Upcoming Events

Show 8:30pm

GA tickets are standing room only, with very limited seating available first come, first served.

*There is no difference in the tiers other than price*

Ventura Music Hall Presents:

UNITED WE DANCE: THE ULTIMATE RAVE EXPERIENCE

Show 8pm

GA tickets are standing room only, with very limited seating available first come, first served.

Ventura Music Hall Presents:

ARMY OF FRESHMEN - 25 YEAR ANNIVERSARY

with Special Guest NERF HERDER

Show 8pm 

GA tickets are standing room only, with very limited seating available first come, first served. 

Ventura Music Hall Presents:

NIKKA COSTA

Born into the lineage of renowned producer and arranger Don Costa, Nikka Costa embodies the essence of music in her very being. From the tender age of 7, she embarked on a journey marked by 2 full length albums, world travel and performances to crowds of unprecedented size, laying the foundation for an extraordinary upbringing as both a woman and a musician.
In her formative years, Nikka's influences spanned from the soulful melodies of Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin to the infectious rhythms of Motown and Stax. Her dedication to mastering every harmony and intricacy of sound became a testament to her unwavering passion and commitment to her craft.
With a string of critically acclaimed albums, beginning with her 2001 Virgin debut "Everybody Got Their Something," Nikka emerged as a luminary in the "nu-soul" landscape, renowned for her signature blend of American soul, funk, and rock— a captivating fusion uniquely her own.
Under the guidance of icons like Prince, Nikka flourished, touring alongside luminaries such as Lenny Kravitz, Coldplay, and Beck, and collaborating with esteemed artists like Mark Ronson, D'Angelo, and Femi Kuti. Her accolades include MTV Music Award nominations, chart-topping singles across Europe, and a stirring performance at the Chris Cornell tribute concert at The Forum in Los Angeles in 2019.
Beyond her prowess as a performer, Nikka's songwriting skills have left an indelible mark, crafting compositions for film, television, and fellow legends like Prince and Eric Clapton.
Known for the raw magnetism of her live performances, Nikka commands the stage with a presence likened to the greats — from Janis Joplin's fervor to Chaka Khan's soulful swagger to Sly Stone's electrifying energy.
After a hiatus of six years, Nikka is poised to make her triumphant return with "Dirty Disco," an electrifying fusion of funk and disco produced by her longtime collaborator Justin Stanley (Eric Clapton, Prince, Jamie Lidell). With a global tour on the horizon and the album slated for release on June 7th, Nikka Costa is primed to ignite stages and hearts alike with her infectious rhythm and soulful spirit.

Show 8pm

FULLY SEATED

Ventura Music Hall Presents:

JULIAN LAGE - SPEAK TO ME TOUR

with ELIJAH WOLF

Hailed as one of the most prodigious guitarists of his generation and “highest category of improvising musicians" (New Yorker), Julian Lage has spent more than a decade searching through the myriad strains of American musical history via impeccable technique, free association and a spirit of infinite possibility. The California-born New York-based musician boasts a prolific resume on his own accord in addition to collaborating with Gary Burton and John Zorn, as well as duo projects with Nels Cline, Chris Eldridge and Fred Hersch, among others.

Show 4pm

GA tickets are standing room only, with very limited seating available first come, first served.

Nastyboy Records Presants:

MC MAGIC, BABY BASH, LIL ROB, JAY ROXXX, ANTONIO CARDENAS

Show 8pm

FULLY SEATED

Ventura Music Hall Presents:

LEE ASHER

Lee Asher, founder of The Asher House, delivers a powerful and inspiring talk about his journey to saving animals, INSPIRING PEOPLE, and finding his true purpose in life.  

A prominent figure in the animal rescue community -- with a massive social media following of more than 12 million people across platforms -- he has used his influence to raise awareness about animal welfare and inspire countless individuals to make a difference in the lives of animals in need. His tireless dedication to rescuing dogs, cats, horses, and other animals has earned him a reputation as a true champion for the voiceless.

With his infectious energy, humor, and powerful storytelling, Asher continues to touch hearts and change lives, both human and animal alike. During his live show, he takes his audiences on a rollercoaster of emotions as he recounts his struggles, failures, and ultimate triumphs in building one of the largest animal sanctuaries in the United States.

Asher's talk is a testament to the transformative power of pain and the importance of turning resentment into gratitude. He encourages the audience to embrace their own struggles and use them as a catalyst for positive change, reminding them that they have the power to be the savior they seek in their own lives, and never give up on their dreams, no matter how challenging the journey may be.

Show 8:15pm

GA tickets are standing room only, with very limited seating available first come, first served.

Ventura Music Hall Presents:

Show 8pm

GA tickets are standing room only, with very limited seating available first come, first served. 

Ventura Music Hall Presents:

STRUNG OUT & ADOLESCENTS

with A WILHELM SCREAM

Show 8pm

GA tickets are standing room only, with very limited seating available first come, first served.

Ventura Music Hall Presents:

CÉU

with PAUL BEAUBRUN

In 2007, Céu debuted her self-titled album, becoming one of the select Brazilian artists nominated for an American Grammy in the World Music category. This groundbreaking album soared to the top of Billboard’s “Heatseeker” and “World Music” charts, also reaching an impressive number 57 on the Billboard Hot 100. Notably, it marked the highest chart position achieved by a Brazilian artist in the U.S. since Astrud Gilberto's "Girl From Ipanema" in 1963.

With six albums to her credit, Céu has repeatedly claimed the number one spot on both the US and Canadian iTunes’ world music charts. Her remarkable achievements include eight Latin Grammy nominations and three wins, notably for her albums Tropix (2017) and Apka! (2020). In 2020, her last two albums dominated airwaves, becoming the most played records on over 200 college and community radio stations across the United States and Canada, within the Latin Music and World Music categories, according to the NACC charts.

Céu's music has transcended borders, captivating audiences on five continents at prestigious festivals such as the Montreal Jazz Festival (CA), North Sea Jazz (NL), Coachella (USA), Roskilde (DK), Rock in Rio (BRA), and Lollapalooza (BRA). Notable performances include memorable appearances in Havana (Cuba) and Beirut (Lebanon). Renowned for her collaborations with both Brazilian and international artists like Duran Duran, Herbie Hancock, Jorge Ben Jor, Gilberto Gil, and Emicida, Céu stands among the few Brazilian artists to grace the stage of BBC’s Later…with Jools Holland. Her albums and live performances regularly earn accolades, garnering placements on esteemed publications' Best World Music lists worldwide, including The New York Times, Billboard, The Guardian, Mojo Magazine, Wired, Sunday Times, Les Inrockuptibles, Telerama, O Globo, and Folha de S. Paulo.

Continuing to enchant audiences in her native Brazil and touring worldwide, Céu is widely regarded as one of the most influential Brazilian artists of her generation.

Paul Beaubrun -

A scion of Haitian musical royalty, Paul has spent his life living to the beat. Son of the Grammy nominated band Boukman Eksperyans, his earliest memories are of rhythm and sound. Moving to New York as a youth he was inspired by his heritage to begin crafting a sound all his own. Constantly aware of his roots, the struggle of an immigrant and the drive of New York life, Paul began to create a path where music, activism and history meet.

A unique and transfixing sound he calls 'Roots/Blues,' Paul weaves his impeccable guitar skills, rich, vocals, musical ingenuity and cultural history together; all while performing a smooth melange of both English, French and Creole (the native tongue of his Haitian roots).

Paul has played alongside some of the world's best artists including Ms. Lauryn Hill, Maxwell, Arcade Fire, Jackson Browne and Bob Weir. Worldwide performances include venues such as The Beacon Theater and Radio City Music Hall in NYC, Massey Hall in Toronto, The Ryman Theatre in Nashville, The House of Blues in Chicago, The Montreal Jazz Festival, Festival Internationale Nuits d'Afrique in Montreal, Le Trianon in Paris, The Paleo Festival in Switzerland, No Siesta Fiesta in Norway. These continued accomplishments make him one of the few artists coming out of Haiti to garner worldwide success.

Paul has joined forces with Artists for Peace and Justice, and become an integral part of their organization. He also continues to be an active member and perform at their many events in the USA and Canada. This allows Paul to do what he loves; play music while also furthering awareness of Haitian art, culture and promoting the incredible talent of Haiti's youth.

Paul's album titled 'Vilnerab,' released in 2015, soared directly to #1 on itunes in the World Music category, receiving rave reviews. In 2016, he was nominated for a Dora Award by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts for 'Outstanding Sound Design/Composition' in the production of Espwa/Espoir. Paul released "Ayibobo" in May of 2018 on Ropeadope Records, this albums sees Paul's evolution of sound into Rock/Roots/Blues music. In 2020 he released "Rasanbleman" on Ropeadope records, a live album and documentary including many different featuring artists from Haiti.

He is also part of "Let The Rhythm Lead: Haiti Song Summit Vol. 1," a collaborative album project including other songwriters Jackson Browne, Habib Koité, Jenny Lewis, Raúl Rodríguez, Jonathan Russell, and Jonathan Wilson, with members of the Haitian roots band Lakou Mizik released in 2020.

Paul is currently on a world tour with Arcade Fire as a member of the band and has appeared recently with the band on SNL, The Tonight Show and at festivals globally.

Show 7pm

GA tickets are standing room only, with very limited seating available first come, first served.

Ventura Music Hall Presents:

CITIZEN SOLDIER

with Special Guests ICON FOR HIRE and HALOCENE

Citizen Soldier was born in 2016 when frontman Jake Segura penned the lyrics to “Let It Burn” from a psychiatric hospital. Now practicing as a clinical therapist, he implements intensely emotional lyrical themes on mental health into their music. The band presents an accessible message that combats stigmatization and provides a group therapy dynamic. 

Based in Salt Lake City, Utah, Segura is joined by guitarists Matt Duffney and Kooper Hanosky, bassist/keys Wonitta, and drummer Kyle Persell.

Show 8pm

GA tickets are standing room only, with very limited seating available first come, first served.

