipment.... We just had to wait for him to get off work, and then we went ahead and had our party."

Ho claims the sergeant was the only person who complained about the performances.

"The main thing we tried to do for the whole summer was just have jam bands. We had a lot of requests for metal and punk, and I love [that music] but we can't really have those kind of parties on the beach without having to worry about people complaining."

Ho says he plans on bringing back "Sounds on the Sand" next summer, as long as his buddy still lives in that condo.