“State of the City” Marked by Protests, Music

Traditionally, the Long Beach mayor’s “State of the City” event is a pure pep rally both as given and received. This year, however, picketers out front of the Terrace Theatre were mere prelude to expressions of discontent that made their way inside.

Needless to say, that didn’t prevent Mayor Rex Richardson from proclaiming — as always — that the state of the city was “strong and getting stronger.”

You can find a summary of the wins Richardson claims for the first two years of his mayorship in his 2025 Midterm Impact Report. But here are a few things you had to be there to see:

Arts Council for Long Beach Executive Director Griselda Suarez asked the audience to hold our applause until the end of her introductions of the city officials in attendance. She said nothing about boos, though, and each city councilmember received a solitary “boo” from Floki the Viking, the self-dubbed sobriquet of a youngish fellow in Viking horns sitting dead center fairly near the front.
Instead of the musical theatre standard that’s been de riguer since Congressperson Robert Garcia was a wee mayor, this year’s opening musical performances featured three under-18 Long Beach acts. Floki shook his Viking booty to DJ Jasper until a staffer told him to stop — ironic considering how much time Richardson would spend hyping the local music scene.
More irony when the mayor’s staffers didn’t take care to get all the performers’ names right: “Sugar Skull,” said the background projection while the Sugar Skulls played. Hardly surprising from the city that put “Long Beach, the Most Bicycle Friendly City in America” on its former city hall without bothering to vet either the grammar or the claim.
When Richardson took the stage, Floki rose and gave an enthusiastic thumbs-down for a full 15 seconds.
Richardson acknowledged the protestors out front, striking UNITE HERE Local 11 hospitality workers staffed to the Convention Center by ASM Global, which allegedly “has not ensured its workers earn livable wages whether we work for ASM or we are subcontracted.”
In the middle of noting that many of “Long Beach’s most legendary musicians and entertainers” — Warren G, Vince Staples, Sublime — were discovered when they were young, Richardson noted that No Doubt’s first performance at Long Beach’s Fender Ballroom. But No Doubt hails from Anaheim/Fullerton.
Richardson signaled his defiance of whatever bigotry the Trump administration may try to impose on California: “The values of justice, equity, and inclusion are core to who we are as a city and how we approach delivering results. As we prepare for a new federal administration who we know is openly challenging these very same values, I want to be clear with you: seasons change time and time again, but our commitment to serving our residents equitably should never change. No matter who’s in power, we have a responsibility to stand firm on our principles so that every resident feels safe, seen, and protected regardless of how they pray, who they love, or where they were born.”
“The state of our Long Beach economy is strong and growing every day,” Richardson averred, failing to note pesky details like the fact that despite a decade-plus push to increase population density by building 5,000 new units — a goal which the city has overshot by 1,500 — the Downtown Long Beach Alliance’s (DLBA) two most recent annual reports note that downtown’s stabilized occupancy dropped from 77% in 2022 to 66% in 2023, with average neighborhood retail occupancy plummeting from 92% to 77% — this despite the city’s being home to some of the cheapest retail and office space in Los Angeles County.
About halfway through the program Richardson was stopped in his tracks by numerous people scattered throughout the west side of the venue breaking into chants of “No evictions! No evictions!” He attempted to pick up where he left off, but the protestors did not relent, so Richardson left the stage for five minutes, with police escorting one woman from the premises.
Among the guest speakers giving brief remarks was Warren G, who offered some inspirational words about Long Beach’s past and future music scene and the importance of the arts.
With the 2028 Summer Olympics and Paralympics just around the corner, you’d think the city would be farther along with its planning then where it apparently is, because Richardson spent almost all his time on the subject touting the establishment of four Olympics Community Advisory Committee, each with four to five “honorary co-chairs” (whatever that means). Like, they’re going to start talking about capitalizing on this opportunity now?
Richardson announced that the City has contracted with ASM Global (yes, that the same ASM Global being picketed by UNITE HERE Local 11 workers) to operate the Long Beach Bowl, the 10,000–12,000-seat amphitheater to be built next to the Queen Mary.
ASM Global already operates Long Beach Arena — and they’ve been doing such a poor job booking music there in recent years that almost in the same breath Richardson noted that he is “requesting that our City Manager embark on negotiations with our operator, ASM Global, to bring a renewed focus to our arena.”
Richardson’s cheerleading went a bit delusional while speaking of his desire to make Long Beach the “premiere waterfront destination in the nation” and “to position Long Beach as the coastal live music capital of the world,” because, er, Los Angeles and New York City and San Francisco and Amsterdam and London and Paris and New Orleans and Dublin and Chicago and Copenhagen and Vancouver and Barcelona and…
At various points music from Long Beach artists was injected into the program (War, Snoop Dogg, Sublime (twice)), but the show closed with a short set by ‘80s/’90s tribute band Knyght Ryder (Journey, The Cure, Gin Blossoms).

P.S. Reliable sources tell Random Lengths News that, to hype the forthcoming Warped Tour revival stop in Long Beach, Warped veterans the Aquabats were slated to play at some point, but their appearance was cancelled for reasons related to the regional wildfires.