The Magic of MySpace

How to Find Where to Go for Your Musical
Kicks

As Isla Vista welcomes a brand new crop of eager young
freshman—the promise of four years of curfew-free, parent-free,
semi-adulthood reflected in their bright, shining eyes—I can’t help
but be reminded of my own freshman year. I will spare you the gory
details, suffice it to say that the bright, shining eyes thing
doesn’t last forever.

After the initial thrill of move-in day, it’s hungover,
exhausted, and overwhelmed eyes that generally become the norm
amongst UCSB’s newbies. And for the first few weeks of my freshman
fall quarter, I was no exception. Forget figuring out my class
schedule or determining what I wanted to major in, I was just
trying to make it through UCSB’s infamous bike paths in one
piece.

Here’s my problem—I get lost. A lot. I could have the best
directions Mapquest has to offer and I will still manage to get
lost. I think I spent the better part of my freshman year
frantically circling the bike paths, trying to figure out if I
should go straight, take a turn, or just give up and camp out on
the grass until someone decided to send a search party after
me.

Fortunately for me, once I traverse the same territory about a
thousand times, I get a pretty good idea of how to get around.
Nowadays, I can proudly say that I am able to navigate the bike
paths with ease. But finding my way around unfamiliar places is
still not my forte, which is a shame, because in Isla Vista, the
best film, art, and music can be found in the most unexpected—and
unfamiliar—places. From the patio of a sushi restaurant to the
patio in some guy’s backyard, there’s nothing like witnessing a
concert, art show, or standup act at the best venues I.V. has to
offer. That is, of course, if you can find the event to begin
with.

That’s where MySpace
comes in. Now, Myspace.com has many well-known identities: it’s the
best place to stalk secret crushes, the best place to post photos
of yourself practicing your favorite America’s Next Top
Model poses, and the best place to discreetly find out how
many other blue-eyed Libras share your fascination with Molly
Ringwald movies. But, believe it or not, MySpace is also a
great resource for navigating I.V.’s live entertainment scene.

To get started, check out Isla Vista Music at
www.myspace.com/islavistamusic. This site features
flyers for upcoming shows and enough comments, posts, and links
from musicians and music-lovers alike to keep you surfing for
hours.

For everything from hip-hop hotspots to
politically progressive punk shows, check out
KCSB‘s www.myspace.com/kcsb.This site is the official
MySpace of UCSB’s radio station (KCSB 91.9 FM) and it features a full calendar of
the station’s upcoming events as well as a full sidebar of links to
the best of the best venues from The Empty Garage
to The Hard to Find Showspace. (As well, check out
www.myspace.com/theemptygarage and www.myspace.com/thehardtofind, whose last show is the November 8 Xiu Xiu
performance.)

For fans of hardcore, emo-core, and
pretty much any other music style ending in “core,” there’s also
the relatively new Scimitar Cooperative at
www.myspace.com/santabarbarashows. This metal mecca is
the best place to check out if you like your music loud, fast, and
hard.

Looking to track down poets, comics, and performance artists
without having to traverse the busy streets of I.V.? Isla
Vista Open Mic is the place to do just that, and www.myspace.com/openmiciv is the place to find info
about the only shows where anything goes, and music, comedy,
poetry, pizza, and beer are all readily available in one place.

If the open mic has you in the mood for some good stand-up,
www.myspace.com/ Santabarbaracomedy has listings of
upcoming comedy shows at SOhO
on State Street and www.myspace.com/SBComedynights has info about
similar shows at Brick’s Cafe downtown.

For comedy, drama, romance, and action
a bit closer to home, look no further than the nearest big party.
For the same sensations without all the puke on your shoes and the
possibility of waking up in the drunk tank, try checking out a
movie instead. Magic Lantern Films—I.V.’s famous
purveyors of top-quality films at student-budget prices—has a
MySpace too, and it is one of the best places to find their
screenings schedule as well as links to other arts and
entertainment programs. (It’s more updated than the film series’
website.) Surfing the friends section at www.myspace.com/magiclantern turns up a veritable
treasure trove of links to everything from the Associated Students
Program Board’s MySpace (for the lazy, that would be www.myspace.com/aspbfilms) to the MySpace site for I.V.
musical heroes, Kissing Tigers (that’s www.myspace.com/kissingtigers). And, as you might
expect, it’s the best place to find fellow film geeks who can clue
you in to upcoming lectures, special events, and screenings.

The aforementioned sites are just the tip of the proverbial
iceberg when it comes to I.V.-related MySpace listings. Sure, you
should probably be spending the first few weeks of fall quarter
studying rather than surfing the web, but really, who wants to do
that? Plus, there’s no better way to navigate the vast network of
music, art, and film resources than from the comfort and safety of
your own home. And if you take the time to do a little MySpace-ing
before you venture out into the mean streets of I.V., you just
might be able to Mapquest the address of the next Rebelution (try
out www.myspace.com/rebelutionmusic) show rather than
pulling a Mollie and spending 20 minutes trying to find the 6900
block of D.P. (Yes, I did actually do that once.)