Crow's Nest Beach Party Tonight

If you wanted to show off Santa Cruz to a visitor, these two days would be the time to do it. 

Thursday night features what has become the summer's best ritual, a giant beach party outside the Crow's Nest with live music....for free. Tonight features one of the area's favorite dance bands, Extra Large, playing while the sun sets behind the lighthouse.

It's pretty spectacular, and a way locals meet and greet and make plans.

Friday, more free music, with international star Eric Burdon playing the Beach Boardwalk. This is one that tourists and locals share, with two free shows at 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. 

Burdon is more than a carnival act, with a rich history of interpreting music and blazing trails. Two of his many hits stand out: "House of the Rising Sun," which defined the 1960s blend of anguished folk and dire blues; and "Spill the Wine," his joyful, world music romp that started another longtime band on its way, War.

His performance at last year's Santa Cruz Blues Festival showed that Burdon still has it and can still find fresh ways to interpret old hits and make them sound new again.