Ventura Music Hall Presents:

THE MOTHER HIPS

with SAM BLASUCCI (of Mapache)

Founded nearly 30 years ago, The Mother Hips caught their first big break before they’d even finished college, when legendary producer Rick Rubin signed the band to his American Recordings label. In the decades to come, the group would go on to release ten critically acclaimed studio albums and cement themselves as architects of a new breed of California rock and soul, one equally informed by the breezy harmonies of the Beach Boys, the funky roots of The Band, and the psychedelic Americana of Buffalo Springfield. Praised by Rolling Stone as “divinely inspired” and hailed by the San Francisco Chronicle as “one of the Bay Area’s most beloved live outfits,” the group’s headline and festival performances have become the stuff of legend, earning them slots everywhere from High Sierra to Outside Lands alongside dates with the likes of Johnny Cash, Lucinda Williams, Wilco, and The Black Crowes.

Written and recorded through the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic, the band’s new album, Glowing Lantern, is a work of great comfort and companionship, even as it grapples with the deep anxiety of these profoundly uncertain times. The songs are weighty, abstract ruminations wrapped in unflagging optimism, bittersweet streams of consciousness delivered with a palpable sense of camaraderie and brotherhood. Glowing Lantern is as collaborative a record as the band has ever made, and it’s impossible not to feel the joy and gratitude radiating out of it like a beacon in the night.

Show 8pm

GA tickets are standing room only, with very limited seating available first come, first served.

Ventura Music Hall Presents:

MIKE LOVE & THE FULL CIRCLE

Show 7pm

Transparent Productions Presents:

Show 8pm

GA tickets are standing room only, with very limited seating available first come, first served.

Ventura Music Hall Presents:

THE PHILHARMONIK

Winners of NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts Contest!

Christian Gates (Born July 26, 1993), known professionally as The Philharmonik,  is an American vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, lyricist, music producer and genre  defining artist.  

The Philharmonik’s musical beginning started in Cleveland, Ohio where he was  born. He began taking classical piano at the age of 6 after he attended a concert  with his mom. When he returned home from the concert, he began to play  songs he heard note for note on the piano. He began lessons the next month  with his first piano teacher who played for the Cleveland Orchestra. In his 2016  rap project, "Good People," The Philharmonik's beats, and content echoed an  OutKast album with a Sacramento hometown perspective. The Philharmonik  debuted his self-produced album “The Philharmonik” in 2018, under Soul  Collective (Sacramento, CA) music label. The album includes feature songs  “Neon Lights”, “Mama’s House”, “Pay me” and “Good Day” which offer a variety  of styles, appealing to a wide audience base. In 2019, The Philharmonik toured  the United States and Canada, supporting the single release that year “Drugs”.  In the Summer of 2022, The Philharmonik debuted his third album “Kironic”  which holds a rich variety of musical styles and meaningful lyrics, reflecting his  search for happiness and meaning.  

Recently, he has been nationally and globally recognized after winning the 2023  American Song writer contest and NPR’s 2024 Tiny Desk Contest for his song  “What’s It All Mean?” (Kironic).  

He is celebrated in Sacramento for his music, strong work ethic, support of  young local musicians, and advocacy for mental health. Outside of music,  Christian enjoys golf, bowling, introspection, and spending quality time with  family and friends.

Show 8pm

GA tickets are standing room only, with very limited seating available first come, first served.

Ventura Music Hall Presents:

MACY GRAY

Show 8pm

GA tickets are standing room only, with very limited seating available first come, first served.

Ventura Music Hall Presents:

BRETT DENNEN

Across his career, Brett Dennen has established himself as the kind of singer-songwriter who finds inspiration by digging into the nooks and crannies of the human condition—exploring pain, joy, sadness, and all points in between. If It Takes Forever (Mick Music), the California native’s eighth solo album and first full-length since 2021’s See the World, is no exception. The warm, immersive collection boasts deeply felt sentiments, underpinned by rich acoustic guitars and Dennen’s earnest vocals, in the vein of dusky Americana (“Golden State of Mind”), harmonica-driven blues (the Tom Petty-esque “Careful What You Wish For”), rootsy indie (“Don’t Go Talking”), and meditative folk-rock (highlight “Time To Wake Up”).

If It Takes Forever emerged out of a tough 2023 for Dennen, as he was dealing with the death of his dad. “He was such a strong figure in my life that I depended on so much as both a dad and a best friend,” he said. “And I knew immediately in order for me to deal with his death, the best thing I could do was to make an album about it.”

Understandably, Dennen took his time coming up with song ideas for If It Takes Forever, and spent the bulk of a year simply thinking about “what kind of album I was going to make and what kinds of songs were going to be on the album,” he says. “I jotted down ideas on paper, made little voice memos with ideas of songs, melodies and choruses, or sometimes even just talked into a voice recorder.”

With these ideas as a foundation, Dennen was well-prepared by the time he hunkered down in late 2023 to formalize his rough ideas into songs. “Making them a reality all happened very fast,” he says. “These songs were in my head and came out when I had the guitar in my hand. I would record one, put it away and then come back a few days or a few weeks later and listen to it: ‘Okay, I think that's done. That's good enough. Move on, move on, move on.’”

Dennen naturally wrote some songs directly about his dad. But he also wanted If It Takes Forever to tackle his new reality going forward. “It was evaluating life—like, what did this person mean to me?” he says. “What did they inspire in me? What do I think life is about now? Who's the person I really want to be?” But he also found himself turning to broader philosophical questions. “I was also thinking about the state of life: What is life? What does it mean? What's it all about?”

This lent itself to lyrics full of vibrant imagery with multiple layers of meaning. Among his favorite songs is the gentle, folksy “In the Garden,” which was indirectly inspired by his parents and the impressive vegetable garden they tended. “I don't necessarily think it's a song about my dad—or a song about him speaking to my mom, per se—but I think it's a song about love and putting your intention into something,” Dennen explains. “Metaphorically, it’s about taking care of something and creating something beautiful, but it’s also a literal place for beautiful things to grow, and a calm place to find solace in.”

Another favorite is “Wood Canoe,” a narrative-driven story of humble man who has a knack for building a canoe out of wood, with lyrics speaking to the idea of metaphorically taking somebody away to a better place, he explains. “It feels like a Cat Stevens song and has a little bit of Latin rhythm to it.” Dennen also loves “Another Day in Babylon” because of its rumbling groove—and the fact it’s very literal, as he based the lyrics on things that happened in his own life.

The easygoing opening track, “Chipping Away,” meanwhile, touches on resilience and the importance of persevering even when things might not be falling into place the way you’d like. “There's so many things I want to do and so many things I haven't done—and I'm the one holding myself back from doing those things,” he explains. “But that's just life, I guess—and here's an opportunity to celebrate that.”

Dennen recorded If It Takes Forever quickly, “in a whirlwind five days” in Los Angeles with the musicians in his live band and another long-time collaborator serving as producer, Jon Solo. This full-band configuration gave the album a distinct feeling of immediacy but also lends itself to depth-filled arrangements. Organ courses through the standout “Dharma Baby” while plaintive piano adds sharp melancholy to the meditative “Star Surfer.”

“We haven't recorded an album together before now,” he notes. “But it was easy to trust everyone and get excited about what we were creating together. We felt like a team; I've never had that feeling before. That’s why I think it was easy to get so much done in a short amount of time.”

In general, Dennen prefers recording live with a band anyway. But the bond he had formed with his bandmates across years of traveling around together on the road made the If It Takes Forever experience especially seamless—namely because everyone contributed parts and ideas in the studio during the process. “I was really impressed with everybody's ability to help me get to a place where I was feeling good about the direction it was going,’ he says. “It wasn't me or the producer saying, ‘I want you to do this. I was hoping you would do this.’ It wasn't like ‘This is Brett’s album’—it was like, let's just make this music the best that the four of us can make it.”

Since debuting in 2004 with a self-titled album, Dennen has amassed a loyal fanbase thanks to a steady touring schedule, including alongside artists like John Mayer, Jason Mraz and G Love and Special Sauce, as well as multiple song placements in the TV show Parenthood. Another tune, "Comeback Kid (That's My Dog)," became the theme song for the TV adaptation About A Boy. Along the way, Dennen has also had multiple top 10 hits on the AAA radio charts, with the keening title track of See the World, an encouraging song about growing up and forging your own path in life, landing at No. 4 in 2021.

With If It Takes Forever, Dennen plans to hit the road once again, but he possesses additional perspective on—and gratitude for—the solace provided by art and music. “To really boil it down, this is life,” he says. “Life is full of things that get complicated and make you busy, and are really hard to deal with. But if you write songs about it, and put it into art, then it makes it a lot more relevant and meaningful and worthy of celebration.”

Show 7:30pm

GA tickets are standing room only, with very limited seating available first come, first served.

Ventura Music Hall Presents:

PRINCE DADDY AND THE HYENA

with BEN QUAD, CLIFF DIVER, and HEART TO GOLD

Show 9pm

GA tickets are standing room only, with very limited seating available first come, first served. 

Ventura Music Hall Presents:

Show 8pm

GA tickets are standing room only, with very limited seating available first come, first served.

Ventura Music Hall Presents:

GIRL ULTRA

with SANJE and SHAO

Show 9pm

GA tickets are standing room only, with very limited seating available first come, first served.

Ventura Music Hall Presents:

MICRO MANIA WRESTLING

Show 9pm

GA tickets are standing room only, with very limited seating available first come, first served.

Ventura Music Hall Presents:

LUPE FIASCO

Wasalu Muhammad Jaco, better known by his stage name Lupe Fiasco, is a Chicago-born, Grammy award-winning American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and community advocate. The independent rapper who parted ways with his former label, Atlantic Records, following the release of 2015’s Tetsuo & Youth, is pegged as one of the most gifted lyricists and visionaries to grace the mic.  Rising to fame in 2006 following the success of his debut album, Food & Liquor, Lupe has released six acclaimed studio albums; Drogas Light, released in 2017 on his own label, 1st & 15th.   These albums have netted 3 platinum singles, 3 RIAA Gold Certifications, 12 Grammy nominations and one Grammy Award in 2008 for his infectious single, “Daydreamin,” feat Jill Scott.  With a trilogy of albums set for 2018 and beyond, Lupe is at his creative peak as an artist.  Most recently, Drogas Wave released on September 21st, 2018 via 1st & 15th. His efforts to propagate conscious material helped solidify him as GQ’s Man of the Year in 2006, and garnered recognition as a Henry Crown Fellow. 

