Ventura Rocks in the Ventura Breeze 12/29/21 – 1/11/22

Ventura MusVentura Breeze logoic Scene
by Pam Baumgardner
VenturaRocks.com
Pam@VenturaRocks.com

I would like to thank all Ventura Breeze readers for their continued support of this publication. Publisher and owner, Sheldon Brown, truly loves this town as do all the staff. It’s pretty amazing to see what goes into publishing a newspaper and the care and respect the writers have for this town. As we usher in 2022, I would like to personally wish you a happy, safe and prosperous New Year!

In our last issue, I covered a lot of the bars and venues holding New Year’s Eve parties (which is available online on the Breeze website at VenturaBreeze.com), but you can also find the parties listed here on this page. New York style means they’ll be celebrating the New Year at 9 pm (same as New York), otherwise it’s Midnight our time. If you need more details like times and whether there is a cover charge, you can go to Venturarocks.com for more information; the website now covers all of Ventura County.

Ventura Music Festival is bringing guitarist extraordinaire, Tommy Emmanuel to town on January 20 at Oxnard Performing Arts Center. Added to the bill, English guitar star Mike Dawes. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster.

It’s good to see the Ventura Theater booking more concerts. Shows coming up include January 15 with Smith/Kotzen, which is a collaboration between Adrian Smith of Iron Maiden and Richie Kotzen of the Winery Dogs; The Struts, Strange Days are Over Tour, is on January 23, and Subtronics, Boogie T, Levell Up, Phonon and Space Wizard on January 27.

Quick Notes: The Ventura City Council has voted to continue Main Street Moves which means not only will that four block section will remain closed to thru traffic, but the music downtown at Main and California will continue; enjoy Mariachi Gallos de Oro Sundays at Vaquero y Mar (formerly the Hong Kong Inn) from 11 am – 2 pm; Kelly’s Lot plays Namba on Saturday, January 8; and Tharon Weighill from Dr. T and the Blues Criminals is the latest featured artist on the VenturaRockSpot.com.

And finally, condolences going out to the family and friends of Dustin Maddalone. I remember him best as the singer for the Ska Daddyz out of the Nard some 25-30 years ago. The memorial posts on social media speak to his kindness and talent, he touched so many lives. R.I.P. Dustin.

Do you have any music-related news or upcoming shows you want help publicizing? Please send all information short or long to Pam@VenturaRocks.com, and for updated music listings daily, go to www.VenturaRocks.com.

Ventura Rocks in the Ventura Breeze 12/15/21 – 12/28/21

Ventura MusVentura Breeze logoic Scene
by Pam Baumgardner
VenturaRocks.com
Pam@VenturaRocks.com

The Breeze officially has one more issue before the end of 2021, but I know you need to make those plans now on how you want to usher in the New Year, so I have a few suggestions for you. Be sure to call places like the Crowne Plaza, Twist on Main, the Greek, the Manhattan and Café Fiore to see if advance tickets are necessary and to reserve your place.

It’s Dance Invasion at the Crowne Plaza, Free Love Project at Café Fiore, Magnificent Bastards at Gigi’s Cocktails, CRV at the Greek in the Harbor, Breaking Bored play the Keynote Lounge, the Mighty Cash Cats and the Linda Ronstadt Experience at the Moose Lodge in Ventura, Peirano’s has a silent DJ, it’s the House Arrest Band at the Twist on Main, Jayden Secor at Winchesters, plus your rockin’ DJs at Bombay’s, the Tavern, the Garage, Six Chow House and all the other bars around town. Nearby, it’s Jeanne Tatum at the Manhattan in Camarillo, Vinyl Gypsies at the Raven Tavern in Oxnard, Steph’s Rockin’ Road Show at the Shores in Oxnard, Toxic Sushi at the Twisted Oak Tavern & Brewery in Camarillo, plus you know it’s going to be a party when the legendary funk/rock/soul band War (“Why Can’t We be Friends?,” “Low Rider,” “Spill the Wine,” “The Cisco Kid” and more) plays the Oxnard Performing Arts Center.

And for those who can’t last until midnight, you can still have fun via “East Coast Style NYE parties” meaning they celebrate at 9 pm (Midnight East Coast time) with Jacob Marquez & the Good Vibes at Leashless Brewing and Double Trouble at Poseidon Brewing Co.

Though the Ventura Music Hall is still under construction, bands are being lined up and advance tickets are on sale for dates in late March and April including G. Love & the Juice on March 22, Collie Buddz on March 27, Gary Numan plus I speak Machine on April 5, and Hot Chip with LA Priest on April 15. Tickets are averaging just under $30. Keep up via their website VenturaMusicHall.com.

Quick Notes: Grapes and Hops with a Twist is changing their name again, this time to the Twist on Main; Cadillac Zack presents Eugene Hideaway Bridges at Cantara Cellars on Friday, December 17; Danny Carey of Tool returns to town with a jazz gig at the Grape on Friday, December 17, when he plays drums for the Doug Webb Group; it’s Punk Rock Tuesday at Rock & Roll Pizza in Camarillo on the 21st with the Robot Uprising, FUSE, and the Afraid; and Teresa Russell & Stephen Geyer host their traditional Christmas day gig at the Lookout Bar & Grill, it’s a potluck with the kitchen closed, but bar opened;

And finally, just a quick editorial comment from the peanut gallery (me): We are still in the middle of a pandemic and we still have a mask mandate in place; the Ventura County Public Health issued a health order requiring all individuals, regardless of vaccination status, to wear face coverings when indoors in public settings, with limited exceptions. With that being said, if a venue decides to not adhere, or they don’t require their wait staff to wear masks, then I would highly recommend posting a notice before charging patrons to enter said venue; if they don’t, in my opinion. that’s just bad manners.


Do you have any music-related news or upcoming shows you want help publicizing? Please send all information short or long to Pam@VenturaRocks.com, and for updated music listings daily, go to www.VenturaRocks.com.