by Pam Baumgardner
VenturaRocks.com
I would like to thank all Ventura Breeze readers for their continued support of this publication. Publisher and owner, Sheldon Brown, truly loves this town as do all the staff. It’s pretty amazing to see what goes into publishing a newspaper and the care and respect the writers have for this town. As we usher in 2022, I would like to personally wish you a happy, safe and prosperous New Year!
In our last issue, I covered a lot of the bars and venues holding New Year’s Eve parties (which is available online on the Breeze website at VenturaBreeze.com), but you can also find the parties listed here on this page. New York style means they’ll be celebrating the New Year at 9 pm (same as New York), otherwise it’s Midnight our time. If you need more details like times and whether there is a cover charge, you can go to Venturarocks.com for more information; the website now covers all of Ventura County.
Ventura Music Festival is bringing guitarist extraordinaire, Tommy Emmanuel to town on January 20 at Oxnard Performing Arts Center. Added to the bill, English guitar star Mike Dawes. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster.
It’s good to see the Ventura Theater booking more concerts. Shows coming up include January 15 with Smith/Kotzen, which is a collaboration between Adrian Smith of Iron Maiden and Richie Kotzen of the Winery Dogs; The Struts, Strange Days are Over Tour, is on January 23, and Subtronics, Boogie T, Levell Up, Phonon and Space Wizard on January 27.
Quick Notes: The Ventura City Council has voted to continue Main Street Moves which means not only will that four block section will remain closed to thru traffic, but the music downtown at Main and California will continue; enjoy Mariachi Gallos de Oro Sundays at Vaquero y Mar (formerly the Hong Kong Inn) from 11 am – 2 pm; Kelly’s Lot plays Namba on Saturday, January 8; and Tharon Weighill from Dr. T and the Blues Criminals is the latest featured artist on the VenturaRockSpot.com.
And finally, condolences going out to the family and friends of Dustin Maddalone. I remember him best as the singer for the Ska Daddyz out of the Nard some 25-30 years ago. The memorial posts on social media speak to his kindness and talent, he touched so many lives. RiP Dustin.
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.
