Ventura Music Photos – March 2022

Posted on March 23, 2022 by venturarocks

Namba Performing Arts – March 26, 2022
Kelly’s Lot

The Garage – March 26, 2022
Cinnamon Whiskey (Photo credit: Cody Edgar)

Ventura Music Hall – March 22, 2022
G. Love and the Juice

Ventura Rocks in the Ventura Breeze 7/28/21 – 8/10/21

Posted on July 27, 2021 by venturarocks

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

You know the music scene is alive when large venue events sell out; such was the case for the Tequila and Tacos Music Festival over the weekend of July 24 & 25 with Vanilla Ice, Tag Team and Ozomatli performing. I will concede, the beverage of choice may have been the driving force behind the ticket sales, but the stage was rockin’ and that’s always a cool thing. Next up for Surfer’s Point Live (Fairgrounds’ parking lot), Scotty McCreery & Rodney Atkins on Friday, July 30, and then the Spencer Makenzie’s Throw Down Cornhole & Music Festival over the weekend of August 27-29 with Mandex, Dave Rea & the Acoustic DNA and three tribute bands covering the music of AC/DC, Journey & Guns & Roses. For more details and ticket information, go to SurfersPointLive.com.

I’m also happy to see the Ventura Theater lining up shows and the first one is one you should seriously think about seeing. Not only is Lukas Nelson son to Willie, but he collaborated with Bradley Cooper on A Star is Born, and his band IS the band in the movie. The band’s brand of Country Rock is a fun vibe and the talent is stellar, so you won’t want to miss Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real on Thursday, September 9.
More show at Ventura Theater:

The End of Summer Lockdown Tour – Friday, September 10
Mon Laferte – Wednesday September 22
Drakeo the Ruler – Friday October 1
Black Label Society: Doom Trooping over North America tour – Saturday, October 2
Yung Bleu – Tuesday, October 5
Pennywise w/ Dead Kennedys – Thursday, October 7
Pennywise w/ Strung Out – Friday, October 8 (sold out)
Elefante, Inspector – Friday, October 15
The Struts – Tuesday, November 2
GWAR – Tuesday, November 23
The Dead South – Tuesday, December 7
The Slackers – Friday, December 10

The Hueneme Beach Festival falls over the weekend of August 28 and 29, and I was looking over their impressive line-up of artists performing both days and was delighted to find out this one is also free to the public. Saturday features LAW, Fausto Cuevas y La Moderna, and Ozomatli, then on Sunday it’s Diggin Dirt, Arise Roots and Think:EXP. I love that the organizers put so much thought into their lineup, and so, just in case you didn’t know, a little bit about a few of the acts performing:

Fausto Cuevas is that caliber of musician that tours with Stevie Wonder’s band, most recently the 2014-2016 during the Key of Life world tour, though he’s performed previously with Stevie Wonder at the 2008 Democratic National Convention and at the 25th Anniversary of the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame at Madison Square Garden in 2009. The man is that good, and the grooves he lays down are immediately infectious so prepare to dance.

Ozomatli performed a few years ago during the Ventura Music Festival and more recently in July at the Tequila and Tacos Music Festival at Surfer’s Point Live. The six-piece band plays primarily Latin, hip hop and rock music and has quite the following, and again, prepare to dance.

Think:EXP is a supergroup with members Scott Page who has worked with Pink Floyd, Supertramp and Toto, Stephen Perkins of Jane’s Addiction & Porno for Pyros, Kenny Olson of Kidd Rock and Norwood Fisher of Fishbone. The website, www.thinkesp.co describes the group, “Think:EXP strives to revolutionize the entertainment industry by bridging the gap between the human spirit and technological innovation with one-of-a-kind live, immersive concert experiences.” That certainly piques my interest!

Quick Notes: Tickets are now on sale for the Ojai Music Festival; The Garage on the east end of town took advantage of the pandemic downtime and now has a new look; Spencer the Gardener will return to Winchesters on Sunday, August 8 with their brand of fiesta party music; and Nardcore Tuesday nights continue at Rock & Roll Pizza in Camarillo with Bootleg Brigade and Last Point on August 3, and Sick Boy on August 10.

