Psych in! Doublewide Kings and Symphony Re-team for Another Dose

Call it Psychedelic Symphony, the Sequel, or Son of Psychedelic Symphony, or A Second Season of Psychedelic Symphony. Whatever the alliterative appellation, music fans get another chance to get into the groovy at the Granada on Saturday, November 7, when everybody’s favorite local dad band The Doublewide Kings once again teams up with the Santa Barbara Symphony (SBS) for another journey through the mind-expanding music of the ‘60s and ‘70s. 

The Doublewide Kings’ raw but honed classic rock and roll ethos once again meshes with an orchestral treatment from a sizeable subsection of the ensemble, courtesy of arrangers Brett Strader and Carl Rydlund, all under the clearly congruous conducting of the Symphony’s Nir Kabaretti. SBS and Mr. Kabaretti just launched their 21st season together two weeks ago. While there are a few different special guests, the fan favorite mainstays will be involved: the six official members of the Kings, joined by local stalwarts on keyboards and backing vocals, including the powerhouse singer Miriam Dance and keyboardist George Friedenthal. 

So why revisit the psychedelic-era classics catalog? 

Well, for one thing, there’s little disagreement that last year’s show far outstripped the two previous collaborations that introduced symphonic rock to the Granada stage produced by other organizations over the intervening years. While those outings focused on a single artist (Van Morrison, Bob Dylan breakout The Band), the back catalog-leveraging variety approach kept things fresh and colorfully hopping the whole night long. 

The ultimate result was Kings & Co. not only avoiding the sophomore slump that sullied The Band show, but soaring to unexpected heights of collaboration and creativity.

“It really was our best so far,” said Palmer Jackson, Jr., the band’s rhythm guitarist and co-lead singer – as well as a fourth-generation Santa Barbara native and executive chairman of the Granada Theatre. “It was a ton of fun to get into a variety of different music, and there’s a lot there. So we thought, if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.” 

Indeed. Last year’s show boasted astonishingly thorough and expressive arrangements. These included the long version of the Moody Blues “Nights in White Satin” (complete with intro and outro, and the extended “Late Lament” spoken-word poem narration), an exuberant and mind-blowing take on Pink Floyd’s “Shine on You Crazy Diamond,” and a devilishly playful rendition of Emerson, Lake and Palmer’s “In the Beginning.” 

This year, the Kings-Kabaretti-Strader gang are dipping back into the Moody’s Days of Future Passed conceptual day-in-the-life album (semi-spoiler ahead) for the other hit single, while also revisiting ELP, Steppenwolf, and The Doors. But there will also be some new approaches, including special sound effects from the symphony on (spoiler alert II) “Riders on the Storm.” 

“The lightning and the thunder and the rain, the whole works,” Jackson said. “How fun is that?” 

Dance, who brought the house down with Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit” in 2025, will be back to belt out an even more enduring classic from one of the iconic women of the era, while (in another hint) Strader is once again composing an original prelude for the symphony, leading directly into the first number of the night, another classic of the era that was heard prominently on the original 1969 Woodstock soundtrack. 

“Having the orchestra come in an echo and expand on those utterly iconic guitar lines is going to be amazing,” Jackson said. 

Jackson said the Doublewide Kings have taken something from each of the first three concerts in the collaboration with the symphony to up the ante in how to play in a measured way that fits with the orchestra’s rigid scores. The result should be evident throughout the night. 

“We were only getting two rehearsals for the symphony,” Jackson said. “It took us a couple of years to realize that just because we know the song doesn’t mean that we can sync up with the symphony who has to follow an orchestral chart. So this year, we have had three sessions with Nir in advance, just to have him listening to us play. That way he can tell us early if what we’re doing doesn’t match up with the charts and we can fix it right then.”

Jackson said the band has also learned a valuable lesson. Just as the Kings get to gig with these songs as unadorned, orchestra-free rock n’ roll the rest of the year, the band recognizes the need to leave room for the symphony to exult in its own rock band-free orchestrations. 

“It’s fantastic to have them play with us and make the sound richer, but you also want to feature them by themselves in some sections. We’ll be doing that at least as much as last year.” 

Other adjustments are in the visual arena. The semi-psychedelic projections on the rear screen behind the musicians – “trippy visuals” that recalled the famed, pulsating Joshua Light Show at the legendary Fillmore West back in the day – will be created by the same guy who did the Tribe’s Brian Wilson/Beach Boys tribute last year. 

“It’s more immersive and cinematic,” Jackson said. 

And those dance-trend demonstrating go-go dancers, ubiquitous in the 60s, will gyrate in the luxury boxes closest to the stage on several of the songs for a swinging throwback look. 

“The show is going to be a little more rocking, a little more get up and move,” Jackson said. “So it’s really exciting to have them.”

Urged to reveal another highlight of the night, Jackson mentioned a song that is slightly more obscure than the rest of the set in – spoiler alert trois – “Green-Eyed Lady,” the one-hit wonder from Sugarloaf that rose to No. 3 on Billboard’s Hot 100 back in 1970. Jackson and the Kings engaged film and TV composer Kevin Kiner, best known for his work on Star Wars series, to arrange the song that stretches to more than six minutes in its full version. 

“He just turned it into almost a James Bond theme, full of horns and other instruments,” Jackson said. “It’s great.” 

Are you psyched up yet?