The Beach Ball Festival at the Santa Monica Pier was a two-day musical profusion full of good vibes and two comically different crowds.

Friday was all soul/funk and the crowd it drew was a fun, sophisticated, intelligentsia, sporting an overabundance of berets and fedoras. This well-dressed, just-under-30 crowd was a mellow bunch, with an affinity for a good dance.

Myron & E took the stage as the audience was still filing in. The band's upbeat energy, and soulful melodies seemed to pique people's interest, and the viewing area expanded accordingly.

Lee Fields resurrected himself from obscurity Friday through an incredible performance with his backing band, The Expressions. Fields succeeded in time warping everyone back to mid-60s to early 70s epicenter of funk. Incredible downbeats, syncopated guitar, eloquently complex bass lines, and hard driving grooves emanated with electric energy on the Santa Monica pier that evening.

Maceo Parker is a living legend and his performance exceeded the reputation that preceded it. With a gorgeous sunset opposite the stage, Parker seemingly conducted the setting sun himself.

Saturday hailed an entirely different crowd from the stylish, urbane Westsiders of Friday's fête. Dreadlocks, rasta flags, and dab pens abounded among crowd. Vendors within the festival solicited fitting irie wares for the earth-friendly festivalgoers.

Descending onto the pier Saturday afternoon, I could hear the dubbed out bass-lines spun by The Echoplex's famed Wednesday night staple, Dub Club.

Soul Syndicate took the stage and let loose some old school island reggae with a sprucing of dancehall, á là Desmond Dekker / Barrington Levy. A few songs reminded me of the soulful reggae romantic, Gregory Isaacs.

Speaking of some OG Jamaican reggae, reggae legend U-Roy burst on stage belting out some irie rocksteady vibes.

The Skatalites brought back some classic Jamaican Ska to the Santa Monica pier. Sly & Robbie with Michael Rose was straight boss.

Read more of NT's festival coverage here.

Reach Staff Reporter Alex Gold here.