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 2/12 – 2/25

Posted on February 9, 2020 by venturarocks

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

Let’s acknowledge the elephant in the room, and then move on. Yes, another venue has closed its doors. What’s worse, it’s a Main Street venue, this time Oak and Main. Was it due to mismanagement? Bad service? Poor advertising? It’s easy to be a Monday morning quarterback, but instead, let’s all just vow to support your favorite venues making up Ventura’s music scene. Rent is incredibly high, and the bands deserve to be paid well, so understand that us music lovers are the ones who truly give it the blood to keep it going.

Here now, your Valentine’s musical choices for February 14: there will be a Punk Rock Prom party (all ages) at Bike Ventura on the Avenue with Rafa Rose, Martini Drive and Without Words; Colette Lovejoy plays Café Fiore; serious dancing will be going on at Copa Cubana with House Arrest; there’s a 20’s theme party at Four Brix Winery with Ginger & the Hoosier Daddies; Benjamin Buttner plays jazz & blues at La Cosecha Modern Concina in the Crown Plaza Hotel; Limon y Sal offers up Mariachi Aguilas de Oxnard dinner shows; there’s a “Rock into my Heart” party at the Sewer with Spacedragon and the Mystos; in Ojai, a special evening of live music with Jade Hendrix at Topa Mountain Winery; in Oxnard, jazz with Toni Jannotta at 1901 Speakeasy in Oxnard; and finally, not only can you celebrate Valentine’s Day with Shawn Jones at Grapes and Hops, but it’s a Marti Gras birthday celebration for owner Tammy White as well.

Get your cowboy boots out because Saturday, February 15 will be the 4th annual Country Music Crawl in downtown Ventura featuring six bands and six venues where at the start you pick the color cup to represent whether your single (blue) or in a committed relationship (red). I’m thinking we should always have that option in all bars don’t you think? In any case, here’s the line up starting at Blue Agave at 4 pm with Lacie Mae; Ted Z & the Wranglers at Star Lounge at 5; then over to Grapes and Hops for Blind Innocense at 6; up to Limon y Sal for Paige Peel at 7; Mike Scully plays Winchesters at 8 pm; then wrapping up the crawl at the Sewer for Rob Leines at 9 pm by which time I’m sure it will be an actual crawl. Get your tickets at CountryBarCrawl.com.

Pulse Drumming will hold a special drum clinic at the Winery Ventura Sunday afternoon, February 23, with Fausto Cuevas (toured with Stevie Wonder, Queen Latifah, Santana, and now with Jennifer Lopez). Following the clinic will be a live performance starting at 2:30.

Quick Notes: now that football season is over, the Boatyard Pub is back to live music every night of the week; there’s a free Chamber Music Concert at the Ventura College Performing Arts Center on Saturday, February 15; Namba has Licity’s Love Fest at Namba Saturday, February 15 and then Dan Rosenboom’s Jazz Fusion on Sunday, February 16; Dark Star Orchestra plays the Ventura Theater Thursday, February 20; and the 6th annual Johnny Cash birthday bash at Bombay’s will be Saturday, February 22 with the Mighty Cash Cats and Silver Threads.

And finally, there will be a fundraiser on Saturday, February 22, for an all-inclusive playground in Arroyo Verde Park at the Garage with over ten bands supporting this effort including the Robot Uprising, Fuse, Day Drunk, One Minute Run, Malice Thoughts and Plot.

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. For updated music listings daily, go to www.VenturaRocks.com.

Ventura Rocks in the Ventura Breeze – 5/13 – 5/26

Posted on May 12, 2015 by venturarocks

Ventura Music Scene
Welcome Back Joe
by Pam Baumgardner
VenturaRocks.com
Pam@VenturaRocks.com

I just got wind that the R&B Bombers, one of Ventura’s favorite dance party bands, will be welcoming back Joe Wilson to the group; you can catch them on Sunday, May 17, at Bombay’s when you know they’ll be packing the dance floor from 4 – 7:30 pm.

It looks like the powers that be will pull off another Ventura Music Week with two major events as bookends; first June 21 with the Vans Warped Tour at the Ventura Fairgrounds and then the following weekend with the expanded Roadshow Revival over two days, Saturday and Sunday, June 27 and 28 at Mission Park Downtown. We’re waiting on the announcement for movie night, but the Visual Arts evening is coming along and final details are being ironed out. You can get more information at www.VenturaMusicWeek.com.