While musical genius and ingenuity are at the forefront of Lupe’s achievements, the artist extends his innovation to projects that aim to foster creative discourse and opportunities in underprivileged and impoverished communities.  As the co-founder and co-owner of community initiatives such as, We Are M.U.R.A.L, The Neighborhood Start-Up Fund, Society of Spoken Art, and Studio SV, Lupe Fiasco proves that he is more than just a mouthpiece for change, but a committed facilitator of intellectual community discourse and outreach.

Show 8pm 

GA tickets are standing room only, with very limited seating available first come, first served. 

Ventura Music Hall Presents:

Y LA BAMBA & KILTRO

Y La Bamba - 

To declare one thematic narrative from Lucha, Y La Bamba’s seventh album, would be to chisel away a story within a story within a story into the illusion of something singular.

“Lucha is a symbol of how hard it is for me to tackle healing, live life, and be present,” Luz Elena Mendoza Ramos, lead vocalist and producer of Y La Bamba, says of the title behind the album which translates from Spanish to English as ‘fight’ and is also a nickname for Luz, which means light. The album explores multiplicity—love, queerness, Mexican American and Chicanx identity, family, intimacy, yearning, loneliness—and chronicles a period of struggle and growth for Mendoza Ramos as a person and artist.

Lucha was born out of isolation at the advent of COVID-19 lockdowns, beginning with a cover of Hank Williams’ “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” and following Mendoza Ramos as she moved from Portland, Oregon to Mexico City, returning to her parents’ home country while revisiting a lineage marred by violence and silence, and simultaneously reaching towards deeper relationships with loved ones and herself. The album reflects “another tier of facing vulnerability,” as Mendoza Ramos explains, and is a battle cry to fight in order to be seen and to be accepted, if not celebrated, in every form—anger and compassion, externally and internally, individually and societally. As much as la lucha is about inner work, fighting is borne from survival stemming from social structures designed to uplift dominant groups at the hands of suffering amongst the marginalized.

While peeling back layers of the past to better understand the present has been integral to this period of growth for Mendoza Ramos, time, trauma, and history can feel like interconnected, abysmal loops and music has remained a trusted space for Mendoza Ramos to process, experiment, and channel her learnings into a creative practice. In this way, Lucha has become cyclical, documenting the parallel trust Mendoza Ramos has built with herself to allow the songs to guide how they should be sung, or even sound.

“I’ve been wanting to let whatever feels natural—with rhythm and musical instruments like congas and singing—to just let it be, in the way that I’m trying to invoke in myself.” Lucha reflects on, “the continuing process of learning how to exercise my producing skills,” explains Mendoza Ramos. “I have so many words, ideas to work with all the time, and the hardest part for me has been learning to trust my gut. And figuring out how I work best, and with who.”

The result is a collection as sonically sprawling and bold as its subject matter. On “La Lluvia de Guadalajara,” Y La Bamba leans into a minimal, avant-garde soundscape as Mendoza Ramos recites a spoken word poem. Later, rhythms veer into bossa nova territory on “Hues ft. Devendra Banhart,” a full-circle collaboration for Mendoza Ramos as she reminisces on the significance of finding Banhart’s work nearly two decades earlier: “He was the first young Spanish-speaking musician that wasn’t playing traditional Mexican music I heard when I was 21. There was nothing like it around that time.”

“Nunca” is a warm, wind-rich track dedicated to her mother, Maria Elena Ramos whose poetry is published alongside the Lucha lyrics booklet. “I decided to put my mom’s poem, which is a poem that she wrote to me, letting me know how she felt, exploring her heart in new ways she’s never imagined. Sharing it on the record is me paying attention that she’s expressing herself.

While each song holds personal significance to Mendoza Ramos, part of growing into her identity as an artist has been allowing space for protection and boundaries, and choosing to withhold some of that meaning from the public. Lucha is her own story of the complexity of trauma and nonlinear healing and growth processes, but she imagines it is also the continuation of her ancestors’ stories and might also be a mirror to the story of others. “Even though I’m trying to fight, I never want to demonize suffering, because that’s part of growing. And it’s hard, because we’re living in times where that [stigma] is what’s happening. So if this—me talking about my mental health and finding healing in my queerness—is a risk, I hope that I find a community that protects it and protects me, because they know I have their back. I am also trying to be my mom’s community.”

Kiltro - 

Years ago, Chilean-American singer/songwriter Chris Bowers Castillo moved to the port city of Valparaíso and became a walking tour guide.

“I would dress up as Wally and give tours to families and kids,” he remembers with a laugh. “It was great, because I got to know the city incredibly well. I’d walk for hours, then spend the rest of the day partying and drinking, probably way too much. But I also wrote lots of new songs.”

Back in Denver, Chris looked for a moniker that reflected the evocative and subtly rebellious musical concepts percolating in his head, and settled on kiltro – a word used in Chile for stray dogs or mutts. He then teamed up with bassist Will Parkhill and drummer Michael Devincenzi, later inviting Fez García to join the band as an additional percussionist on Kiltro’s live gigs.

“I wanted to do a project mixing different styles and aesthetics,” he says. “Valparaíso is my favorite city in the world and will always influence my music. There were street dogs everywhere, and I’m a mutt myself.”

Titled Underbelly, Kiltro’s sophomore album crystallizes those dreams and experiences into a post-rock manifesto of dazzling beauty. Its songs combine touches of shoegaze, ambient and neo-psychedelia with the soulful transcendence of South American folk – the purity of stringed instruments, supple syncopated percussion and elusive melodies that define the works of Latin American legends such as Violeta Parra, Víctor Jara and Atahualpa Yupanqui.

From the propulsive, chant-like groove of “Guanaco” to the art-pop panache of “All the Time in the World,” Underbelly is the kind of record that invites you to quiet down and listen, savoring every single detail. The album reaches an emotional pinnacle during its second half, when the majestic lament of “Softy” – seeped in exquisite cushions of reverb – segues into the hypnotic reverie of “Kerosene.”

It also signals a new chapter in the fusion of Latin roots with mainstream rock, anchoring its sonic quest on a rare commodity: inspired songwriting.

“So much of this album is defined by the conditions that made it,” says Chris. “Our debut – 2019’s Creatures of Habit – has a social, almost communal feel to it, because we played it live time after time before recording. In a way, the songs were troubleshooted in the presence of an audience, then honed in the studio. Underbelly, on the other hand, was made in quarantine. It was just us obsessing in the studio, and we ended up following whatever thread seemed most interesting at the time, which made for an album that is more experimental and creative.”

“We’re trying to make sense of the process as we experience it,” adds Will, who returned to Denver and became part of Kiltro after a few years living abroad. “The way we make music, we’re definitely not interested in dropping singles. Something that Chris and I have in common is our interest in capturing ambient textures that evoke a sense of place. When we first played music together – years before Kiltro – we got microphones and tried to record the sound of water running down a bathtub. It didn’t work out then, but we revisited the same concept on this album.”

Quarantine isolation allowed Kiltro to obsess over every single loop and melodic turn. Now that the band is ready to tour again, presenting the songs in a live setting poses a beautiful challenge.

“We were mixing the album when the question came up: how the hell are we going to do this live?,” says Chris. “Live shows are a real important component of what we do – in a way, it’s the very reason of why we make music. There will be four of us onstage, and I do a lot of live looping. We have two drummers, which helps a lot when you consider the percussive element of this album. I’ve learned that we don’t have to favor a maximalist approach. People connect with melody and the concept. As long as the harmonic elements carry the emotional message across, you can take the songs into many possible directions.”

For now, the release of Underbelly marks a bold step forward in Kiltro’s extraordinary musical journey.

“When we first started the band, I was playing folk songs – focusing on my interior spaces and finding catharsis through melody,” says Chris. “I’ve always been attracted to music that is melancholy and personal. Then we added the rhythmic component, and I realized that having a bit of noise and chaos can add emotional depth. Underbelly reflects everything that happens inside your soul when the world stops on its tracks.”

“We tried a lot of new things on this record,” agrees Will. “We were living through unprecedented times and coming to terms with all of it. The album is a reflection of that. At the end of the day, we wanted to create the kind of music that we didn’t hear anywhere else.”

Show 8pm

GA tickets are standing room only, with very limited seating available first come, first served.

Ventura Music Hall Presents:

BLACKWATER HOLYLIGHT & L.A. WITCH

with MOONILY

Blackwater Holylight - Hailing from Los Angeles, CA (previously Portland, OR) Blackwater Holylight has spent the
majority of 2023 preparing new writings and recordings in anticipation of new works coming in
2024.
BWHL creates immersive sonic landscapes that captivate audiences worldwide. The band
continues to push musical boundaries and defy limitations interweaving genres to create a truly
unique sound. Their performances have been described as emotionally dynamic and hypnotic
ranging from gentle and quiet to massively explosive sounds. They’ve accompanied bands such
as Monolord, Yob, Thou, Dead Meadow and many more across the US, CA, MX and EU and
UK.
With three records released on Riding Easy Records, the band’s new writings are expected to
be their fullest, most thought-out workings yet.

L.A. Witch - L.A. Witch’s self-titled debut album unfurled like hazy memories of late night revelries in the city center creeping back in on a hungover Sunday morning. Guitarist/vocalist Sade Sanchez purred and crooned over jangling guitar chords, painting pictures of urban exploits, old American haunts, and private escapades with a master’s austerity. Bassist Irita Pai and drummer Ellie English polished the patina of the band’s vintage sound, adding a full-bodied thump and intoxicating swing to the album’s dusty ballads, ominous invitations, and sultry rock songs. The album had an air of effortlessness, like these songs were written into the fabric of the Western landscape by some past generation and conjured into our modern world by three powerful conduits. The band readily admits that L.A. Witch was a casual affair and that the songs came together over the course of several years. That natural flow hit a snag when the band’s popularity grew and they began touring regularly, so a new strategy became necessary for their sophomore album, the swaggering and beguiling Play With Fire.

