Tag archives: Lobero Theatre

I’ve been invited to rock ‘n’ roll’s inner sanctum by its madcap custodians; they who will usher me into the catacombs from whose torchlit stores they assemble their annual tent revival at the Lobero theatre. They’ve put together a particularly wig-flipping rock show for José Lobero’s venerable 150-year-old opera house, the curtain rising on their […]

John C. Reilly is the very versatile character actor whose roles have found him navigating everything from comedy and drama to musical theater and more, even as his utterly unique persona remains charming and compelling throughout. Among some of his more memorable roles are collaborations the Paul Thomas Anderson film Hard Eight, Boogie Nights, and […]

The Women’s Fund of SB (WFSB) held its 22nd Anniversary Grantee event at the Lobero Theatre on Wednesday, May 13. The total grants awarded this year amounted to $1,275,000, given in various amounts to ten grantees.  The organization states the amount raised by their members is a record, and that the funding effort is an […]

Booker T. Jones was just 17 years old and still a high school student in 1962 when he was noodling on a Hammond B-3 organ during a studio break at Stax Records. In the course of that noodling he came up with a figure that almost accidentally turned into one of the most influential instrumentals […]

Millions of people were captivated by last month’s Winter Olympics, many especially enraptured by the women’s figure skating competition, as Alysa Liu became the first American woman to win an individual medal (Gold!) since Sasha Cohen in 2006, and brought to the endeavor a smart combination of power, athleticism, and grace; not to mention a […]

In her four decades as a recording artist, singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega has displayed a remarkable knack for creating songs that sound at once deeply personal and utterly universal, a true gift given that almost all of them are written from the first-person point of view. The observational pieces date to her early days with such […]

When the world seems to be turning upside down even faster than it’s rotating on its axis, throwing back your head to laugh out loud is a lot more fun than throwing up your hands in exasperation. (Of course, you can do both.) The Lobero has two top comics coming our way on successive nights […]

Peter Noone, the lead singer of Herman’s Hermits for more than six decades, has sung “I’m Henry the VIII, I Am” and “Mrs. Brown You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter” way too many times to count, not to mention some of the British Invasion band’s astounding run of other hits in the mid-’60s that included “I’m […]

After weeks of Nutcrackers and other Christmas-centric holiday shows culminating in big blowout bashes for New Year’s Eve, January’s arrival means we’re back to our usual environment of enviable entertainment in our ultra arts-blessed burg. Here’s some admittedly biased picks and other highly anticipated shows coming our way in winter.  Three big comedy performances happen […]

The Santa Barbara Choral Society’s “Hallelujah Project” hunkered down at the Lobero Theatre every December for the last decade with a program that also included a guest star reading “’Twas the Night Before Christmas” amid a selection of choral favorites from around the world. But this year, in a nod to the USA’s 250th birthday, […]

“I’m in Maine, looking at New Hampshire across the Piscataqua River,” Tom Rush said over the phone late last month. “The leaves are turning and it’s gorgeous.” Rush’s voice is unmistakable, and so is the approach; a laid-back sincere tone that sounds like a chat across the porch with an old friend. He’s not just […]

With the NFL football season launching earlier this month, the Santa Barbara Symphony is hosting a kickoff of their own, a free season preview event on Thursday, September 18, at the at the historic Lobero Theatre. The preview will be jamming with  fun, music, and inside info to introduce a season that marks a milestone […]

Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network (SBWCN) rescues, rehabilitates and returns to the wild sick, injured, orphaned and/or oil-impaired wild birds, reptiles, amphibians and small mammals in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. Over the years, the organization has grown from a grassroots effort that saw volunteers caring for animals in their homes to a nonprofit that […]

The Women’s Fund of Santa Barbara (WFSB) held its 21st year anniversary event, “Celebration of Grants” at the Lobero Theatre on Tuesday, May 20. There were over 500 in attendance including members and their guests. This year, the WFSB provided $1.25 million in grants to eleven local nonprofits, the funding provided by its 1,426 women […]

After a delay due to a medical treatment, American pianist Garrick Ohlsson performed an all-Chopin concert at the Lobero at part of CAMA’s Masterseries. It was the first time returning to CAMA since his virtuosic all-Brahms in March 2019. With works including “Nocturne in F Major,” “Fantasy in F Minor,” “Impromptu in F-sharp Major,” and […]

A lot has changed in the world since Albert Brooks launched his career more than half a century ago as a comedian. A career that more or less revolutionized comedy with his appearances on just about every TV talk and variety show on the air led to landing key roles as an actor and making […]

Two years ago, just before his previous concert at the Lobero Theatre, the great jazz saxophonist-composer Charles Lloyd was mourning the loss of his sax colleague Wayne Shorter, who had passed away the night before. When we spoke last weekend, the Montecito musician – the home he has long shared with his photographer wife Dorothy […]

French violinist and former Santa Barbara Symphony concert master Gilles Apap was in his element in a CAMA Masterpiece series concert with Friends! at the Lobero Theatre. Apap played a colorful selection of works with pianist Inna Faliks featuring Fauré, Krieger, Enescu, Piazzolla and Paganini, before playing Chinese and Tibetan compositions with Xiaoli Cioffi on […]