As soon as there was a semblance of a Santa Barbara, music was there. Music accompanied the completion and dedication of the Mission Santa Barbara in 1820, where traditional Chumash tunes shared the air with Spanish song; music and revelries remained with rancho life ’til the very end, until a drought turned a new page on history.
Music, of course, remains with Santa Barbara’s parties and pastimes right up to our present Fiesta, with barely a public park or major street unmoved by the pulse-like bass of mariachi or the rhythms of rock, reggae, and covers galore, all intermingling into the fluid thread of sounds stitching centuries past to celebrations today. From the top to bottom of State Street, here are some of the musical highlights to include on your party procession.
CHOOSE YOUR GROOVE: When it comes to instant energizers, few things beat a good beat, and several of this Fiesta’s headlining acts bring the kind of big-percussion platter perfect for pumping up a party. On Thursday-Friday, August 4-5, Casa Cantina (Casa de la Guerra, 15 E. De la Guerra St.) will be pepped up with funk-soul music from The Bomb and catchy cumbia from Buyepongo (8pm), making it no doubt the most happening little cantina in town at the end of the workweek. When it’s festival finale time, you can begin your day enjoying the tropical rock of Layovr at Casa Cantina (5pm) and end your Saturday night at De la Guerra Plaza, with L.A.’s world beat act The L.A. Impromptu Orchestra (7:30pm). Also on Saturday, livening up El Mercado del Norte (Mackenzie Park, State St. and Las Positas Rd.) will be S.B.’s Anthony Prieto Band (8:45pm), who will close out the festival in fine form with an 11-piece band mixing up world music and funk-inspired sounds — you may need a new pair of insoles after so much polyrhythm. Finally, over at Velvet Jones (423 State St.), L.A.’s famous punk-meets-mariachi crossover act Mariachi El Bronx will double-head as themselves and their punk alter-egos, The Bronx (8pm).