ON Culture | The ’80s Rock On

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This edition of ON Culture was originally emailed to subscribers on February 2, 2024. To receive Leslie Dinaberg’s arts newsletter in your inbox on Fridays, sign up at independent.com/newsletters.

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On the Stage

My ’80s music loving heart is going pitter-patter in a BIG way for the recently announced Totally Tubular Festival coming to the Santa Barbara Bowl on Friday, June 28. The lineup looks like my college cassette collection: Thomas Dolby, Thompson Twins’ Tom Bailey, Modern English, Men Without Hats, The Romantics, Bow Wow Wow, Tommy Tutone, and The Plimsouls. Tickets are now on sale here.

If that’s not enough 80s music for you, later in the summer Lost 80s Live is bringing their 80s party tour to Vina Robles Amphitheatre on Friday, August 30, with a line-up that includes A Flock of Seagulls, Wang Chung, The English Beat, Missing Persons, The Vapors, Stacey Q, The Escape Club, Musical Youth, Animotion, Dramarama, and Boys Don’t Cry. “Pass The Dutchie” and make your plans for a road trip. There is more info here.

I’ve been a fan of Brett Dennen since I first saw him on the Lobero Stage many moons ago at a Sings Like Hell series show. He’s back in town this week as one of several guest artists (others include Craig Finn, Ben Lee, Judith Owen, and Raye Zaragoza) that will appear in town on Sunday, February 4, when UCSB Arts & Lectures presents a live taping of West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s Mountain Stage with Kathy Mattea (click here for tickets). The show, at 6:30 p.m. at the Arlington Theatre (note the change of venue due to water damage at the Granada), is one of the most beloved programs in public radio history for almost 40 years and has its home in Charleston, West Virginia.

I have fond memories of my grandparents dancing to British pop singer Engelbert Humperdinck’s music, and while they’re no longer kicking up their heels on cruise ships, as they were wont to do, Humperdinck is still doing his thing more than 50 years later. He brings his The Last Waltz, Farewell Tour to the Samala Showroom at the Chumash Casino Resort at 8 p.m. on Friday, February 9. Click here for tickets. Let’s hope he sings “The Last Waltz.”

The Lobero just announced that Lyle Lovett is coming on Monday, March 25 (does anyone else remember when he was married to Julia Roberts for a hot minute and he brought her up on stage barefoot at the Santa Barbara Bowl?). Anyway, tickets are on sale right now here for a live performance that fuses elements of country, swing, jazz, folk, gospel, and blues into an always satisfying evening of music. Another longtime musical legend, Karla Bonoff is also coming to the Lobero on February 16. Click here for info. And of course there’s the show I’ve long been waiting for, Sarah Jarosz on February 29. Click here for details and stay tuned for my upcoming interview with her. Meanwhile you can listen to her delightful new album which just dropped, Polaroid Lovers, here.

ON the Page

Best-selling author Emma Steinkellner, who grew up in Santa Barbara with her talented writer parents and fellow writer siblings, will be signing her new graphic novel–style fantasy book, Nell of Gumbling: My Extremely Normal Fairy-Tale Life, at Chaucer’s on Monday, February 5 at 6 p.m. Geared for older kids and younger teens, it sounds like another winner. As Publishers Weekly described it: “Explosive emotion that leaps off the page….Gently humorous prose teems with goofy asides and astute musings, while thinly lined, softly colored art initiates the first installment of this freewheeling series.” Click here for more info.

ON the Podium

Infectious generosity is certainly a concept I like the sound of. If that appeals to you, TED Curator (as in the TED Talks nonprofit) Chris Anderson is giving a free talk about his new book Infectious Generosity: The Ultimate Idea Worth Spreading, at UCSB Campbell Hall on Tuesday, February 6, at 7:30 p.m. Part of UCSB Arts & Lectures Thematic Learning Initiative, the event also includes free copies of the book, which is about Anderson examining one of humankind’s defining but overlooked impulses — generosity — and how we can super-charge its potential to build a hopeful future. The event is free but registration is encouraged at this link.

Therapist and educator Resmaa Menake on “Setting a Course for Healing Historical and Racialized Trauma” on Monday, February 12 at 7:30 p.m. at UCSB Campbell Hall is another lecture recently added by A&L. Best known for his best selling book My Grandmother’s Hands and his Guerrilla Muse podcast, Menakem specializes in bringing critical, empathetic and embodied thought to controversial topics. Click here for tickets.

ON the Calendar

Soul Bites Restaurant and Santa Barbara’s Black Culture House have teamed up for a whole host of free events programs in February, including live concerts, a youth poetry jam session in commemoration of Sojourner Kincaid Rolle, a dramatic reading by The Robey Theatre Group of Richard Wesley’s The Talented Tenth, film/documentary screenings, community discussions and more throughout Black History Month. Click here for more information and the complete schedule.

For a complete calendar of events this week and beyond, visit independent.com/events/.