by Pam Baumgardner
VenturaRocks.com
It’s hard to keep up with when and where all the Halloween parties are this year as venues have been mixing it up providing spooky fun not only the weekend before, but even a few weeks ahead of the actually day. Just know this, you most likely won’t be alone when dressing up on any given day leading up to Halloween. Just a couple of parties of note on Friday, October 26: there’s the annual Halloween Hoedown at Sans Souci with All-A-Blur, Hymen Blasters and more, Leashless has Kyle Rising, at the Keynote you’ll find Classic Rock with Crosscut 805 and Anchor and Bear will play a Halloween show performing the 1969 rooftop Beatles concert at Made West Brewing.
Moving on to Saturday, October 27, the Hong Kong Inn has music all day long starting at 1 pm with over a half dozen bands including Sin Chonies, Beers Brothers, and Hot Cuppa Three; the Darling Dames 3rd annual Halloween Bash will be at The Garage with Sick Boy and The Rip Katz, and The Barrelhouse Wailers will be the featured band for a Halloween “Spookeasy” swing dance party at the Ventura Beach Club.
And then on Sunday, Mick Stover presents a Gentlemen Blues Club production, Jumpin’ Jack Benny, at Grapes and Hops from 4-7 pm. You may know Mick as the bass player for Dive Bar Messiahs, well he’s super stoked to be bringing this award-winning act to Ventura for an afternoon of dancing to Rockin’ Blues, and yes, there will be a Halloween costume contest as well.
Halloween night? All bets are off. Get out, have fun and hopefully music will be involved.
Ambrosia by Caffrodite, recently located at 1987 E. Main Street in midtown Ventura, has launched a Friday night dinner and music weekly series for those who prefer organic Vegetarian and Vegan dinners with light music. Already lined up are Steve Williams, Greg Korzen and Brad Strickland.
Queen Nation returns to Ventura County for a show at Discovery on Friday, November 2, just in time to coincide with the movie “Bohemian Rhapsody in theaters the same day. I recommend you hold off on the movie, and see these guys live first.
Quick Notes: Doug Webb with Danny Carrey (Tool) play the Hong Kong Inn, Wednesday, October 24; Morrisey will play the Ventura Theater on Halloween night with Mazzy Star on the following evening; Tommy Marsh’s the Session this month will feature Mark Sells at Grapes and Hops on Thursday, November 1; and finally, the Ventura County Concert Band will hold their free annual Veteran’s concert featuring patriot music at the Ventura High School Auditorium on Sunday, November 4.
And finally, Mark Hartley tells me the Star Lounge is closed temporarily for just a remodel and cleanup. No need to worry they’ll be back before long with the patio being a part of the bar as well!
Do you have any music-related news or upcoming shows you want help publicizing? Please send all information short or long to [email protected], and for updated music listings daily, go to www.VenturaRocks.com.
