Nas, The Roots and De La Soul brought a sold-out crowd to Long Beach’s waterfront last Friday night for a show billed as A Great Night in Hip Hop, and just like every other big concert at the F&M Bank Amphitheater, getting there meant skipping the parking lot entirely. Doors opened at 6:30 p.m. with the performance kicking off at 7:45 p.m., but the real logistical story played out well before anyone reached their seat.
The venue at 1051 Queens Hwy has no general concertgoer parking, a policy the amphitheater has enforced since opening, according to a Long Beach City Facebook post promoting know-before-you-go details ahead of the show. Instead, fans were funneled toward pre-paid Downtown Long Beach parking lots connected to the venue by dedicated shuttle buses, a system the amphitheater says uses dedicated lanes to bypass waterfront traffic. Even with that setup, the Facebook post noted that traffic heading toward the venue was heavy, though the shuttles still offered what the post called quick access to and from the site.
Rideshare users had another option Friday: setting their drop-off point to either a designated shuttle stop or directly to the venue, per the same Facebook post. For anyone arriving by bike, scooter, or skateboard, a free valet sat just outside the West Entry at Harry Bridges Memorial Park, run by the nonprofit advocacy group Streets Are For Everyone and typically staffed from an hour before doors until 45 minutes after the show ends, according to the F&M Bank Amphitheater.
A Ferry Ride Straight to the Show
Fans looking to skip roads altogether could hop the AquaLink water taxi, which picked up passengers at Dock 4 and dropped them directly at the venue for a $12 roundtrip fare, per the Facebook post. Pedestrians coming from Downtown Long Beach had yet another route: a lit, ADA-accessible walking path across the Queensway Bridge that leads straight to the West Entrance and takes about 20 minutes, according to the venue’s own visitor guidance…