by Pam Baumgardner
VenturaRocks.com
Finally! It’s time for live music and entertainment, carnival rides, the rodeo, exhibits, farm animals, food, and more. Yep! It’s the Ventura County Fair which runs July 31 – August 11 at Seaside Park. This year’s theme is “A Country Fair with Ocean Air” and the music, as always, is included in the price of admission. Personally, I can’t wait to catch a number of the acts and I’m super jazzed to be able to photograph several including X Ambassadors, Melissa Etheridge and Collective Soul. Photo galleries will be found on VenturaRocks.com soon after the shows. By the way, I highly recommend taking one of the many free shuttles around town.
The Music Under the Stars series continues on Saturday nights at Olivas Adobe with Four Lads from Liverpool on August 3, and Identity Theft on August 10; unfortunately, all remaining shows are sold out. You really have to plan early to catch these shows the past few years.
Be sure to put the Topa Mountain Music fest “Finding a Cure” Cancer benefit on your calendar. I’m very honored to have been asked to emcee this year’s concert with Marc Broussard, Brett Dennen, The Mother Hips, Chris Pierce, Bryan Titus Trio, Tim Curran and more amazing artists. For information about this one taking place at Libbey Bowl in Ojai on Saturday, September 21, go to TopaMountainMusicFest.org.
Quick Notes: Reggae continues on Sunday afternoons in the Treehouse Lounge at Café Fiore as well as at The Star Lounge on Main and every now and then at Discovery; 54 Reasons out of Houston play The Garage on Friday, August 2; Club Fallout’s Tech 805 returns to the Hong Kong Inn on Friday, August 2; there’s a Humane Society fundraiser at the Ventura Theater on Saturday, August 3, with Astreyas, Cool Arrows, Cruda and DNA; Old Blood (Los Angeles) plays Heavy Wednesday at The Tavern on August 7; Word of Mouth and The Swinging Nixons out of Bakersfield play San Souci on Friday, August 9; Second Sunday Supper at Plan B has Ignition rocking the house on August 11; and Salzer’s Records has Pepper performing an acoustic set on Sunday, August 11 (2 pm).
And finally, if you haven’t yet tuned in for an episode of The Pam Baumgardner Music Hour, please do so! I play music from artists out of the 805 as well as artists who come here to play, and every now and then an Indie nugget or two I think you would enjoy. The show airs on CAPS Media’s KPPQ-LP radio at 104.1 FM on Tuesdays and Fridays at 5 pm, and Sundays at noon. You can also listen in with the MyTuner radio app, or online at CapsMedia.org/radio. In the immortal words of Charles Osgood, “See you on the radio!”
Do you have any music-related news or upcoming shows you want help publicizing? Please send all information short or long to [email protected]. For updated music listings daily, go to www.VenturaRocks.com.
