Ventura Music Scene 2/5/25 – 2/18/25

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

This year’s Country Bar Crawl will be held on Saturday, February 15, 4-8 pm. The ticketed event provides you with either a red cup (for singles) or blue cup (committed relationship) and you get to travel with fellow participants from venue to venue downtown Ventura taking in four different country rock bands starting at the Blue Agave for Katie Leigh Trio, then it’s the Star Lounge for Jayden Secor, next it’s The Twist on Main for Lizzy Passion and the Cowboy Assassins, wrapping up at Winchester’s Saloon and Grill for the Mike Scully Band. Find out more and secure your tickets at CountryBarCrawl.com.

MadeWest Brewing celebrates their 9-year anniversary on Saturday, February 8; festivities include special releases as well as live performances from Todd Hannigan and Josh Nordgren.

Strey Cellars turns 11 years old over the Valentine’s Day weekend. They’ll pull out all the stops for their Wine Club members and the public alike with new wine releases, specials and of course live music. On Saturday, February 15, it’s Barfly, and on Sunday, it’s The Brandon Ragan Project both days 2-5 pm.

The 21st Annual Chopper Fest lands at the Ventura County Fairgrounds on February 9. This year along with all the motorcycle related exhibits, the live music entertainment will feature A Rock Legend (tribute to Thin Lizzy), Sadie Norkin and Quick Business. There will be a Pre-party at the Victorian House on Saturday, February 8, live music from The Damn Liars, and Sadie Norkin.

“They Love Each Other: A Grateful Dead Weekend” will be held at the Crowne Plaza on Saturday, February 15, featuring Ladyfinger (Santa Barbara) with acoustic Dead covers noon to 3 pm and then it’s The Peoples Dead, a 5-piece Grateful Dead tribute band. Both bands play at the Aqua Bar’s poolside location.

Quick Notes: Alain Whyte of Morrissey fame has had to cancel his gig at Gigi’s on Thursday, February 6; Dave Wakeling & The English Beat return to Ventura for a show at the Ventura Music Hall on Saturday, February 8; The Mystery Shop in Oxnard has Soft Palms, Pink Depression and Stellar Ruins on Saturday, February 15; another fundraiser for Southern California fire victims will be held at the Poinsettia Pavilion on Saturday, February 15 with Midlife Crisis and Second Wind Band; and Jackson Gillies will join Shaky Feelin when they play the Twist on Main, Saturday, February 15.

And finally, I attended my first show at Ecugreen, downtown Ventura, and was pleasantly surprised to find a great space where all ages can go and hear artists in a cool listening room atmosphere. From what I understand, they’ve been doing this mostly by promoting via Instagram and word of mouth which is how I found them when an old friend invited me to hear the project he’s been involved in, a duo called Channel 2.

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 Music Scene 2/8/23 – 2/21/23

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

On Saturday, February 18, several venues will be participating in this year’s Country Bar Crawl. The festivities start at 4 pm (3:30 check-in) at Blue Agave on Santa Clara with Lousy Little Gods out of Huntington Beach, then the crawl moves to the second stop up on Main Street at the Star Lounge at 5 pm with Mike Scully and the Weary Travelers; then head down to the next block to the Twist on Main at 6 pm for Mark Masson (Shaky Feelin’); the crawl then moves down Main Street to Winchesters Grill & Saloon at 7 for Lacie Mae, and the final stop will be Limon y Sal rooftop bar for DJ Dusty Saddle. As far as I can tell, the $25 price of admission gets you your choice of colored cup (red you’re in a committed relationship; blue you’re single) and guarantees entry to each venue where you’ll be offered food and drink specials. For more information, go to CountryBarCrawl.com and specifically choose Ventura.

Noel Paul Stookey returns to Ventura for two dates at the Rubicon Theater on Saturday February 18 and a matinee performance on Sunday, February 19. Entitled, “Home Again: Noel Paul Stookey,” this five-time Grammy Award winning artist (Paul of Peter Paul and Mary), will share stories and perform standards as well as songs from his latest release, “Fazz: Now and Then.” Find out more and get your tickets before they sell out at RubiconTheatre.org.

Namba Arts listening room will host Poi Rogers featuring Carolyn Sills and Gerard Egan on Thursday, February 9, Mary Scholz on Friday, February 17, followed up with Modes of Jazz featuring Chuck Manning on sax, Lyman Mederios on bass, Theo Saunders on piano and Dean Thomas on drums on Saturday, February 18. Tickets for all three shows can be found at NambaArts.com.

Camerata Pacifica performs at the Museum of Ventura County on Sunday, February 12 performing Brahms (Clarinet Quintet, Op. 115), Schnittke (Prelude in Memoriam Dmitri Shostakovich) and Prokofiev (Violin Sonata No. 1, Op. 80).

And just in case you’re in the dancing mood, there will be two nights dedicated to dance music with special themes at the Ventura Music Hall; first on Friday, February 10, it’s all Disco, then on Saturday, February 18, it’s New Wave music from the 80s. But if you’re all about live music, then the dance floor should also be hoppin’ with the English Beat on Friday, February 17.

Quick Notes: Set aside Saturday, June 3, for the Ojai Blues Fest at the Ojai Art Center, the first artist announcement has Shawn Jones performing; Perla Batalla has two dates at the Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts on Friday February 10 and Saturday, February 11; All Kinds Studios in Zander Alley on Main Street downtown Ventura has Drowse, Two Brothers, Ian Macphee, Lanayha, VTB on Saturday, February 18; It’s a great night of punk music at the Oceanview pavilion in Port Hueneme on Saturday, February 18 with Guttermouth, Voodoo Glow Skulls, Stalag 13, iDecline and Out of Trust; The House of Dance features the Phoenyx Big Band on Sunday afternoon, February 19; and finally it’s sure to be a hoot and a half celebrating Fat Tuesday with D.on Darox and the Melody Joy Bakers at Rabalais’ in Santa Paula on February 21.

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.