We had the wonderful opportunity to attend The Good Life
Festival at Encanterra, in the southeast Phoenix valley. The festival featured
a concert by the Beach Boys. The Beach Boys put on a fantastic show, but it was
much more than that. It was the venue, the activities, and the synergy of it
all that made the day a wonderful event.
Encanterra is one of a few properties in the US that has
these activities. The Good Life Festival is done in the spring and features big
name bands that put on a concert. The music starts in the afternoon with a couple
of local bands, followed by the opener band. Then around dusk the featured band
takes the stage. In this case it was some local bands followed by Steve Ansel,
then the Beach Boys.
Tickets had multiple selections to choose from. Seating
selections were VIP, reserved and then General Admission lawn seats. The VIP
seats came with a buffet and access to upgraded restroom facilities. All of the
tickets had an upgrade option for wine tasting. The stage was set up on the golf
course of the community. Seating areas were divided into 3 sections. Two of the
sections features white fold up chairs. The VIP section was at the very front,
followed by the reserved section. There were around 10 rows of VIP, and then
around 40 rows of reserved. Behind the reserved was the General Admission Lawn
Seats. Here you would just sit on the grass, blanket, or fold up chair if you
chose to bring one. They also rented fold-up chairs on site.
The seating area was very good. The VIP seats are so close,
you are between 5-30 feet from the stage. And the reserve seats you are also
very close to the stage. For the price you pay for those seats – typically $100
for VIP or $60 for reserved, they are a bargain! Any other venue, you would be
paying a lot more to be that close. And at $25-$35 for General Admission seats,
it is an amazing bargain as well. The General Admission seats and viewing
location is still really good.
The production of the concert was very good as well. The
stage had all of the equipment a band would need and that you would find at
other concert venues, down to the spotlights on scaffolds behind the reserved
eating. The full lighting system was great, and I was especially impressed with
the sound. There were multiple speaker arrays, including subwoofers on stage,
that provided a great and realistic sound, with impactful bass you would expect
form a concert environment. Only the sound was better than I have experienced
at other concerts. Maybe that is partially due to the open environment. Or
maybe it is also due to the relative newness of the gear. After all, The Good
Life Festival at Encanterra has only been going on now for a few years. And
they only do around a half dozen concerts a year: a few in the spring with the
big name bands, and a few lower key concerts in the fall with local bands.
Behind the seating area there are booths set up for local venders
selling products and services. And then there are around a dozen food trucks to
provide a variety of good food to choose from. All of this really helped to
fill out the experience. There was more than just the concert.
All in all, the synergy of the event was really everything
they had, such as the wine tasting, craft beer, and local vendors. And for the
Beach Boys, they also had some old classic muscle cars on display. They have
really worked hard to provide a fun event. There was even optional Valet
parking. So you can come out, check out the model homes, the facilities, do
some wine tasting and loosen up a bit, check out the local vendors, each some
good food, and hang out while being entertained with some good music. You can
make a day of it and have some fun.
At the end of the day, walking back to the car after the
Beach Boys, I looked around at the crowd and watched as people were walking
back to their cars. It was an atmosphere of smiles, laughter, and everyone who
had experienced a wonderful event. I saw what Encanterra's The Good Life
Festival had tried to accomplish, and they succeeded in spades! If you have not
experienced one of their concerts you need to! It was accurately named: The Good Life Festival. At the festival, life was good. The Beach Boys
were amazing, and they didn’t miss a step. In the past they had some other great names such as Chicago, Styx, and Kenny G. I can’t wait to see who they get next!
For more info, check out their website, as well as the
websites of sister communities. The
sister communities do not have the big name concerts like The Beach Boys, but
they do have fun events.
http://www.thegoodlifefest.com/
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