Where L.A. Witch oozed with vibe and atmosphere, with the whole mix draped in reverb, sonically placing the band in some distant realm, broadcast across some unknown chasm of time, Play With Fire comes crashing out of the gate with a bold, brash, in-your-face rocker “Fire Starter.” The authoritative opener is a deliberate mission statement. “Play With Fire is a suggestion to make things happen,” says Sanchez. “Don’t fear mistakes or the future. Take a chance. Say and do what you really feel, even if nobody agrees with your ideas. These are feelings that have stopped me in the past. I want to inspire others to be freethinkers even if it causes a little burn.” And by that line of reasoning, “Fire Starter” becomes a call to action, an anthem against apathy. From there the album segues into the similarly bodacious rocker “Motorcycle Boy”—a feisty love song inspired by classic cinema outlaws like Mickey Rourke, Marlon Brando, and Steve McQueen. At track three we hear L.A. Witch expand into new territories as “Dark Horse” unfurls a mixture of dustbowl folk, psychedelic breakdowns, and fire-and-brimstone organ lines. And from there the band only gets more adventurous.

Show 8pm

FULLY SEATED

Ventura Music Hall Presents:

MAX FOSH - LOOPHOLE

Max Fosh is a YouTuber and comedian with over 4 million followers across social media. His videos are all about finding life’s loopholes and exploiting them. I mean, how else did he become:

• ⁠⁠The Richest Man In the World For 7 Minutes
• ⁠⁠⁠Legally Become His Parent's Favourite Child
• ⁠⁠Technically Won an Oscar

His videos have generated over 1 billion views across YouTube alone, and he has also completed a national stand-up tour with a show that culminated at a sold-out London Palladium. Join Max for 80 minutes of loophole hunting and exploiting in this brand-new show that his Mum is calling “the greatest piece of art since his Macaroni paintings". 

Show 8pm

GA tickets are standing room only, with very limited seating available first come, first served.

Ventura Music Hall Presents:

WILD CHILD & SUSTO

Wild Child -

End of the World, the new album from acclaimed Austin songwriting duo Wild Child (Kelsey Wilson and Alexander Beggins) wasn’t supposed to happen. In 2018, Wilson joined the singer-songwriter super group Glorietta, and debuted her critically acclaimed genre-bending, Motown-influenced solo project Sir Woman. Meanwhile, Beggins unveiled his musical alter-ego, CoCo Zandi, with the release of his first solo album, As Simple as a Dream. Then in 2019, after more than a decade of non-stop touring, the indie band, which was unexpectedly conceived in the back seat of someone else's tour van, stopped booking or playing shows altogether. 

Exploring different sonic directions, Wilson and Beggins didn't know if they would ever make another Wild Child record, until, well, what felt like the "end of the world" hit Austin, and brought them back together. Pandemic lockdowns closed stages and drained bank accounts. In Austin, the ‘Live Music Capital of the World,’ local bands took their shows online. Wild Child was no different. With an unexpected abundance of free time on their hands, Wilson and Beggins got together to practice for a series of online performances for devout fans. Within 30 minutes of rejoining forces, they’d written the first single for what would accidentally become Wild Child's fifth album. 

"Photographs" is a soulful, brass-filled outing that “offers something familiar for Wild Child fans who have stuck with them over the years," Wilson says. “‘Photographs’ was inspired by a picture of my dad, Buddy Wilson, who passed away in February. And in a way, it's a tribute to old Wild Child songs. A bittersweet story, a ukulele and both of us singing. It's a special gift to Wild Child fans." Beggins adds, "It felt like our very first record, when the two of us wrote a bunch of songs while on tour for someone else. There wasn't any aim to do anything with those songs at the beginning. For the first time since then, that's how we started writing these songs. We didn't know if we would make another record. It just came together.” 

And it couldn't have happened at a more difficult time. Take Day 3 of the 2021 Texas Big Freeze for instance, when 13 displaced Austin pals had taken refuge at Wilson's house. There was no electricity, no indoor plumbing, and no end in sight. When Wilson couldn't possibly take it anymore, one of the fateful 13, singer-songwriter John Calvin Abney, ripped a 90s-alternative riff on an acoustic guitar that would eventually turn into the album's title track. "I just started singing about things that were freaking me out. Wearing a mask for a year. Global warming. There's no heat, no water,” explains Wilson. “It was like a dirge to begin with. But by the end we were all screaming and laughing that, yes, this might be the end of the world, but we're all together right now, making music in my living room by candlelight. It's all okay." 

The next morning during a lull in the storm, the Wild Child caravan — complete with drummer and guitarist Tom Meyers, guitarist Cody Ackors, and bassist and piano player Taylor Craft (Sir Woman) — braved icy roads to recording engineer Matt Pence's The Echo Lab studios outside Denton, Texas. They didn't even stop to shower before recording an unwashed rendition of "End of the World," flush with in-the-moment angst. "There's no ukulele. I'm singing differently than I ever have before. You can hear my voice crack, and all the energy behind everyone playing," Wilson said. "That set the tone. There were no boundaries. We're back to how it was on Day One. We were making this music because we really needed to make it for ourselves."

Abney tagged along, and in the process became the first songwriter to collaborate with Beggins and Wilson on a Wild Child album. His contributions to Beggins and Wilson's songwriting process came as an unexpected blessing amid so much impending doom. "John was dating one of Kelsey's roommates when we met. The first time we played together, we just fell in love with each other," Beggins says. "When you have a musical partnership, like Kelsey and I have had for a decade, it's strange to change the formula of writing. But we found someone we both trust and like working with." 

"Wearing Blue" started with a guitar riff Abney played before an early recording session. "While everyone was setting up their instruments, John Calvin started playing and singing. In 30 minutes, a song was written. That was a holy-shit moment. And it set the tone of the record," Wilson shares. 

The Wild Child family is also excited to announce the birth of Reba’s Ranch Records, a long-time vision of creating their own record label imprint to highlight some of the amazing music coming out of Austin, TX. The label was born after years of conversations within the band about the importance of controlling one’s own destiny and art. The imprint will be home to the Wild Child catalog, as well as Kelsey’s Sir Woman and Alexander's CoCo Zandi recordings, and is a partnership with Secretly Distribution. 

‘End of the World’ was mixed by Matt Pence (Jason Isbell, Elle King) and includes guitarist Charlie Wiles (Paul Cauthen, John Moreland, Orville Peck).

Susto -

A season of drastic change is what brought SUSTO frontman Justin Osborne to the band’s fifth full-length LP, My Entire Life [New West Records]. There was a divorce, difficulties re-building his band after the pandemic, and the pain and helplessness of witnessing family members struggle with addiction and mental illness. Despite these challenges, Justin ultimately found himself in a new landscape, with new love and a deeper perspective, all of which is masterfully projected into My Entire Life. 

While navigating some major life changes, Justin understandably experienced a surge of creative energy. He channeled this into writing and recording with the people closest to him, even as the tides of his personal life continued to shift. Primary collaborators included longtime producer Wolfgang “Wolfy” Zimmerman, SUSTO Co-founders, Johnny Delaware and Marshall Hudson, and his fiancé/co-writer Caroline Foyle. 

Much of the album was recorded at The Space, in Charleston, SC, but major sessions also took place at Echo Mountain Recording in Asheville, NC, and Chase Park Transduction in Athens, GA. 

Johnny had moved to Mexico shortly after work on the album began, so some tracking was done at his home studio in Mexico City. 

The band also took a “recording pilgrimage” to the Mexican town of Tepotzlán (mythical birthplace of mesoamerican deity Quetzalcoatl), where they turned an airbnb into a remote recording studio, with help from members of Mexican Institute of Sound. 

The combined result of these efforts is a compelling blend of rock, folk and psychedelia, with vivid country-esque storytelling. It’s as raw and real as anything the band has done so far and everything you’d hope for from a modern rock ‘n’ roll record. 

The album’s namesake and lead single, “My Entire Life” is melodically tearful, with an urgency “to keep living.” 

As a whole, the album documents Justin’s personal journey through highs and lows in his life, with many of the details on full display. He narrates the demise and aftermath of an almost decade long relationship, while celebrating the joy of falling in love and the hopefulness of starting over. There is a playfulness at times, but always a clear desire to distill wisdom from experience.

“SUSTO’s narrative has always been confessional, and songwriting is my way of trying to make sense of the chaos—good and bad—around me,” observes Justin. “These songs cover the spectrum of everything that’s happened in my life the last few years. There’s been a lot of change, which can be painful, but there’s also been a lot of joy and hope, along with everything in between. I figure that’s what life is.” He continues “…it’s a mosaic of all the good, bad, and mundane things we face as we make our way from birth to death. Along the way we ride the waves, but if you stay true to yourself and push through, I believe you can get to where you really want to be, and you can shape that mosaic into something that fulfills you. There is a lot of hope in that for me. This record is my story of navigating a bunch of chaos, but finding ways to carry on and manifest my own happiness…the last few years were a challenge, but I look back and see that I made it through, a better, truer, and more realized version of myself.” 

It's been quite the ride for SUSTO. In addition to achieving widespread critical acclaim in recent years, the group has built a diehard fan base through captivating live performances and compelling songs. 

For as much as My Entire Life is the ultimate vision of what the band can be, it’s also a classic story of one person rising from the ashes, wiser and fiery than ever… 

“Writing and performing has long been central in my life, and this season of change has only heightened my desire to connect with other people through songs. I’ve crossed a mountain, so I’m ready to charge forward, and share that story. Everybody goes through difficulty one way or another, we all get worn down, we all chase dreams; songs are there to remind us we aren’t alone in that. In my case. I’m thankful for lessons learned, and excited for the future. The privilege of sharing these songs with our audience is something I’m incredibly grateful for.”

Show 8pm

GA tickets are standing room only, with very limited seating available first come, first served.

Ventura Music Hall Presents:

RIPE

with HEMBREE

Ripe’s new album Bright Blues has an anthemic feel. It is a collection of 12 songs full of sleek grooves and bold melodies that the Alternative-Pop quartet put together to help ride out tough times.

The members of Ripe have never felt more assured about the band or their music. Collectively and personally, Ripe has weathered a mountain of adversity over the past few years, and from those struggles has arisen their best art yet. Bright Blues, Ripe’s sophomore album, is enjoying big excitement at radio, with the new single “Settling” hitting top 15 at AAA and top 25 at ALT with over 16K+ radio spins garnering 15+million impressions and being featured as Alt Nation’s critical cut artist.

“The wildest thing for me is that the record simultaneously sounds like it has the scars of everything we’ve been through and also that it doesn’t — it’s joyful music, which is very exciting given that it was made in the middle of getting hit in the stomach,” says singer Robbie Wulfsohn, who came together with guitarist Jon Becker, drummer Sampson Hellerman, and trombonist Calvin Barthel while they were all studying at Berklee College of Music.

