Reel Loud Film Festival Benefit Show Tonight

Live music often seems as rare as an albino raccoon in Isla Vista. When I do catch the faint sounds of a jam session through the blaring bass beats of the live deejay sets and dubstep remixes that commandeer the soundscape on weekend, it’s music to my ears.

Maybe you, like me, can’t always fork out the cash to see live music at SOhO in downtown Santa Barbara, or make it to the Biko House’s DIY shows on Thursday nights, but you’ve got something good coming your way tonight, Saturday, March 9, when The Reel Loud Film Festival’s benefit concert takes place. Three Isla Vista bands, The Olés, Water Signs, and Danger Cliff, will provide enough variety to satisfy fans of various genres and give us all a break from all the deejay’d party music, much as we may love it.

The three bands successfully encapsulate what seem to be the three strains of music most popular at Isla Vista house parties and the weekend kickbacks that happen at every house on my block. The Olés play what is described as reggae-infused rock by Camron Kazerounian, the music coordinator for the benefit show. They have been around for two years and have masterfully blended elements of surf rock, reggae, and hip-hop to create a sound that couldn’t have been inspired by anyplace other than Isla Vista.