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Our cultural calendar is in overdrive right now for sure. In the last week, I’ve been to four shows at the Santa Barbara Bowl and one at the Lobero, with another busy week coming up. First up this weekend is Santa Barbara’s favorite adopted son, Jack Johnson, who never fails to deliver the ohana-spirited vibes. He’ll be at the Bowl on Saturday and Sunday (Oct. 3-4) with special guest G. Love, a frequent collaborator who was onstage with Johnson at the Arlington last November for a live accompaniment to the restored surf film The September Sessions about the legendary Kelly Slater (read my story here). Johnson is a UCSB buddy of my colleague Matt Kettmann, who recently did a great interview with him here.
I’m always sad to see the Bowl season start to come to a close. And this felt like a particularly strong year. Earth, Wind & Fire brought the funk, the soul, and loads of nostalgia for me. Two of my favorite songs, “Reasons” and “After the Love is Gone” blasted me right back to junior high and the short-lived dances at the Ice Patch, where they would cover the ice with a dance floor. If you know, you know — and you probably wore Dittos. Joe Woodard has his take here.
You can read my read of Alabama Shakes online here, but suffice to say, they were praise-worthy in just about every way. And I really, really, really loved Brandi Carlile. As I wrote in my review: “She’s always had a beautiful voice, but the fire and verve and energy and incredible versatility she displayed at Sunday night’s Santa Barbara Bowl show was unparalleled. And honestly, I was a bit (happily) surprised that this was one of my favorite shows of the year. It was just so, everything — heartfelt, rocking, inspiring, thoughtful, emotional, cathartic, funny, relatable, visceral.” (Read it here.) That was definitely one of my highlights of the year.
Unfortunately, one of my most anticipated Bowl shows of the year — Beck — was one of the most disappointing for me. I was prepared for the mellow, moodiness of his Ride Lonesome Tour, having listened to the new album a bit beforehand. But this was the first outing of the tour and between the missed lighting cues, and awkwardly slow set changes with no banter from the artist, I felt like they really weren’t giving us their “A” Game, but more like an awkward dress rehearsal. Can you like the music and not like the show? Apparently. Having talked to LOTS of people about Beck’s performance that night and afterward, it was definitely one of the most polarizing shows I’ve seen in a long time. “Artists gotta art,” as one of my friends said, and I certainly don’t disagree with that, but I really didn’t think this show was ready for prime time. Joe Woodard, however, was pretty generous with his read on Beck, which you can view here.
The aforementioned Lobero show, on the other hand, definitely brought out my generous side. An evening with Judy Collins was a bit uneven — she is 87, after all — but her enduringly clear soprano is still gorgeous and quite stellar in the lower registers, if a little wobbly at the top end. Still, her rendition of “Send in the Clowns” gave me chills and seeing her hand out roses to her young-at-heart fans while singing, “Where Have All the Flowers Gone” made me wish my mom could have been with me, as I know she would have rushed to get her roses.
Making their way back to the Lobero for a two-night gig, October 6-7, is Santa Barbara’s own Toad the Wet Sprocket. This is Toad’s first-ever all-acoustic tour, inspired by the enthusiasm of audiences to the acoustic portions of their live shows. The tour follows the release of Rings: The Acoustic Sessions, a 14-track collection that reimagines some of the band’s most enduring songs through intimate acoustic arrangements. Like the rings of a tree marking each season of growth, say the organizers, the album traces the band’s musical journey — and our own — with warmth, honesty and hope. Click here for tickets and info.
Next week also marks the kickoff of UCSB Arts & Lectures dance series. The United Kingdom’s renowned Akram Khan Company performs Thikra: Night of Remembering on October 6 at The Granada Theatre. A defining choreographer of the 21st century, Akram Khan has transformed contemporary dance through works of extraordinary emotional power and cross-cultural imagination and this will be the final international tour for his company. Click here for tickets and info.
