10/02/2025
The weekly rundown in local music from Glen Starkey at !
It’s been more than 20 years since a quintet of UCSB students joined forces in Isla Vista to become Rebelution. Throughout 2004 and 2005, they grew their fanbase playing local shows and releasing an independent EP. By 2007, they released Courage to Grow, their full-length debut, which almost immediately got radio traction on stations like San Diego’s 91X, LA’s KROQ, and SF’s Live 105.
Since that collegiate beginning, they’ve been on an upward trajectory, releasing seven more albums, the next five peaking at No. 1 on the U.S. reggae charts. Falling into Place (2016) also garnered a Grammy nomination for Best Reggae Album.
In 2021, their seventh album, In the Moment, peaked at No. 2. Their newest, Reflections (2023), is now available on all streaming platforms.
Grab your last gasp of summer fun when Good Vibes and Otter Productions host the Rebelution Good Vibes Cali Tour over two nights at Avila Beach Golf Resort on Thursday and Friday, Oct. 8 and 10 (doors at 4 p.m., show at 5; all ages; general admission starting at $76.85 at tixr.com). The event also features Pepper, The Elovaters, Aurorawave, and DJ Mackle.
EECU : HELOC Rectangle
All cool acts, but keep your eye on genre-bending SoCal act Aurorawave, which mixes reggae, rock, and metal into a sound they call reggaecore.
Also from Good Vibez over at the Fremont Theater, see The Growlers frontman Brooks Nielsen on Saturday, Oct. 4 (doors at 7, show at 8 p.m.; all ages; $60.74 at prekindle.com). Nielsen helped define and popularize the Beach Goth movement—“a genre-blurring, countercultural wave that left an indelible mark on modern rock,” according to his bio.
The Grammy Award-winning New Orleans act The Rebirth Brass Band comes to the venue on Thursday, Oct. 9 (doors at 7, show at 8 p.m.; all ages; $46.32 at prekindle.com). Founded by brothers Phil and Keith Frazier more than 35 years ago, the band began playing on the sidewalks of the French Quarter. Now they’re world famous.
WELCOME TO THE UNDERGROUND Takaat brings their multicultural, punk, experimental, jazz to Atascadero’s Dark Nectar Coffee on Oct. 4. Credit: COURTESY PHOTO BY AMGHY CHACON AND CEM MISIRLIOGLU
Bedouin desert rock
Ready for something different? Then check out Takaat when they play Atascadero’s Dark Nectar Coffee (5915 Entrada Ave.) on Saturday, Oct. 4 (8 p.m.; all ages; $10).
The trio is the rhythm section for Nigerien guitarist and singer-songwriter Mdou Moctar, and like Mdou’s songs, the band’s chantlike lyrics are in Tamashek. As a solo act, they deliver multicultural punk and experimental jazz sounds. Their debut EP is called Is Noise, Vol.1.
But that’s not all. Plus Minus, a local experimental band, and LA’s punk act Parade of Horribles will open the show. So. Underground.
Fifteen acts
Oh, Numbskull and Good Medicine, are you trying to kill live music lovers with all your shows this week? Visit goodmedicinepresents.com for the details, but here’s the quick lowdown.
Southern rockers Sister Hazel plays The Siren on Friday, Oct. 3 (7 p.m.; 21-and-older; $40.89 at goodmedicinepresents.com). Maybe you remember the Florida band’s 1997 breakout hit, “All for You.”
Willy Tea Taylor & The Fellership (which includes the two members of The Turkey Buzzards) plays Club Car Bar on Friday, Oct. 3 (7:30 p.m.; all ages; $16.17 at goodmedicinepresents.com) with folk duo The Montvales opening. Taylor’s songwriting is inspired from “living the life of a cattleman’s kid and experiencing true visionaries’ music like Greg Brown, John Hartford, and Guy Clark,” his bio explains.
Country rocker Stephen Styles plays on Saturday, Oct. 4, at Club Car Bar (7:30 p.m.; all ages; $16.17 at goodmedicinepresents.com). His dad’s Wayne Moore, bassist for the ’60s musical group, Nashville West.
Punk act SWMRS plays SLO’s The Libertine on Saturday, Oct. 4 (7 p.m.; 21-and-older; $24.41 at goodmedicinepresents.com). Pronounced “swimmers,” they’re inspired by groups from the Beach Boys to the Ramones. Pancho & The Wizards opens.
Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter David Nail plays BarrelHouse Brewing on Sunday, Oct. 5 (6 p.m.; all ages; $36.77 or $88.27 meet-and-greet experience at goodmedicinepresents.com) with Truxton Mile opening. “My philosophy has always been, I just hope to have a good enough year that I can have a next year while staying as true to myself as I possibly can,” Nail said in press materials.
Nashville’s tattooed, rural, and blue-collar country duo Lakeview (Jesse Denaro and Luke Healy) plays The Siren on Tuesday, Oct. 7 (7 p.m.; 21-and-older; $18 or $68 VIP at goodmedicinepresents.com) with Brandon Wisham opening.
