April | 2026 | Ventura Rocks

Ventura Music Scene
by Pam Baumgardner
VenturaRocks.com
Pam@VenturaRocks.com
Wednesday, April 29, music and social activism will go hand in hand for Denim Day at Bombay’s with the Local Love Project. Denim Day is a global statement in response to a 1992 Italian Supreme Court ruling which overturned a sexual assault conviction because the survivor wore “tight jeans.” You’re invited to wear your favorite pair of jeans in solidarity as we take a visible stand against victim-blaming at 5 pm, followed with the amazing music by Kelly’s Lot at Bombay Bar and Grill.

Music Under the Stars concert tickets go on sale Tuesday, May 12, at noon. This outdoor summer music series held at the historic Olivas Adobe typically sell out fast with the City of Ventura typically favoring tribute bands though there is one original music show featuring rockabilly. Here now, your choices: July 11 it’s My Generation (tribute to the 60s); July 18, Dark Desert Highway (Eagles tribute); July 25, Fortunate Son (Creedence Clearwater Revival tribute); August 1, Smooth Sounds of Santana (Carlos Santana tribute); August 8, Pretzel Logic (Steely Dan tribute); August 15, Joe Finkle & the 7/10 Splits (original rockabilly); August 22, Wilbury Super Group (Traveling Wilburys tribute); and August 29, Stone Soul (Motown). All the information for tickets can be found at www.cityofventura.ca.gov/1738/Music-Under-the-Stars.

Brushing up on my Spanish, AI tells me “Palomazo” refers to an informal jam session or musical gathering commonly associated with genres like salsa or mariachi. With that information under your belt, the Palomazo Music Series and Music Fest will kick off on May 1 with three (nonconsecutive) Friday night concerts followed by the Music Festival on Saturday, June 13. First, it’s the Mexican Standoff (Mexamericana with a punk twist) on Friday, May 1; then Carlos y Charles (Musica Nortena) on Friday May 15, followed by LaOX (Latin & NOLA grooves) on May 29. The Palomazo Music Fest has a great eclectic line-up of live bands including Spaghetti Cumbia (psychedelic cumbia-rock), The Almighty Majestics (vintage rock & soul), Los Cool Arrows (cumbia & rock en Espanol), and Conjunto Zacamandu (Son Jarocho).
All events to be held at Heritage Square in Oxnard. You can secure advance tickets: https://puebloandco.com/collections/palomazo-music-2026.

The Ventura Music Festival lineup will be announced May 8 (https://www.venturamusicfestival.org/). Do note early bird ticket sales start May 12 with standard ticket window on June 1. More details in the next issue of the Ventura Breeze.

Quick Notes: Ventura Music Hall added Black Flag for October 22; Bloody Mary Morning and Looking West at Tony’s Pizzeria on Saturday, May 2; Omar Velasco will be at the Deer Lodge on Friday, May 8; Teresa James and the Rhythm Tramps at Studio Channel Islands on Saturday, May 9; and an all-female Dead tribute band, Grateful Dames, play the Crowne Plaza on Sunday, May 10.

Do you have any music-related news or upcoming shows that you would like help publicizing? Please send all information, short or long, to Pam@VenturaRocks.com. For updated music listings daily, visit www.VenturaRocks.com.

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

The 3rd annual 1 Love Day bar crawl will be held on Friday, April 17, with four bands at four bands. The participating venues are Café Fiore, Sans Souci, The Saloon and KJ’s Neighborhood Bar. Bands performing will be OnePeople, We Roll, Jacob and the Good Vibes and Irie Nature. If you want to be a part of the crawl, you’ll need tickets which will get you specials at each venue and a wristband designating your relationship status: green for you’re ready to mingle, yellow for it’s complicated and red means you’re in a committed relationship. The reggae themed event suggests you bust out your dreads and rasta threads and feel the love as you raise your vibrations by dancing to the reggae music drinking good libations. And though this is a ticketed event (1loveday.com), I bet you dollars to doughnuts, without a ticket, you can still enjoy the music.

It’s that time of year when a group of music fans gather for Stecklestock at Steckle Park where bands play all day, someone is cooking up an awesome barbecue and family and friends enjoy each other’s company. This year it will be held on Saturday, April 18, and rumor has it, this could be the final installment. As always, there is no fee though donations are appreciated to help cover the costs of rentals, permits, insurance, etc. This year’s line up includes Premonition, Lowered Expectations, Buena Onda, No Biggee, Chicano 7, Only Obvious and Tommy Foytek. Fun starts around 11 am and runs until dusk.

April 18 also happens to be the day the City of Ventura will celebrate Earth Day (it’s officially Wednesday, April 22). This free event runs 11 am to 4 pm at Plaza Park downtown Ventura. Feel free to bring chairs or blankets so you can comfortably enjoy the musical entertainment from Dark Current, Van Allen Twins, the Ventura High Jazz Band and a Mariachi band.

Thursday, April 23, Tony’s Pizzeria will host a special guest for their weekly reggae night bringing British reggae artist, Pato Banton to town with his positive message. Also performing will be Kainoa tiger & Aloha 805.

Quick Notes: due to the overwhelming response, the Ojai Underground has added a second show (5 and 7:30) for Kerri Climer, Tara Jeffery and Lois Mahalia on Saturday, April 18; Grateful Dead cover bands at the Crowne Plaza on Saturday, April 18, with the Alligators and Natural Dead on Sunday, April 19; Robert Cray’s at the Oxnard Performing Arts Center on Friday, April 24; Aaron Orbit with the Blurry Stars play the Deer Loge on Friday, April 24; Paul Stookey and daughter AS Aubrey perform at the Rubicon on Saturday, April 25; and the new Safe Space venue downtown hosts Fantuzzi Tuesday, April 28.

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Monthly Archives: April 2026

Ventura Music Scene 4/29/26 – 5/12/26

Ventura Music Scene 4/15/26 – 4/28/26