Ripe is taking Bright Blues on the road, with a nationwide headline tour that begins shortly after the album’s March 10th, 2023 release date. The tour will hit prestigious venues such as MGM Music Hall at Fenway in Boston, Terminal 5 in New York City and The Fillmore in San Francisco.

Even before the pandemic, Ripe was on the cusp of something new. The band began drawing acclaim from the likes of the Boston Globe, Huffington Post and WXPN with a dance-ready vibe on EPs Produce The Juice and Hey Hello. Ripe built on that sound and folded in a touch of R&B on their first full-length, Joy in the Wild Unknown. Their streams on Spotify surged past 65 million, they conquered stages at festivals including Bonnaroo, Firefly, SweetWater and Bottlerock, and they sold thousands of tickets across the US, including sell outs at iconic venues like House of Blues Boston and Brooklyn Steel. Ripe was still ready to try a different approach for Bright Blues. The album would already be different in that it would be their first release after signing to indie powerhouse Glassnote Records. They started the creative process by calling in outside producer Paul Butler (St. Paul & the Broken Bones, Michael Kiwanuka) and for the first time, bringing in co-writers, recording four songs that Ripe released as singles throughout 2020.

“We thought, how can we do something new?” Hellerman says. “Something that still has our sound and vibe at its core, how can we expand our boundaries and reach more audiences while still staying true to what makes Ripe Ripe?” The answer was teaming up with Noah Conrad (BTS, Niall Horan) and Ryan Linvill (Olivia Rodrigo, Dermot Kennedy), classmates from Berklee who are up-and-comers in the world of pop songwriting and production. Together, the band and its collaborators dialed in a buoyant sound on the hooky album opener “Get Over,” where synths help flesh out a throwback pop sound. Ripe works a hot soul vein on “All or Nothing,” where horns punctuate a snappy rhythm that powers smooth, fully self-assured vocals. Woozy synths on “Paper Cups” help create a dream-like vibe accentuated with a subtle, hypnotic melody.

Bringing new people into the fold, even though they’re old friends, was an exercise in trust that proved well worth it. “We used to just all get in a room and kind of hash it out,” Becker says. With Bright Blues, “It was only one or two of us at a time with Noah and Ryan, so our individual voices got to shine more.”

The new approach also helped Ripe think of the band’s high-energy, freewheeling stage show separately from the recording studio, which they used more as an instrument in the making of Bright Blues. Wulfsohn chimes in, “There are moments of improvisation on the record that feel like somebody was just going for it and hitting something really exciting. I’m biased, but I think you hear every distinct voice across the record, and I think the circumstances of the record absolutely leaked into the musical choices.”

The result is an album that shows the full scope of the band’s abilities as writers and performers. The live show has always been at the core of who Ripe is, and now the recorded music can stand alongside it as an all-encompassing representation of whothe band is and where they are going.

Bright Blues also showed the members of Ripe that they can still surprise each other. “Each of us had moments while making this album that really resonated with us, if not broke us open emotionally,” Barthel says. “Having that experience coming from people who you know better than anybody else and trust so much is pretty mind blowing. It definitely left us all with a new level of inspiration and drive and belief in what we could all do.”

Show 7:30pm

GA tickets are standing room only, with very limited seating available first come, first served. 

Ventura Music Hall Presents:

THE RECORD COMPANY

with NAT MYERS

When The Record Company pick up their instruments, the members—Chris Vos [guitar, lead vocals, harmonica], Alex Stiff [bass, backing vocals], and Marc Cazorla [drums, backing vocals]—participate in a musical back-and-forth akin to a formative and supportive conversation among siblings. The nuances of their personalities seep through loose, bluesy guitar leads, airtight drum grooves, thick bass, and vividly evocative lyrics. With such fluidity, the musicians respond to one another so instinctually you’d swear they were telepathically linked. However, there’s no such superpower necessary when you’ve got the closest thing to a brotherhood that three musicians unrelated by blood can share… 

The GRAMMY® Award-nominated trio only amplify the power of this bond on their fourth full-length offering and 2023 debut for Round Hill Records.

“We know each other’s personalities on the instruments, so we reconnected with one another and really found that brotherhood again,” explains Chris. “It's always been there, but we got back into a room where it was like a circle of stone. We’re creating something that will go out into the world. We all stand behind it equally, and we’re willing to put our lives and love into it. When you put your career, your future, and your art into another person’s hands and you know they’re doing the same for you, there’s a different level of trust. That’s been our secret since day one. When it’s challenging, we’re all trying to figure out the challenge. When it’s good, we’re all experiencing it together.”

They’ve experienced everything as a family since forming back in 2011. Along the way, they served up a tested-and-proven epic in the form of their 2016 debut, Give It Back To You. The release earned a GRAMMY® Award nomination in the category of “Best Contemporary Blues Album” and spawned “Off The Ground,” which reached #1 at AAA Radio and tallied nearly 40 million total streams and counting. Beyond a string of stunning late-night television appearances, they performed on CBS This Morning, at Bonnaroo, and on an extensive tour with John Mayer in addition to headlining coast-to-coast. They maintained this momentum with All Of This Life [2018] and Play Loud [2021]. On top of praise from American Songwriter, Classic Rock, and more, NPR hailed the latter as “the band’s biggest and most dynamic record to date.”

In 2021, the guys hunkered down and commenced creating what would become their fourth LP. Working out of an intimate home studio in Beachwood Canyon, they wrote, recorded, and self-produced the music. Outside of cutting drums at the legendary Sunset Sound, it proved to be a homegrown affair through and through. 

“We got back to our old perspective, which is to trust the idea, get out of the way, make something, listen, and respond to it,” affirms Chris. 

Alex elaborates, “We decided to record the organic thing that got us really excited to play music as a band in the first place. That was the general theme of this record. Keep it as close to a three-piece sound as possible. Keep the music raw. It’s a return to form in a way, but we’re still growing.”

“We’ve been doing this for a while,” adds Marc. “As long as we sound like us, we can be proud of it. It’s not going to be for everybody, but we’ve never been prouder of what we’re doing.”

The Record Company kicks off their next era with the single “Dance On Mondays.” Guitar cries through a hypnotically hummable bassline and head-nodding beat. Meanwhile, a chantable hook instantly takes hold with grit and gusto as Chris affirms, “I don’t dance on Mondays.”

“Somebody asked me to go see a band on a Monday night, and I just said, ‘I don’t dance on Mondays’,” Alex recalls. “I wrote it down in my phone. The phrase signifies, ‘I’m taking my life back, and I’m not going to dance for anybody’. It goes back to where we are as a band and us being The Record Company.”

Then, there’s “Talk To Me.” Bass practically dances atop a simmering groove punctuated by tambourine before guitar kicks back in as Chris urges, “So, why don’t you talk to me?” Marc goes on, “It reminds me of one of those rare Blue Note groove records with a chill vibe.”

Launching into toe-tapping bounce, harmonica wails on “Darkest Days” as the stomp and 12-string guitar underline a soulful vocal. “Highway Lady” shines with a Laurel Canyon meditation in the glow of swooning slide guitar.

“We wanted to make music you could listen to “Highway Lady” on a road trip in the car with the city’s lights behind you,” Alex says. “This song had this big vibe of feeling good both musically and spiritually.”

“Lyrically, it’s my favorite,” adds Marc. “It could be about so many different things. I moved into this house with a little pool, which I’d always wanted in Southern California. When it’s hot as shit out, you naturally develop all of these new friends during the summer. You make a pool playlist, and I wanted one of our tunes to be a contender. To me, this is one.”

In the end, The Record Company  are stronger than ever as a band and, more importantly, as brothers.

“I’d love for people to hear this record and feel like they’re in the house with us making it,” Alex leaves off. “I want them to feel like they’re part of this unpolished and homemade thing, because that’s what we were trying to get back to.”

“We’re a trio, and that’s the completion of this circle,” Marc concludes. “The fourth member of this group is the space between us. We embrace that space as part of the raw element. That’s what we explored on this album, and it’s beautiful. We can’t wait to bring it on the road.”

Show 8pm

FULLY SEATED

Ventura Music Hall Presents:

NICK COLLETTI

With his natural charm and raw talent, Nick Colletti is quickly emerging as one of Hollywood’s most dynamic and sought-after comedians and personalities. 

As a stand-up, Nick tours across the country performing at numerous sold out venues. 

In television, he stars alongside Jimmy Tatro, Cody Ko and Getter in the comedy hit, THE REAL BROS OF SIMI VALLEY, which has developed a massive, dedicated following. Colletti stars as Duncan in the faux-reality show which centers on four best friends as they navigate life in Simi Valley. 

Online, Colletti has developed a massive fan base where he often posts videos and interacts with his 1M+ followers combined between Instagram and TikTok. 

Nick currently resides in Pittsburgh, PA.

Show 9pm

GA tickets are standing room only, with very limited seating available first come, first served.

Ventura Music Hall Presents:

LETTERS TO CLEO

PARTY NAILS

When Boston alt-rock band Letters To Cleo split after 10 years, 3 albums, and thousands of tour miles together, it was at the behest of a pact that singer Kay Hanley and guitarist Greg McKenna made with each other when they started the band in 1990.

“We said that we’d stop doing it when we weren’t having fun anymore.” says Hanley. “I had just had a baby, (lead guitarist) Michael Eisenstein and (drummer) Stacy Jones were recording and touring with Veruca Salt’s Nina Gordon, (bassist) Scott Riebling was crazy in demand as a record producer, and I know it was frustrating to Greg to be in the shitty position of doing all the work to try and keep the ball rolling. It felt hard all of a sudden, and I hated that feeling.”

Soul searching done and tough decisions made, Letters To Cleo called it quits. The band members moved into new careers in and out of the music business, with Hanley, Eisenstein, and Jones migrating to Los Angeles. They all remained friends and sometimes even colleagues, collaborating on a host of movie, TV, and touring projects.

Now, for the first time in 17 years, Hanley, Eisenstein, Jones, and McKenna have written and recorded five brand new songs for “The EP”, are poised to launch a Pledge Music campaign, and will play club dates in Boston, NYC, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles in the Fall. So why reunite now?

“Because we’re good and stuff”, laughs Jones. “To me, the question isn’t ‘Why are we doing this now?’, the question is, ‘Why didn’t we do it sooner and why aren’t we doing it more?’’