WHOLE LOTTA SHAKIN’ GOING ON Madman pianist Jason D. Williams brings his wall-shaking show to The Siren on Oct. 9. Credit: PHOTO COURTESY OF JASON D. WILLIAMS
Rip-roaring pianist Jason D. Williams headlines the Honky Tonk Honkies show at The Siren on Thursday, Oct. 9 (7 p.m.; 21-and-older; $32.65 at goodmedicinepresents.com) with Supersuckers and Wayne The Train Hancock.
Seattle-born singer-songwriter Lila Forde plays Club Car Bar on Thursday, Oct. 9 (7 p.m.; all ages; $12.56 at goodmedicinepresents.com) with Two Paper Squares opening. Forde cut her teeth “singing in choirs, studying jazz in college, and steeping herself in the classics—including Bonnie Raitt, Carole King, Ella Fitzgerald, and Nancy Wilson,” her bio explains.
Two more in MB
In addition to the Numbskull and Good Medicine shows, The Siren hosts two of its own this week. Americana and rock singer-songwriter Cole Gallagher and the Lesser Saints play on Saturday, Oct. 4 (2 to 5 p.m.; 21-and-older; free). To get a taste, check out his borderland drama video for “Chatting Through Steel,” featuring David Hidalgo of Los Lobos.
Escape (The Ultimate Journey Tribute) comes to the club on Saturday, Oct. 4 (8 p.m.; 21-and-older; $26.42 at tixr.com), with Frampton Comes Alive opening. Classic rock!
Norteño, corrido, y banda
Vina Robles Amphitheatre hosts trailblazing regional Mexican band Eslabon Armado on Saturday, Oct. 11 (7:30 p.m.; all ages; $54 to $104 at ticketmaster.com). This is rescheduled from its original concert date on June 20, and previously purchased tickets will be honored.
México otra vez
Cal Poly Arts has two amazing Mexican vocalists coming this week, starting with Camila Fernández on Wednesday, Oct. 8, at the Performing Arts Center in SLO (7:30 p.m.; all ages; $32 to $55 at calpolyarts.org). Born in Guadalajara, Fernández is the only female voice of the Fernández dynasty.
¡ARRIBA! Cal Poly Arts presents Mexican singer Camila Fernández at the Performing Arts Center San Luis Obispo on Oct. 8. Credit: PHOTO COURTESY OF CAL POLY ARTS
Next, Lucía plays on Thursday, Oct. 9 (7:30 p.m.; all ages; $45 at calpolyarts.org), in the Spanos Theatre. “Three years ago, the 23-year-old became the first Mexican finalist—and winner—at the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition,” Cal Poly Arts announced. “Her performance of ‘What a Difference a Day Makes,’ blending English jazz ballad, Spanish bolero, and zapateado dance, marked her unique style.”
Also at the PAC in SLO
Southern rock icons The Marshall Tucker Band play the Performing Arts Center on Tuesday, Oct. 7 (7:30 p.m.; all ages; $70 to $92 at pacslo.org). Formed in 1972, they’ve had hits with songs like “Heard It in a Love Song,” “Can’t You See,” “Fire on the Mountain,” “Long Hard Ride,” and “Ramblin.”
Prine time
“In spite of ourselves/ We’ll end up a-sittin’ on a rainbow/ Against all odds/ Honey, we’re the big door prize/ We’re gonna spite our noses/ Right off of our faces/ There won’t be nothin’ but big old hearts/ Dancin’ in our eyes.”
ILLEGAL SMILE Longstraw and Jody Mulgrew pay tribute to John Prine at Sweet Springs Saloon on Oct. 3. Credit: PHOTO COURTESY OF LONGSTRAW
Nobody wrote songs like John Prine, who passed in 2020 at the age of 73, but Morro Bay crooner, Jody Mulgrew, and local Americana journeymen, Longstraw, are teaming up to present Illegal Smile, “the Central Coast’s newest and only John Prine tribute act,” they said. On Friday, Oct. 3, Illegal Smile will present “a celebration of the music, wisdom, and humor of the late great John Prine” at Sweet Springs Saloon (8 p.m.; 21-and-older; $10 at the door).
The night will also feature sets from Mulgrew and Longstraw performing their original tunes.
Whisper it …
If you dig The Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, and the Beatles, go see Rosebud, playing Friday, Oct. 3, at the Olde Alehouse’s outdoor stage in Los Osos (6 to 9 p.m.; all ages; free), and again on Saturday, Oct. 4, in Paso’s Dark Star Cellars (1 to 4 p.m.; all ages; free).
“Rosebud is firing on all cylinders these days with new material, vocal harmonies, and a band that stretches out while maintaining in sync,” Rosebud member Scott Cooper (also of China Cats) said. “Rosebud includes Fred Rodriguez and Andy Birchett (formerly of SLO’s Three-Legged Dawg) and drummer Jerry Saracini (formerly of Chuck Rainey’s touring band). Keyboard player and band namesake Lachlann ‘Citizen’ Kane is unable to make these performances due to scheduling conflicts.” ∆
Contact Arts Editor Glen Starkey at [email protected].
