ON Culture | Patti Smith on Stage and on Air, Back to the Future on Broadway, the Queen of King Bee’s Last Show, and More!

This edition of ON Culture was originally emailed to subscribers on July 28, 2023. To receive Leslie Dinaberg’s arts newsletter in your inbox on Fridays, sign up at independent.com/newsletters.

ON the Stage (Music)

We’ve had some excellent music around here lately, including a Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young revival of our own, with Neil Young (review here) and Graham Nash (review here) in the hood this month, and the upcoming David Crosby Tribute on August 20. Playing under the name Stand and Be Counted, that show will gather together the band and set list Crosby assembled for a Lobero anniversary show that never happened in February 2023, with a supergroup that includes Shawn Colvin, Colin Hay, Richard Page, Steve Postell, James Raymond, Steve DiStanislao, Dean Parks, Chris Stills, Andrew Ford, Lara Johnston, and Ken Stacey.

Speaking of supergroups, Jason Mraz had a pretty super band at the Bowl the other night (review here). Also coming up soon is all of that wonderful and mostly free Fiesta music (see Independent.com for an extensive calendar of events put together by our very own Fiesta Queen Terry Ortega).

I’m also quite excited for King Bee’s (sniff) last show with guitarist Shawn Fabian and lead singer Rachel Sarah Thurston on August 8 at Stow House. It’s a freebie, starting at 5:30 p.m. Bring a picnic or hit up the food trucks, and don’t worry, the Bees will continue to buzz around town with some new members and guest stars on stage.  

Also on the horizon in the next few weeks are Patti Smith at the Lobero (Aug. 9), Father John Misty and The Head and the Heart at the Bowl (Aug. 13), Peter Frampton at the Arlington (Aug. 16), and Young the Giant at the Bowl (Aug. 18), not to mention some cool smaller shows like Glenn Annie with Seventies Tuberide at SOhO (Aug. 10).

ON the Walls

One of the many ways to get into the Fiesta spirit right now is Project Fiesta: 99 Years, featuring 99 photographs spanning 99 years at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum. Drawn from the museum’s extensive archive, the photographs capture the spirit of the celebration, which began in 1924 to celebrate the reopening of the Lobero Theatre. Admission is free; for more information, see sbhistorical.org.

Also note, in honor of the upcoming 100th anniversary of Old Spanish Days, the museum is seeking memories from the public. Those interested in helping add to the collection should contact archivist@sbhistorical.org.