McKenna adds, “It’s a blast. I mean, we spent our formative years learning how to do this stuff together. When it was done, we went out and lived our lives and now everyone’s bringing their experiences back to this at a new level of musicianship, but writing with these guys still feels effortless.”

The new material reflects McKenna’s sentiment. All 5 songs are instantly recognizable Cleo concoctions that fans will devour. From Eisenstein’s fierce, angular guitars locking horns with Jones’ roaring locomotive rhythm on “Hitch A Ride” to McKenna and Hanley’s signature melodic ESP on “Good Right Here”, the Cleo bandmates are in prizefighter form.

Staying true to the chemistry that defined their muscular pop sound throughout the 90’s was key to Cleo’s new venture. “It feels completely unforced. It sounds like classic Cleo. But at the same time, there’s nothing nostalgic about it.”, says Jones.

In addition to playing guitar, bass, and keys on The EP, Eisenstein also handled the lion’s share of production at Death Star Studio in the Koreatown section of LA, where he and Jones are current and former partners, respectively. Eisenstein is hesitant to pick any favorites from the new batch of songs but offers, “I really like “Four Leaf Clover” because it’s so in line with who we are as a band. It could have been on any of our records. The emotional content of “Back To Nebraska” is impossible to deny. It’s beautiful and powerful.”

According to Hanley, the opportunity to re-unite with her former band and make new music came almost from out of nowhere. “I didn’t have time to think up reasons to say no, so I just said yes. We didn’t have a plan. We just jumped in and everything unfolded really quickly. We all love the new songs and can’t wait to start playing them. It’s really fun!”

Show 8pm

GA tickets are standing room only, with very limited seating available first come, first served.

Ventura Music Hall Presents:

Show 8pm

GA tickets are standing room only, with very limited seating available first come, first served.

Ventura Music Hall Presents:

MAD CADDIES & AUTHORITY ZERO 

with Special Guest BELVEDERE

Mad Caddies - 

The Mad Caddies are a ska punk band from Solvang, California, United States. The band formed in 1995 and has released seven full-length albums, one live album, and two EPs. To date, Mad Caddies have sold over 500,000 albums worldwide.

The Mad Caddies sound has influences from broad ranging genres including ska (especially ska 3rd wave), punk rock, hardcore punk, reggae, dixieland jazz, Latin music, polka, even cowpunk ("Crew Cut Chuck") and sea shanties ("Weird Beard").

The Mad Caddies have released 6 studio albums, 2 EPs and a live album. They've also toured extensively throughout their career including tours across the USA, Europe, Japan, Canada, Mexico, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and South America. Their most recent full-length release, Punk Rocksteady, was released on June 15th 2018 and was produced by Fat Mike. In 2020 the Caddies released a 5 song EP titled "House on Fire" on Fat Wreck Chords.

Authority Zero - 

“Authority Zero has never been called “negative.” Even during a pandemic, they kept their collective chin up, put their heads down and wrote what could be called their career album. Released in June 2021, Authority Zero’s album “Ollie Ollie Oxen Free” takes a line from hide and seek to encourage fans to leave the COVID-19 depression behind and celebrate life.

During the pandemic, singer Jason DeVore saw families torn apart by political views and COVID-19. Now that the divide has somewhat subsided, it’s time to come out and be yourself again. “The phrasing in the title track stems from the idea of ‘come out, come out, wherever you are,’” says DeVore, who co-writes with bassist Michael Spero. “It encourages a focus on the positive side of 2020, while still maintaining awareness of the hardships and detriment of it all. People have been trapped within themselves, depressed inside of their houses and otherwise. We’ve been separated both politically and mentally between the left and right, which is very apparent. It’s a focus of come out, feel free and feel a sense of confidence to live with an unheavy heart and mind again.”

The title track rattles those cages with DeVore’s encouraging lyrics, the frenetic blur of Christopher Dalley’s urgent drumming and Spero’s bass, coupled with guitar licks true to the playing style of returning guitarist Brandon Landelius. With its updated sound, “Ollie Ollie Oxen Free” fits in with Authority Zero’s catalog, DeVore says. “It’s more of the times of 2020,” he says. “We really tried to focus more on the positive side of things that came from the pandemic, rather than the negative that came out of it. “We inflect lyrics and music in an uplifting manner. We wanted to shine a light at the end of the tunnel.”

Belvedere - 

From the band’s inception in 1995, Belvedere has continued to push themselves on the road and in the studio. Well over 1000 shows were played in over 25 countries thanks to the help of countless promoters, fans, and friends. Though the band split in 2005, it was clear that these friends would not forget them. In 2011, bridges were mended and reunion shows were announced. Over the next three years Steve, Jason, Scott, and Graham did everything they could to play in as many countries as real life allowed. By the end of 2014, the band decided that it was time to try writing again.

There were two rules when Belvedere decided to write and record their first album in over 12 years. Have a good time, and don’t sound like a bunch of old men..…mission accomplished. “The Revenge Of The Fifth” picks up where their last release “Fast Forward Eats The Tape” left off. Twelve tracks of melodic punk – fast and furious. Though fans of the band will feel a sense of nostalgia for the speed and riffage, they’ll also notice a progression in the song writing. Perhaps even a “juxtaposition” of maturity from 4 immature punkers. The balancing act between raising families and holding steady jobs, and touring the world for 20 years can be heard in many of the lyrics. “Generation Debt” is an apology letter to our children for the world we’ve left to them, while “Carpe per diem” is a summary of basement show tours that spanned the band’s first six years. An expression of hope is found in “Revenge of the fifth” which hinges on the idea that we’re all ultimately responsible for taking care of the human race and the planet; and to stop looking to a higher power for forgiveness or answers.

The addition of Casey Lewis on drums has given the band a new excitement and passion. Fans will be happy to hear the band hasn’t slowed down or toned down the shredding. 2016 looks to be a great year as Belvedere will be hitting South America, Europe, Canada and a few other places. Watch out for May 5th, 2016 when Belvedere’s fifth album, “The Revenge Of The Fifth” hits the real and digital world.

Show 7:30pm

GA tickets are standing room only, with very limited seating available first come, first served.

Ventura Music Hall Presents:

THE EXPENDABLES

with SITTING ON STACY

The Expendables have proven anything but in their nearly 25-year career since starting out as a  spirited party band in high school performing surf-rock covers for birthdays and family  gatherings. A quarter-century later, elementary school buddies Raul Bianchi, Adam Peterson and  Geoff Weers, along with bassist Ryan DeMars, who joined in 2000, have forged a unique sound  born in the laid-back beach life in their hometown of Santa Cruz, CA. The Expendables’  infectious hybrid of ska, surf-rock, punk, reggae and metal can be heard in their latest streaming  track, “Surfman Cometh,” a spaghetti-western meets “Pipeline” twang that could easily form the  soundtrack to the latest Quentin Tarantino film. The song is the first release from the group’s new  and improved Band Room, their longtime rehearsal space in a 1,100 square foot warehouse and  former wine cellar on Coral Street, where Adam Patterson took charge of the final mix to great  effect. The band’s previous studio album of original material, 2015’s Sand in the Sky, was  followed by The Expendables’ second release featuring acoustic reworkings of past material,  Gone Raw, 2019’s follow-up to 2012’s Gone Soft. The Expendables continue woodshedding  until they can get back out on the road. Their 2017 Moment EP, which debuted at #1 on the  Billboard Reggae chart, showed the band starting to move into different musical directions, a set  featuring collaborations with reggae crooner HIRIE, rapper Tech N9ne, Eric Rachmany, and  Micah Peuschel

Show 8pm

GA tickets are standing room only, with very limited seating available first come, first served. 

Ventura Music Hall Presents:

BIG HEAD TODD AND THE MONSTERS 40th ANNIVERSARY TOUR

In this life, very few friendships withstand the test of time. Naturally, people go their separate ways and chase their own dreams. As rare as it may be for friendships to last a lifetime, it might be even rarer for a band to stick together for the long haul. For close to four decades, the members of Big Head Todd and The Monsters—Todd Park Mohr [vocals, guitar, keys, sax, harmonica], Brian Nevin [drums], Rob Squires [bass, vocals], and Jeremy Lawton [keyboards, lap pedal/steel guitar, vocals]—have continued to both throw down in the studio and light up stages worldwide. Rallying around a core vision, the platinum-selling Colorado quartet kick out the kind of blues-drenched rock ‘n’ roll bangers that make you want to rev the engine a little louder, sing along like no one’s looking, and live a little freer. 

This holds true on their 12th full-length offering, Her Way Out.

“To me, my band means four people who listen to each other, work hard, and share a goal,” Todd observes. “The goal has to do with reaching out to people, catching their ears, and sharing a story we hope they relate to. Our fans have given us an incredible 40-year career, and we hope they’ve gotten great songs and performances in return.”

They’ve most definitely delivered on both fronts… 

As the story goes, Todd, Brian, and Rob unlocked their musical partnership during high school when they started jamming in the early eighties. Fast forward to 1986, they adopted the moniker Big Head Todd and The Monsters. BHTM released 2 successful independent records on their own BIG Records, Another Mayberry (1989) and Midnight Radio (1990) before drawing the attention of music industry titans and signing with Irving Azoff, Chuck Morris, and Frank Barsalona in 1992. They broke nationally  with the platinum-certified staple Sister Sweetly (1993) which yielded four top 10 rock radio hits. They continued to progress with Strategem [1994] and Beautiful World [1997] which yielded several more rock radio hits including Boom Boom featuring John Lee Hooker. The band is continually touring and recording and has continued to put out albums that have received critical acclaim from both fans and press.

Among other milestones, their music literally reached the heavens when they played “Blue Sky” live at NASA Mission Control, delivering a celestial wakeup for astronauts aboard the International Space Station. They’ve toured and recorded with many rock and blues legends including B.B. King, Neil Young, The Allman Brothers, Hubert Sumlin, David “Honeyboy” Edwards, Dave Matthews Band, The Eagles and their personal favorite Robert Plant. Not to mention, they attained hometown hero status by headlining Red Rocks Amphitheatre 35 times in addition to earning induction into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame in 2023. 

Her Way Out came to life organically. For two years, they hosted “Monster’s Music Monthly,” serving up either a new song or a new version of a classic online.  Working out of Jeremy’s home studio, they parlayed this momentum into their latest LP.

