Ventura Music Scene
by Pam Baumgardner
VenturaRocks.com
Pam@VenturaRocks.com

St. Patrick’s Day falls on a Monday this year, so most celebrations at local venues will offer all the bells and whistles, along with Irish Whiskey, Celtic music and more the weekend before. That being said, a number of venues will also have live music on the actual day including Boatyard Pub with Ken Devoe, Damaged Goods at the Ojai Valley Brewery and you can count on Ventura City Firefighters Pipes & Drums to make the circuit as well as Gold Coast Bag Pipes who will play 15-20 minutes from venue to venue including The Shores, Gigi’s, Ric’s in Camarillo, Lookout Bar & Grill in Oxnard and O’Leary’s. And though I couldn’t find anything documented on what Dargan’s has planned for the big day, you know there will be a line to get in, and I’m pretty sure Celtic music will be involved.

The annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade will be hosted on Saturday, March 15, starting at 10 am on Main Street. The procession starts at Lincoln Drive and will end up at Fir Street, which is where Downtown Main Street Moves begins. This year’s theme is “Show-Me You’re Irish.” You can count on spirited dancers, amazing costumes, horses, antique cars, service organizations, high school bands, and of course floats with music typically including those from Totally Local VC, and the Grape.

As the parade ends, the Main Street Moves St. Paddy’s Street Fair begins with over 45 vendors and live music dispersed throughout downtown including the Pipes at Winchesters. Then at 4 pm, “The Ultimate St. Patrick’s Day Bar Crawl” begins with several venues participating; this is a ticketed event via EventBrite, but you can still take in all the fun just being downtown!

A Fundraising event for the Ventura Music Festival will be held at the Crowne Plaza on Saturday, March 22 featuring Bob Eubanks’ Backstage with the Beatles including a special performance by The Beatles tribute band, Ticket to Ride. An optional VIP dinner fundraiser will precede the event. Find out more and get your tickets at VenturaMusicFestival.org.

The Twist on Main has gone through many changes and many ownerships over the past ten or so years, and it’s going through yet another one with a new partner and new name and branding, Gibson’s Neighborhood Bar. The announcement was posted via social media on February 25.

Quick Notes: Jerry Cantrell plays the Majestic Ventura Theater on Wednesday, March 5; Raging Arb plays an afternoon gig at Bombay’s on Saturday, March 15, starting at 1 pm; Vaquero y Mar hosts a punk rock show on Saturday afternoon, March 15, starting at 3 pm with the Neurotics, Romper and All-a-Blur; Katie Skene’s album release party will be held at the Ojai Deer Lodge on Saturday, March 15 with Max Kasch opening; John Oates plays the Majestic Ventura Theatre on Thursday, March 13; and finally, on March 17, VenturaRocks.com celebrates 16 years providing live music listings to the community.

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.