Also coming up soon on our dance card, acclaimed guitarist and Artistic Director Andrés Vadin will bring the music and spirit of Spain’s intimate tablaos to Center Stage Theater. Experience Andrés and four other world-class artists in a powerful, up-close evening of live flamenco music and dance on October 10. Guest Artists for Flamenco Arts Festival’s premiere of Tablao Zano Flamenco include Vadin, as well as dancers Kayla Lyall and Carlos Menchaca, percussionist Diego Álvarez, and singer José Cortés. Click here for tickets and info.
Looking for something unique that the whole family can enjoy? It’s Magic! — the country’s longest-running magic and variety review show — comes to the Lobero for two performances on October 11 at 2 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. With a combination of star performers in the realms of magic, comedy, sleight of hand, and stage illusions, the Los Angeles Times calls It’s Magic! “the liveliest lineup of magic acts this side of Las Vegas.” Click here for tickets and information.
ON the Walls
As I quoted earlier, “artists gotta art,” but gallerists gotta gallery too! Case in point, Bonnie Rubenstein, whose Silo118 Gallery in the Funk Zone, paved its way to the Rubenstein Chan Contemporary Art gallery in Carpinteria, which most recently became the new Rubenstein Contemporary online art gallery. However, Bonnie is now working with the newish Ruth Ellen Hoag Gallery in Santa Barbara at 12 West Anapamu Street to showcase several artists for the month of October, including Michael Blaha, Chenhung Chen, Valori Fussell, Wrona Gall, Paulo Lima, Hung Viet Nguyen, and Larry Vigon.
Kinetic art takes the stage at the Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara (MCASB) this weekend when the Museum presents Falling into the Future: Kinetic Art at the Edge of the World. On view October 4 to May 1, 2027, this exhibition focuses on contemporary perspectives on technology, through artworks made by contemporary artists living in California and around the Pacific Rim, including Korea, Nicaragua, and New Zealand. These artists — Kelly Akashi, Patricia Belli, Mary Heebner, Chanel Khoury, Ayoung Kim, Dr. JoAnn Kuchera-Morin, Anne Niemetz with Newton Chan, Gabriela Ruiz, Manjari Sharma, and Diana Thater — utilize robotics, AI, video, light (both natural and artificial), and interactivity to speak to global concerns around climate change, traditional ecological knowledge, the impact of technologies on the body, and the poetics of the mundane. Kuchera-Morin’s name may be familiar, as she heads the AlloSphere at UCSB, which has partnered with MCASB to commission three new immersive artworks. The Museum, on the top floor of Paseo Nuevo, will hold a free public reception on Sunday, October 4, from noon to 4 p.m.
Serene prints and pastels by American artist Mary Cassatt and her European contemporaries adorn Santa Barbara Museum of Art’s new exhibition, Cassatt & Friends, on view through January 3. In addition to being a renowned painter, Mary Cassatt was also a printmaker, and SBMA has in the permanent collection a number of Cassatt’s printed works. Among these works is a unique type of print called a counterproof, produced by dampening a pastel drawing and pressing it on to another piece of paper, allowing the transfer of pigment to create a mirror image. The resulting print, “Simone in a White Bonnet Seated with Clasped Hands (No.1),” is the centerpiece of this exhibition that explores the intimate relationship between drawing and printmaking among Cassatt and her contemporaries.
ON the Calendar
The Recycled Show returns to the Community Arts Workshop (CAW) for a third year in a row, with an artists’ reception from 5-8 p.m. on Friday, October 9. Produced and curated by Rebecca Zendejas, The Recycled Show: ReFabrication continues the legacy of Jami Joelle Nielsen, the original producer and curator of the Recycled Show: A No-Waste Art Exhibit. Focused on artwork created from fabric and materials typically destined for landfill, participating artists include: Georganne Alex, Andrew Baker, Mary Becker, Barbara Booth, Donna Gallant, Laurie Gross-Schaefer, Deeta Katz, Kathy Leader, Karen Lee, Becca Licha, Judy Nilsen, Heidi Parker, Mary Price, Matt Rodriguez, Meiya Sidney, and Claire Wentzel. The exhibit will also feature a few pieces by Jami Joelle Nielsen. Gallery hours are October 9 and 15, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and October 17, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. (or by appointment, [805].324-7443).
For a complete calendar of events this week and beyond, visit independent.com/events.
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