SAN FRANCISCO — “Yay areaaaaaa!” shouted San Francisco mayor London Breed during her introduction, setting the stage for the first show of the 85th Stern Grove Festival.

In addition to being the 85th festival, an impressive run by any standard, the day was especially notable for the fact it nearly didn’t happen at all. Almost a year ago in August 2021, a water main break flooded the park and the festival grounds with nearly 1 million gallons of water, felling 63 trees and severely damaging buildings including the stage, which canceled the final show of the season.

“I showed up after it happened to survey the damage and wondering if we could have a show that weekend, and it instantly became clear that it was questionable whether we would be able to have shows in 2022,” Stern Grove Festival Executive Director Bob Fiedler said before the show. “When I saw the damage it was a pretty helpless feeling. I personally feel pretty attached to the space so it was a little like watching your house burn down. It’s been stressful.”

After repairs by the City of San Francisco that, according to Fiedler, cost about $20 million, the grounds looked almost like nothing had happened at all. The stage and buildings were obviously newly refurbished, and a hillside was unfinished and covered in construction equipment, but the refurbishment was as impressive as it was fast.

“We’re grateful to bring back Tower of Power and Too Short this week because that was the show that got washed out,” Fiedler said. “It feels celebratory that we’re able to deliver, just with a delay. They were both very excited to do it again and we were lucky they were available.”

The weather did not initially cooperate.

“It’s so good to be back on a perfect San Francisco summer day,” host Liam Mayclem joked of the chilly and decidedly moist afternoon.

But the packed and enthusiastic crowd didn’t seem to notice, unsurprising for a free show that had all tickets claimed within 11 minutes of becoming available. There was more dancing and celebration to DJ Shortkut’s pre-show set than to the headliners at some other shows, and attendees were perched as far up the sheer hillside bordering the grove as they could reach.

“This tradition of bringing music to this stage, in harmony with nature, for free, is uniquely San Francisco,” said Matthew Goldman, the chairman of the Stern Grove Festival Board of Directors. Goldman is the fifth generation of his family to be involved with the festival.

First act of the day Too Short agreed near the end of his set, albeit in different terms.

“It’s an honor to be out here in Stern Grove,” he said. “This environment, with the trees and the grass, this is some real Bay Area shit.”

Too Short’s set was a definite crowd-pleaser, spanning ‘00s hits like “Shake That Monkey” and “Blow the Whistle,” all the way back to his early work in the late ‘80s. It was a set targeted to longtime fans, a good call since much of the crowd crossed the Bay Bridge to see him, judging by the cheer when he asked “Did any of my people from Oakland come out here?”

One group that may have had misgivings, however, were the festival organizers. “They told me to keep it at least R rated,” he said from the stage. “I see kids here with Mickey Mouse ears on. Should I do it?”

The crowd answered with a cheer and he performed “Gangsters and Strippers,” which is doing it as much as one possibly could.

Following Too Short was a more family friendly Oakland band, R&B and funk legends Tower of Power. Kicking off with “We Came to Play” and “Soul With a Capital S,” the blaring horns and showmanship of new singer and former “The Voice” contestant Mike Jerel got everyone right back on their feet.

Founding member and saxophonist Emilio Castillo delved even farther back into the Oakland music scene than the birth of West Coast hip-hop, when he introducing 1972 hit “You’re Still A Young Man.” Castillo explained that it’s one of the first songs he wrote for the band, way back in 1968. That may be a long time ago—over 50 years—but still 30 years after the first Stern Grove Festival.

This year’s Stern Grove Festival continues every Sunday through the rest of June, July and early August. As Fiedler explained, booking artists was a challenge.

“We start making plans and booking artists about a year in advance, and we weren’t able to do that this year due to uncertainty over whether the venue itself would be ready to go or not,” he said. “It was really just a few months ago that we felt certain enough that the venue would be safe and ready to go, and thankfully we were able to find many great artists.”

Those artists include Liz Phair, the Cold War Kids, Cat Power, Leann Rimes and Taj Mahal. The grand finale on Aug. 14 features Grateful Dead member Phil Lesh in his first appearance, a highlight for Fiedler.

“I was excited and happy that we were able to get Phil Lesh for the last show, the bassist for the Grateful Dead,” he said. “I’ve been a fan and it’s fairly iconic to have such a luminary Bay Area artist to finally be playing our venue after 85 years.”

Follow publisher Daniel J. Willis at Twitter.com/BayAreaData. Follow photographer Marisela Delgado at Twitter.com/mariseladee and Instagram.com/mariseladee.