ON Culture | Duran Duran, Drag Superstar RuPaul, and ‘Dawn of the Dead’

This edition of ON Culture was originally emailed to subscribers on March 29, 2024. To receive Leslie Dinaberg’s arts newsletter in your inbox on Fridays, sign up at independent.com/newsletters.

ON the Festival Forecast

Duran Duran headlines the Cruel World Festival May 11, and here they are back in 1983. | Photo: Brian Arias, Wikipedia Commons

They had me at Duran Duran. But Blondie, Adam Ant, Simple Minds, Soft Cell, and many many more favorites from the ’70s and ’80s will be at the one-day Cruel World Festival on May 11. It will be taking place at the Rose Bowl (my old stomping grounds), and you can read my story with all of the details here.

I had such a blast at BottleRock in Napa Valley last year that it’s also a must-do on my calendar for Memorial Day weekend. The 2024 lineup features Pearl Jam, Ed Sheeran, Stevie Nicks, Megan Thee Stallion, St. Vincent, and Norah Jones, to name but a few. Not to mention, there’s excellent food and wine, a culinary stage with chefs and celebrity favorites. You can get all the scoop for 2024 here.

Also coming up soon is the BeachLife Festival, back for its fifth year in Redondo Beach May 3-5. Headliners include Sting, Incubus and My Morning Jacket, as well as DEVO, Dirty Heads, Trey Anastasio, ZZ Top, Seal, and Fleet Foxes among others. Click here for info.

Coming up even sooner is Coachella (April 12-14, and April 19-21), with headliners Lana Del Rey, Tyler the Creator, No Doubt, and Doja Cat joined by an impressive array of artists. Click here for all of the details.

ON the Page

The Good Lion will once again play host to liquid literature at the annual Spirits in the Air poetry reading on April 1. | Photo: Courtesy

Join Santa Barbara Literary Journal at Chaucer’s for a special evening of poetry on April 8. | Photo: Courtesy

April is chock-full of fabulous events celebrating the joys of poetry, starting with one of my favorites on Monday, April 1. Hosted by Independent writer and my friend George Yatchisin, the annual Spirits in the Air festivities at The Good Lion (read my story here) is an excellent mashup of poetry and cocktails, with invited poets sharing their libation-themed readings while the bar offers drink specials and special poet- and poetry-themed offerings. This year, there is even a Happy Hour starting at 4:30 p.m., with the reading beginning at 5:30 p.m.

The following Monday night (April 8 at 6 p.m. — is Monday the new Thursday?), Chaucer’s is hosting a special evening with the Santa Barbara Literary Journal promoting Volume 10: Satellite of Love and featuring poetry readings by Poet Laureates Perie Longo, David Starkey, Paul J. Willis, Chryss Yost, Enid Osborn, Melinda Palacio, and Laure-Anne Bosselaar, as well as featured poetry from the late Sojourner Kincaid Rolle, who was a beloved Santa Barbara Poet Laureate.

Our current Poet Laureate and Poetry Connection columnist Melinda Palacio has also put together a wonderful calendar of National Poetry Month events in Santa Barbara, which you can check out here.

Play literary trivia at the Central Library on April 12. | Photo: Courtesy

Literary Trivia Night is coming to S.B. Central Library Friday, April 12 (from 6-8 p.m.), and should be a fun game night for book lovers, as well as a fundraiser for Friends of the Santa Barbara Public Library. Tickets are only $20. and there are great prizes, snacks and libations. Come with your own team or join up with other attendees to play along and support this important community resource. Click here to sign up or find more information.

RuPaul will discuss The House of Hidden Meanings on April 18 at the Arlington. | Photo: Courtesy

UCSB Arts & Lectures (A&L) has a slew of terrific literary events coming our way this spring, including best-selling novelist Lauren Groff (The Vaster Wilds, Fates and Furies) in conversation with Pico Iyer on April 9; drag superstar RuPaul talking about his new memoir, The House of Hidden Meanings, on April 18; poet and activist Amanda Gorman in an evening of poetry and conversation with Pico Iyer on April 20; and the just-added 2023 Pulitzer Prize finalist and author Xochitl Gonzalez — whose new novel Anita de Monte Laughs Last is getting all sorts of great buzz — on May 17. For information on all of the A&L offerings, click here.

ON the Stage

The glorious Granada Theatre will celebrate its centennial anniversary during the month of April. | Photo: Courtesy

The Granada Theatre is celebrating its centennial in a big, big way, beginning on Wednesday, April 3, with a FREE premiere screening of The Granada: Celebrating 100 Years of the Arts in Santa Barbara, a special anniversary documentary by April Wright that delves into the rich history of this storied venue, from its origins as a vaudeville and silent-movie palace in 1924 to its esteemed tenure as a premier Warner Bros. movie theater. Following the screening at 7 p.m. is a discussion with Wright and film historian Ross Melnick. Visit ticketing.granadasb.org/19135 to reserve a seat.

Then there’s a whole anniversary weekend celebration April 12-14. Two historic films originally presented at the theater — Buster Keaton’s Sherlock Jr. and Star Wars: A New Hope — screen on Friday, April 12. Saturday is the big event where Los Angeles’s hot new (this is the inaugural season) 40-piece Pacific Jazz Orchestra makes a stop in town to perform a program led by founder Chris Walden, a seven-time Grammy-nominated musician and conductor, who has conducted the L.A. Phil, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, and more. American Idol star, actress, and philanthropist Katharine McPhee will lend her powerful pipes to the orchestra, as will blues and jazz star Billy Valentine.

Santa Barbara’s homegrown talent rounds out the weekend on Sunday, with John Palminteri playing host to an evening of music featuring Hunter Hawkins, Jackson Gillies, and Rachel La Commare — three of Santa Barbara’s gifted solo artists making their mark on stage. Then Dos Pueblos, San Marcos, and Santa Barbara high schools will be providing a sneak peek into their upcoming spring musicals. Finally, the celebration will continue outdoors on State Street with the Granada Centennial Festival Block Party featuring live music.

Thanks to the generous community support, prices for the weekend events are very affordable, with Friday’s historic screenings only $19.24 in honor of the theater’s opening year; Saturday night “present day” performance tickets at $20.24, and Sunday night “future talent” tickets at $21.24. All seats for each night are priced the same, so there is no tiered pricing. Click here to purchase tickets for any of these events.”

ON the (Big) Screen

Kurt Russell in Escape from New York | Photo: Courtesy

SBIFF’s Riviera Theatre is rolling out a fun new “After Hours” series featuring cult-classic movies like Dawn of the Dead, The Abyss, Escape from New York, and more every Friday and Saturday night at 9 p.m. The series begins on April 12. See my story next week at Independent.com or visit sbiffriviera.com for more information.

The Funk Zone is going to be a happening spot on Friday, March 29. | Photo: Courtesy

ON the Calendar

The Funk Zone Live is back in action tonight, March 29, with artist studios and venues open from 5-8 p.m. As part of this month’s event, Funk Zone Live is hosting a high school logo design contest to find the perfect emblem to “represent the diverse and vibrant atmosphere of the upcoming gatherings,” says organizer Jana Brody. “Everyone is invited to the Helena Mason Gallery (48 Helena Ave.) to view the logo submissions and vote on them that night.”

For a complete calendar of events this week and beyond, visit independent.com/events.