The Ventura Harbor has been hopping between Margarita Villa and the new Boatyard Café with music mostly featured Thursday through Sunday. They’ve been offering acoustic artists such as Dan Grimm, Hawks & Britt, Jodi Farrell & Jim Rankin, but Margarita Villa kicks it up from time to time with such bands lined up this month as GrooveSession, Rising Son and Rock Cats Rock.

San Francisco’s doom pop outfit Rich Girls will be touring the California coast this month and will be playing at The Garage on the 29th. Combining west coast garage rock with the polish of British art rock, the band released an EP entitled “Fiver” last year after getting signed to Breakup Records.

Tickets have gone on sale for the Music Under the Stars series which covers nine Saturdays at the historic Olivas Adobe. You can bring your own dinner or enjoy gourmet food trucks and a full beverage service. The venue is intimate with a big dance floor and seating available for family and friends. The popular series kicks off July 11 with Britain’s Finest, a Beatles tribute band, followed by July 18 with Porterhouse Bob, and July 25 with The Kings of the 88. Call the City of Ventura for more information and to reserve your tickets at (805) 658-4726.

If punk music is your cup of tea, then be on the watch out for Luicidal out of Venice, CA. They’re looking for gigs up in our neck of the woods; the band features former members of Suicidal Tendencies (Louiche Mayorga and RJ Herrera), and not to worry, they still play tunes off ST’s first three albums. If you’d like to get them hooked up with a show you’re producing, or you just want to book them, then drop me a line.

Many thanks again to all musicians who create, and to all venues that provide a platform for live music. You make Ventura Rock.

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

Ventura Music Photos: March 2015

Posted on April 4, 2015 by venturarocks

Discovery – March 28
Hollywood U2

The Garage – March 28
Geezer

Bombay Bar and Grill – March 28
Brothers Fortune

The Garage – March 26, 2015
The Miseries (Amsterdam)

Bombay Bar and Grill – March 21, 2015
Doug C and the Blacklisted (Doug Carrion of The Descendents)

Grapes and Hops – March 21, 2015
Ebony Blaze

Saloon BBQ – March 21, 2015
Frankie Boots and the County Line

El Rey Cantina – March 21, 2015
Sick Boy

W20 at The Watermark (St Patrick’s Day Party) – March 17, 2015
Rey Fresco

Amigos – March 11, 2015
Dixie Jade (Nashville, TN)

Ventura Music Photos: October 2014

Posted on October 3, 2014 by venturarocks

Bombay Bar and Grill – October 31, 2014
Mandex

Squashed Grapes – October 31, 2014
Donna Greene and the Roadhouse Daddies

W20 at the Watermark – October 31, 2014
The Bomb

W20 at The Watermark – October 26, 2014
Heavy Petty

Grapes and Hops – October 26, 2014
Jade Hendrix

Squashed Grapes – October 24, 2014
Doug Webb Group: Doug Webb, Danny Carey, Steve Fister, Jimmy Earl, Matt Rohde
See more on this performance: Grape Blog

Saloon BBQ – October 18, 2014
Steve and Sally Williams

Squashed Grapes – October 18, 2014
Paul Weitz Group with Donna Deussen

Bombay Bar and Grill – October 18, 2014
Taylor Rae

The Wine Rack – October 18, 2014
Jill Martini Soiree

Final performance at Yolie’s – October 17, 2014
(Hi Hat Entertainment looking for new location)
R&B Bombers
Photo credit: David C. Smolen

Squashed Grapes – October 16, 2014
The Pulse Daddies: Trey O’Toole, Karl Hunter, Hans Ottsen, Dirk Shumaker

Squashed Grapes – October 14, 2014
Charles Lloyd & Dorothy Darr, Screening of movie, “Arrows Into Infinity”
(Charles Lloyd will receive the NEA Jazz Masters Award 2015. He was the Honoree at the 2014 Monterey Jazz Festival Jazz Legends Gala, hosted by Herbie Hancock. Lloyd was also the recipient of the 2014 Alfa Jazz Fest International Music Award.)