“It had been almost seven years since our last album release, but we wanted to put the same energy of ‘Monster’s Music Monthly’ into a full-length,” Todd notes. “We have a very distinct personality as a band. I write to the sensibilities of each member, because they’re going to have to dig playing it. We’re a benevolent democracy. If one guy isn’t connecting with a certain song, that song is out. As an uncomplicated rock band, we like to do things that are ‘proper’—loud guitars, drums, big bass, and well-placed organ, keys, and lap steel. We road-tested every song on the record before recording a lick. All of that helped us dial in the arrangements, ditch tunes that didn’t work, and grow a strong sense of what our individual parts should be.”

In this respect, the single and title track “Her Way Out” packs a concentrated and catchy punch. Anchored by a steady beat, the rough and tumble riff kicks up dust as soulful vocals ignite an irresistible refrain, “She found her way out, her way out—and it was me.”

“It’s driven by the idea that relationships are frail,” he elaborates. “Sometimes, they are something one wants freedom from. A real-life circumstance drives this story. Something was said when a person had too much to drink. The relationship ended with words, but the drinker could never know what he said and the woman refused to tell him.”

Ass-kicking guitar surges through “Thunderbird” as strains of organ coat a raucous refrain with a lyrical tip-of-the-hat to the Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas classic American Graffiti.

He goes on, “‘Thunderbird’ is a collection of one-liners from the film knit together with a beat poet vibe. It has an AC/DC-like guitar riff and a cinematic-style vocal. It’s all about drag racing and love never caught.”

Elsewhere, Big Head Todd and The Monsters nod to Annie Oakley with “Don’t Kill Me Tonight.” Then, there’s “King Kong.” A hulking groove lumbers beneath the frontman’s bluesy intonation as a piano solo bleeds into a skyscraper-scaling guitar lead.

“It’s inspired by a large movie poster in my basement of King Kong on top of the Empire State Building,” Todd reveals. “I’m drawn to these iconic contemporary heroes who are also monsters. They are complicated because they destroy so much, yet are sympathetic to children and fall in love with human women. These ‘Titans’, as they are called, are often monsters of our own making. It’s exciting to perform live.”

In the end, the future looks as bright as ever for these longtime friends.

“We work very hard at being a great band,” Todd leaves off. “We’re also a group that cares for each other. We’ve been together for almost 40 years. Our audience has made it all possible, and we’re grateful and determined to keep playing.”

Show 8pm

GA tickets are standing room only, with very limited seating available first come, first served.

Ventura Music Hall Presents:

LIVINGSTON

Music means many things to Livingston. It’s an escape from the trials and tribulations of daily life. It’s a blank canvas for dreams to manifest upon. Most of all, it’s proof that anything is possible. Akin to building a rocket ship in a suburban backyard, the 21-year-old Denton, TX singer, songwriter, and producer creates handcrafted outlier pop teeming with big screen-worthy orchestration, arena-size ambition, open-hearted lyricism, and sky-high hooks. His words strike a deep chord, whether booming through your speakers or sung from the stage to a sold out crowd. An uncanny ability to empower listeners to realize their potential has accelerated Livingston’s ascent as a world-building alt-pop music maverick in 2024. As a kid, he felt a lot of love from his parents and two siblings, but he went through hell at school for “being different.” Despite ceaseless bullying and teachers who just didn’t understand, he found solace in music. He endured his first heartbreak, weathered teenage loneliness, and poured his pain into a MacBook Pro, writing, producing, and performing music out of his childhood bedroom. At barely 17-years-old, he introduced himself to the masses with a pair of debut EPs Lighthouse [2020] and An Unlikely Origin Story [2021]. Among various highlights, “Fairytale” resonated with 50 million-plus streams, and he collaborated with everyone from Macklemore to Louis The Child. He independently released his debut album A Hometown Odyssey in 2024, generating tens of millions of streams on the likes of “Last Man Standing,” “Shadow,” and “Half-Life.” However, his vision expands in widescreen on the deluxe edition of A Hometown Odyssey, coming soon [Republic Records].

Show 8pm 

GA tickets are standing room only, with very limited seating available first come, first served. 

Ventura Music Hall Presents:

STEELY DEAD

Show 8pm

GA tickets are standing room only, with very limited seating available first come, first served.

Ventura Music Hall Presents:

MATISYAHU

with DISTANT COUSINS

Creativity is like a fire in a fireplace: You have to tend it or it will go out. For nearly two decades,
Matisyahu has kept his creative spirit aflame by evolving his sound, melding genres, and testing
the limits of the musical traditions that have inspired him. His latest release, Hold The Fire, and its leadoff single “Fireproof” takes inspiration from a fire dream inspired by Matisyahu's Old Testament religion, which has meant so much to his spiritual and creative life since his recording career began in 2004 and his breakout track "King Without a Crown" blasted into the Billboard charts in 2005. In a roundabout way, those same Old Testament roots springboarded Matisyahu's music career. Growing up outside New York City, the young Matthew Miller followed jam bands like Phish and the Grateful Dead. Then, in Bob Marley and reggae, he found that the messaging of Rastafarianism was sourced in part from that same Old Testament. The sound that emerged on his first albums—including his first two studio releases as well as 2005's Gold-certified Live at Stubb's—embraced both the spirit of reggae and his spirituality and roots in Judaism. Buoyed by hits like "King Without a Crown," albums like the Grammy-nominated and Billboard No.1-ranked Youth in 2006, and the Gold-certified 2009 antiwar hit "One Day" (streamed over 150 million times on Spotify alone), he toured extensively through the second half of the aughts with a high-energy stage show that has since grown to include more improvisation. All the while his music expanded into a shapeshifting collision of reggae, hip-hop, alt rock and boldly inventive pop. Today, he continues to be inspired by evolving musical trends, finding linkages and loops between eras and genres. Matisyahu's spirituality has evolved in parallel with his music, though his Jewish heritage remains a central theme throughout his lifeand music. The new EP, Hold The Fire (out February 2024), also finds him reflecting on celebrity and artistic success. For Matisyahu, “the unbelievable and miraculous feeling of beingconnected to our people” is what keeps the creative fire alight.

Show 7pm

GA tickets are standing room only, with very limited seating available first come, first served.

Ventura Music Hall Presents:

THE SLACKERS & LOS YESTERDAYS

with THE BANDULUS 

For 33 years, the NYC-based and critically acclaimed Slackers have been touring the world with their blend of Ska, Reggae, and Soul.

Since 1991, the Slackers have released fifteen albums and countless singles, while their 1000s of live performances feed their fans with energetic sets of ecstatic music. 

The Slackers have been called ‘the Sound of New York’ by the New York Times. They were described by Brooklyn Vegan as a “clean mix of Ska, Reggae, and Soul that gets dirtied up by Vic Ruggiero’s tough New York accent.’ 

In April 2022, The Slackers released a new album, “Dont Let The Sunlight Fool Ya” (Pirates Press) which quickly shot to the top of the US Billboard charts.  The first time that a Slackers’ album has charted!  Ironically after 30 years as a band, they qualified as a Billboard  ‘new artist!’ The Washington Post noted that the Slackers  “remain at the top of their game.”  

The chart topping sales of “Dont Let The Sunlight Fool Ya” capped a 2 year comeback of the Slackers.  When Covid stopped live shows in 2020, the Slackers pivoted to livestreams and made 5 full band concerts that were broadcast internationally to an audience of thousands.  After the streams, they stayed in the studio and recorded the tunes that became ‘Dont Let the Sunlight Fool Ya.’

The Slackers capped this comeback with a series of frenetic tours in 2022 and 2023.  They played everything from clubs to festivals in the USA, Canada, Europe, and Brazil.  

In 2024, they are currently booking 90 shows. They are also currently working on a 20th anniversary reissue of their classic album, ‘Close My Eyes’ for September and on a new single of original music for October. 

Official Website: www.theslackers.com
Facebook:  www.facebook.com/theslackers
Instagram: @theslackersband

Listen to the Slackers on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/02YdqekgXBbl7t1N59tVh3

Show 8pm

GA tickets are standing room only, with very limited seating available first come, first served.

Ventura Music Hall Presents:

KY-MANI MARLEY

Ky-Mani Marley was born in Falmouth, Jamaica, to Anita Belnavis and reggae superstar Bob Marley. At the age of nine, Ky-Mani and his mother relocated to Miami, Florida. In his early youth, Ky-Mani was unaware of his musical abilities, sports being his first love. With his mother's direction, he received piano and guitar lessons and played trumpet in his high school band. As an athlete, he competed in soccer and American football.
While a teenager, Ky-Mani started rapping and deejaying. His first single was "Unnecessary Badness". He became inspired as a singer after being asked to sing a hook to a song during a recording session at a studio in Miami. Ky-Mani soon began experimenting with laying tracks, at times with his brothers, Stephen, Julian and Damian.
Marley signed to Shang Records where he recorded his debut album in 1996, Like Father Like Son, and several singles: "Judge Not" with Patra, followed by "Dear Dad," "Who The Cap Fit ", and "Sensimelia", all of which added to his growing reputation in the new generation of reggae musicians.
In 1997, Ky-Mani joined forces with Pras of the Fugees, on "Avenue", a hit cover version of Eddy Grant's "Electric Avenue". Marley appeared at Midem when it was held in Miami. In the Cameo Theatre, Marley performed a set which was aired live by the Caribbean News Agency to 36 countries.
He signed with Gee Street/V2 Records in 1997 where he completed a collaboration with label mate P.M. Dawn on the single "Gotta Be Movin' On Up". Marley's next recording was the 2000 release, The Journey. In 2001, he released his third studio album Many More Roads, which was nominated for a Grammy Award, and went on tour. In 2004 he released his fourth studio album, Milestone. In 2007, he released Radio. In 2015, he released another album, Maestro.

Ky-Mani Marley's acting work included lead roles in the Jamaican films, "Shottas" and "One Love."
In 2018, Ky-Mani hosted his own festival called The Maestro Marley Cup. This event blends his love of soccer and music. The festival returned to Miami in 2021 and has plans to be an annual event.
Kymani is currently working on his new movie, Vendetta, written and executive produced by himself. This project is expected to be released in late 2022. He is also working on a new upcoming album and is set to release a debut single from the project in Fall 2022.
Ky-Mani is passionate about his youth soccer program in Jamaica called Falmouth United.

