This edition of ON Culture was originally emailed to subscribers on July 18, 2025. To receive Leslie Dinaberg’s arts newsletter in your inbox on Fridays, sign up at independent.com/newsletters.
ON the Stage
Tickets went on sale last week for Empire of the Sun. The Australian electronic duo (Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore) brings their anthemic tunes to Santa Barbara Bowl on September 28. Click here for information.
The Lobero has become the spot for tributes to all sorts of great artists of late, including the Beatles and Roy Orbison this week. A couple more tribute shows are coming in the fall that look particularly good to me. Ronstadt Revival featuring Shannon Rae and a full seven-piece band, including fiddle and pedal steel, to bring the authentic sound of the Linda Ronstadt catalog on September 12. And then Fleetwood Mask — the only tribute in the Americas endorsed by Fleetwood Mac founding member Mick Fleetwood — is coming on October 17. Also on my list on the Lobero stage is comedian Fred Armisen on September 17, and Dawes (Duo), who will be back on September 25, among the many good shows we’ve got to look forward to. See lobero.org/whats-on for more info.
A new concert version of All of Me (formerly known as Hello! My Baby), a reimagined musical-comedy by Tony-nominee and Emmy-winner Cheri Steinkellner (a Santa Barbaran) will take the stage for Ensemble Theatre Company’s annual education benefit concert. Each year, they unite award-winning artists and Broadway performers with talented young actors and community artists for a celebratory evening to raise funds for their education and outreach programs. This year’s show takes place on August 9. Click here for more information and tickets.
The Arlington also has some great shows coming our way, including international punk band Gogol Bordello on July 25, Yachtley Crew (the nation’s #1 yacht rock band) on August 16 (before they sail over, look for my interview in an upcoming issue), and Band of Horses & Iron and Wine on October 3. Click here for info.
ON the (Big) Screen
The critically acclaimed film Familiar Touch (see Joe Woodard’s review here) has a nice local angle to it. Writer/Director Sarah Friedland is an alumni of SBIFF’s 10-10-10 program, which she was part of in 2009, when she attended Dos Pueblos High School. This is her debut feature film, which won the Orizzonti Prizes for Best Director and Best Actress as well as the Lion of the Future Award for a Debut Film at the Venice Film Festival. Last month Friedland and her film’s star Kathleen Chalfant joined SBIFF’s Cinema Society for a post-film Q&A. Click here to watch the interview and learn more about the film.
Filmmaker Carlyle Eubank, who was born and raised in the Santa Ynez Valley, also has a new film streaming on Amazon and Apple TV, among other services. Broke, a contemporary western, follows the story of True Brandywine, a bareback bronco rider clinging to his fading rodeo career. With stars including Wyatt Russell, Auden Thornton, Mary McDonnell, Tom Skerritt, and Dennis Quaid, Eubank wrote and directed the film. You can see the trailer here.
Eva Longoria has just signed on to direct and produce Xochitl Gonzalez’s film adaptation of her own novel Anita de Monte Laughs Last. I had the pleasure of interviewing Gonzalez in 2024, ahead of her UCSB Arts & Lectures appearance (see interview here), and Longoria seems like a great choice to tell the compelling story of two Latina women a generation apart — one an artist from Cuba and one a Brooklyn-born Puerto Rican art history student at Brown University — in two separate timelines that twist together to paint a complex portrait of power and privilege that goes far beyond the art world settings.
The free summer film series on Friday nights at the Courthouse is in full swing this month, with The Sandlot up next. See info here. There’s also a free film series on Friday nights in Ojai’s Libbey Bowl, beginning on July 25 with Sally, a 2025 documentary about the astronaut Sally Ride. Screenings take place on alternate Fridays at 7:30 p.m. For the full schedule and more details, visit ojaifilmsociety.org.
ON the Air
Have you heard there’s a new independent radio station in town? Jeremiah Higgins’ new Radio Evolve station is here, specializing in indie music. Madeline Slogoff got the scoop in this week’s Independent. Read all about it here.
ON the Piano
Artistically inclined teens have a great opportunity to work side by side with the Pianos on State artists. The Arts Fund is offering a special mentorship program for students. Read all about it here. Also on the piano beat, the fifth annual Masq(p)arade! returns to State Street on Friday, October 3, and the Call for Performers is now open. Santa Barbara’s original and performance progressive seeks entertainers to wow the crowd in a lively series of bite-sized shows. The submission deadline is August 22. Details and entry form are online at masqparade.org.
ON the Calendar
The Dads Foundation — a nonprofit which hosts retreats for dads of transgender and gender non-conforming children — is working on an event sponsored by The Fund for Santa Barbara, along with local supporters, on Thursday, July 24, at SBCAW. Filmmaker Luchina Fisher, producer Stephen Chukumba, and several of the fathers featured in the new film will be in town for an exclusive Q&A panel following a screening of the Emmy Award–winning short film The Dads, which has a feature length version of the documentary in the works. The event is a fundraiser for the film, as well as an informational session. “Building awareness around this issue, as well as understanding, and empathy will help more people be advocates and allies for transgender Americans and families that have transgender kids,” said Laura Tanner, one of the locals involved. “It’s something I wanted to introduce to Santa Barbara because partnering with organizations in the communities that are actually having an impact on transgender people and families with trans kids makes a difference.” For information read our story here. Click here to purchase tickets or donate to the cause.
For a complete calendar of events this week and beyond, visit independent.com/events/.
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