Stages, a long-running all-ages music rehearsal and event space in Lompoc, is on the brink of closure, as the building owners — Life Options, Vocational, and Resource Center (LOVARC) — prepare to expand their facilities to take over the space. Casey Rea, a Lompoc resident who has managed Stages since 2020, said that Stages is currently “living in a weird limbo” that “could take a long time” or it could be over quickly depending on when the City of Lompoc approves LOVARC’s plans. LOVARC is a nonprofit that serves people with disabilities by providing employment and residential opportunities.
Rea first discovered Stages after hearing one of the jam sessions hosted there across the street where he was playing with local musicians. At that time, Stages was operated by Mike Escobar, who first rented the space from LOVARC in 2011, tore out the office cubicles, and built the stages where musicians perform today. Escobar came up with the name “Stages” and also installed a ballet bar in the largest room, which he rented out to a dance studio, The Alley Project, and later Live, Love, Dance.
Both Escobar and Rea agree that it is challenging to find a location for an all-ages music space. in Lompoc. Stages was “good for the kids. There were a bunch of kids there all the time. Five bands for five dollars. Kids would be playing for kids. It was a blast. We showed them how to keep things professional, for the bands and the audiences, so they would know how things work … when they go out and play: how to set up lights. how to set up a PA, just a learning experience for them,” said Escobar, a bass player, who was working full-time for the county and built out Stages with his cousin, a carpenter.
Both Rea and volunteer soundman Adi Tejada were inspired to get involved with all-ages music spaces during their teenage years at The Living Room in Goleta, another all-ages show space, that closed in 1995. Tejada, who opens the doors and runs sound, said, “Sometimes, I feel like I’m the adult in the room, but I don’t need to be. I want to see it happen.”
Tejada remembers walking into a show and seeing many of his oldest son’s friends and offering to help. Tejada’s gothic rock band, Rival Cults, and his funeral-doom metal band, Sutratma, have both practiced and performed at Stages. Asked why he volunteers, Tejada said, “It’s The Living Room and Larry Mills. When I was growing up there was an amazing person named Larry Mills [founder of the nonprofit DANCE, an acronym for Drug Alternative Nights Counseling Events] who created a safe space to have shows and call our own. That’s why I do this.”
Tejada believes that a city the size of Lompoc can have two shows a month, but not five a week. Yet despite this, he says, “As far as I know, Stages is the only all-ages venue in Santa Barbara County [that] gives kids a place to go and let off steam.”
“Dark Nectar coffee in Atascadero has become a stop between L.A. and San Francisco [for bands] [and] has been thriving. Two weeks ago, they closed. It’s sad,” said Tejada. “Chain Reaction [another all-ages venue] just went out of business in Anaheim. … Having venues like this are super important for kids like us to find themselves.”
While Stages remains open, on March 27, Tejada put together an event in which five bands, spanning several generations of independent local music, performed, including the headliners Downcast, plus Bent, Whereeveryouare, Do You Compute? and Static Decay, a teenage queercore band who played their first show.
On April 10, another group show is scheduled with Slaughterhouse Effect, Asylum of Ashes, Gravaged, and Meridian Parkway. Adrian Dentzel, parent of one of the members of Static Decay, is hoping to open a new all-ages venue called Other Space this year. Stages may be closing, but the inclusive spirit and youthful energy of doing it for the kids lives on.
See stageslompoc.com.
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