Show 8pm

FULLY SEATED

Ventura Music Hall Presents:

PUDDLES PITY PARTY

Puddles Pity Party, the 7-foot sad clown whose golden voice is comparable to rock legends like Tom Jones and Freddie Mercury, has amassed nearly 900K YouTube subscribers and performed sold out shows all over the globe including The Kennedy Center in D.C., San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts, London’s Soho Theatre, and a residency at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

Neil Gaiman recently featured Puddles as guest performer in his specially curated gala for The Art of Elysium in Los Angeles.  In 2022, Puddles performed a duet with the iconic Eric Idle in Homeward Bound: A Grammy Salute to the Songs of Paul Simon filmed for CBS and was a surprise guest on the Season 4 finale of ABC’s The Conners. He also landed the coveted John Lewis Holiday advert in the UK with a cover of “All the Small Things” that he recorded with Postmodern Jukebox. Puddles was a quarter finalist on Season 12 of America’s Got Talent and appeared on the 2020 season of AGT The Champions.

Deftly combining melancholy with the absurd, Puddles has received endorsements and accolades from musical comedy legends like Jack Black, Michael McKean, Weird Al Yankovic, Drew Carey, Nick Offerman and Paul Reubens. His one-of-a-kind “textured voice laced with melancholy” (NY Times) has been hailed as “operatic” (Boston Globe) and his show both “life-affirming” (Herald Scotland) and “hysterically funny” (LA Weekly).

Show 7pm // 18+

FULLY SEATED

Ventura Music Hall Presents:

THUNDER FROM DOWN UNDER

Thunder from Down Under is a world-renowned Australian male revue known for its high-energy performances and charismatic entertainers. With a massive global fan base, the group has been thrilling audiences for years with their electrifying shows and captivating dance routines. Their dynamic performances have made them a highly sought-after live entertainment experience.

Show 8pm

GA tickets are standing room only, with very limited seating available first come, first served.

Ventura Music Hall Presents:

BLACK FLAG - Performing "The First Four Years"

with THE DICKIES

Show 8pm

FULLY SEATED

Ventura Music Hall Presents:

ELIJAH FOX

Elijah Fox is a multi-instrumentalist, singer, and producer based in Los Angeles, CA. He grew up in Durham, NC and began playing piano at age 11 and was mentored early on by Yusuf Salim, a pianist who had played with Charlie Parker and began performing in local jazz clubs. Fox studied piano at Oberlin Conservatory with Sullivan Fortner, Billy Hart, Dan Wall, and Gary Bartz and graduated in 2017 before moving to New York City. His piano composition “East Village” was sampled by Drake and 21 Savage on “Major Distribution” reaching number 3 on the Billboard Charts. Fox has also recorded/produced for SZA, Masego, YG, ScHoolboy Q, Denzel Curry, Tate McCrae, Musiq Soulchild, Childish Gambino, Kali Uchis, J Cole, and many others as well as releasing his own original compositions and sample packs. His impressionistic original piano composition “Wyoming” went viral on TikTok and has received over 20 million streams on Spotify. He is signed to UMPG for publishing as a writer/composer. He is also the touring keyboardist for UK drummer Yussef Dayes and has performed throughout the world. Fox has also performed his original music at sold out shows across the US and Europe. His sound blends elements of jazz, Impressionism, and psychedelic soul. Fox also releases instrumental music under the alias @Soren Sostrom

Show 8pm

GA tickets are standing room only, with very limited seating available first come, first served.

Ventura Music Hall Presents:

CURSIVE

with PILE

Very few bands manage to last decades, and for the ones that do, it’s often easy to settle down and get a little too comfortable. But there’s nothing comfortable about Devourer, the explosive new album from Cursive. The iconic Omaha group is known for their intensity, ambition, and execution, and has spent 30 years creating a bold discography that’s defined as much by its cathartic sound as its weighty, challenging lyrical themes. And Devourer is as daring as ever. Full of intense and incisive songs, the album proves exactly why Cursive have been so influential and enduring–and why they remain so vital today.

In the years since their 1995 formation, Cursive developed into one of the most important groups to emerge from the late-’90s/early ‘00s moment when the lines between indie rock and post-hardcore began blurring into something altogether new. Albums like Domestica (2000) and The Ugly Organ (2003) became essential touchstones whose echoes can still be heard in new bands today. The pull of nostalgia can be strong over time, but Cursive’s work has often felt like a rejection of those comfort zones; the band has continually pushed themselves, with frontman Tim Kasher’s artistic restlessness steering them ahead. In fact, for Kasher, whose pointed observations always begin with looking inward first, it was an interrogation of this voracious creativity that planted the seeds of Devourer.

“I am obsessive about consuming the arts,” he explains. “Music, film, literature. I’ve come to recognize that I devour all of these art forms then, in turn, create my own versions of these things and spew them out onto the world. It’s positive; you’re part of an ecosystem. But I quickly recognized that the term, ‘Devourer,’ may also embody something gnarly, sinister.” Devourer delves into that darker space. The characters populating the album have bottomless capacities for consumption, whether its resources, material goods, art, or even each other. Then they are consumed by larger forces, whether it’s humanity, Earth, dreams, time, or life itself. “Maybe a better word for it is imperialism,” Kasher says. “But it’s in many different forms. It’s not just the political. It’s personal imperialism and the imperialism of relationships, the way we imperialize one another, even ourselves.”

Fans have come to expect such heady topics from Cursive, but Devourer sets a new standard. The glibness of the First World toward the problems of others. The eternal struggle to stay on the straight and narrow. The eager acolytes exploited by their leaders. How anxiety can compound with age. How self-expression can warp into self-indulgence. Beginning with “Botch Job,” a propulsive banger shaking with anxiety and regret, the album seldom relents. Songs like “The Avalanche of Our Demise,” “What The Fuck,” “Bloodbather,” “Consumers,” and “The Age of Impotence” hit hard, hooking listeners with the unique blend of deep melody and discordant sounds Cursive does so well. Even as songs like “Up and Away,” “Imposturing,” and “Dead End Days” lean more into a poppier sound–or “Dark Star” and “The Loss” tone down the intensity–the album’s underlying disquiet remains. But as always, Cursive is here to wail, not wallow. As Kasher sings in “Bloodbather,” “Life’s an abscess or apple pie / So shut those demons up / And devour your slice.”

Devourer being filled to the brim thematically and musically is unsurprising considering Kasher wrote an astounding 69 compositions after songwriting began in the fall of 2020. About 20 made it to the practice space, with a curated 13 ending up on the final album. Wrangling it all at Omaha’s ARC Studios was Marc Jacob Hudson, who co-produced the album with the band after running live sound on Cursive’s recent tours. Hudson’s lengthy discography includes working with Against Me!, Thursday, and Fireworks, among others, but the musical touchstones he shares with Cursive sealed the deal. “We just got along well and had this kind of shared music history that I found so comforting,” Kasher says. “We were introduced to music in similar ways and, being the same age, share a musical knowledge. It was just so fun and refreshing.”

Now seven members strong (“We seem to be collecting band members over the years,” Kasher jokes), Cursive had a large musical toolbox to use on Devourer. Beyond the core trio of singer/guitarist Kasher, bassist Matt Maginn, and guitarist/vocalist Ted Stevens, there’s keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist Patrick Newbery, cellist Megan Siebe, recording/touring drummer Pat Oakes, and founding drummer Clint Schnase (the two trade drumming duties across Devourer, but join forces for a two-pronged percussive force in “Rookie”).

Cursive had self-released their two previous albums on their label, 15 Passenger, and initially planned to release Devourer the same way–but ultimately decided to put out some feelers as well. “We got interest and it made it all feel like, ‘Yeah, we should do this,’” Kasher recalls. The group arrived on Run for Cover Records, who were excited to work with a band who has such a deep discography and storied history; it’s a fitting home for Cursive, with new labelmates like Fiddlehead, Citizen, Teen Suicide, and Self Defense Family that share a same DNA of emotionally and sonically biting music. “It really is the first time that we’ve gone off to another label since we started in 1995, when we signed to Crank! Records,” Kasher says. “So there’s a certain excitement to that. It’s no longer the excitement of, ‘We just got signed! I wonder what’s going to happen with this record?!’ It’s more like we’re doing something different–nothing feels rote.” Maginn adds, “More than most bands, our labels have been part of our history. We did it ourselves for years with 15 Passenger, so it’s a big deal to us to take on and trust new partners.”

While Cursive’s music hasn’t gotten any more comfortable, perhaps its being released into a world that’s at least a little more shaped in their image. Devourer sounds urgent and fresh, the work of a band still experimenting, still hungering to find new creative heights. On album highlight “Consumers,” the protagonist bemoans, “I saw our future and I want to go back.” But Cursive are only moving forward.

Show 8pm

GA tickets are standing room only, with very limited seating available first come, first served.

Ventura Music Hall Presents:

GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR

Godspeed You! Black Emperor released a string of albums from 1997-2002 widely recognized as redefining what protest music can be, where longform instrumental chamber rock compositions of immense feeling and power serve as soundtracks to late capitalist alienation and resistance. The band’s first four releases—especially  F#A#∞ (1997) and Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven (2000)—are variously regarded as classics of the era and genre. Godspeed’s legendary live performances, featuring multiple 16mm projectors beaming a collage of overlapping analog film loops and reels—along with the distinctive iconography, imagery and tactility of the band’s album artwork and physical LP packages— further defines the sui generis aesthetic substance, ethos and mythos of this group. GY!BE has issued two official band photos in its 25-year existence (the second, left, a 2010 recreation of the first from 1997) and has done a half-dozen collectively-answered written interviews over that same span. The band has never had a website or social media accounts. It has never made a video. Few rock bands in our 21st century have been as steadfast in trying to let the work speak for itself and maintaining simple rules about minimising participation in cultures of personality, exposure, access, commodification or co-optation.

Following a seven-year hiatus that began in 2003, Godspeed returned to the stage in December 2010 (curating the UK festival All Tomorrow’s Parties) and the band’s post-reunion period has now lasted over a decade, marked by hundreds of sold-out live shows and three additional albums, all of which have been met with high acclaim.

G_d’s Pee AT STATE’S END! – the band’s fourth post-reunion album (and eighth overall) – was released on April 2nd, 2021.