Monday 6/16/25
Tonight at Minglewood Mondaze, the boys are doing a special tribute to commemorate the life of Sylvester Stewart, aka Sly Stone, the Bay Area Funk pioneer who passed away last week at the age of 82.

The evening will blend some Family Stone catalog into the normal Grateful Dead repertoir, which is always fun to pick up on.
We’re gonna skip a few weekdays this week, to
Thursday 6/19
Laguna Beach gets hit with a solid Wall of Sound down at Ivan’z House, where the Dead vibes are fairly consistent.

Also that night in San Diego, Sanford Street is playing Winston’s with The Jam Berries. Sanford just had their album release party at the Mint a week back, they will likely be playing some new songs off of their new record entitled Golden Coast.

After that we’ve got a ton of shows leading into the weekend.
Friday 6/20/25
On Friday, the art-nature-storytelling collective Living Earth is putting on a Solstice Serenade at the Audubon Center in Debs Park, off the 110 near Highland Park. Touring artists Squirrel Flower & Free Range are dropping in with some mellow, dreamy, yet potent singer-songwriter vibes under the sycamore trees. 6pm to sundown…

Down in Lomita, Sol Soirée returns to Project Barley, a brewpub that actually brewed and canned a beer named after the band last year. They will be playing 2 sets, and also celebrating their 6th year as a band. Sounds like a great evening in the South Bay.

In Venice, we’ve got another Joy Guerrilla show, this one downstairs at the Townhouse (aka the Del Monte). Last week they played a Gold-Diggers show with Shane Sato and Coastal. Doors are at 8, unsure if there’s a supporting act? Check with the venue for details or just show up early and shoot the shit on the street til they go on. This is very likely where you want to be, music-wise.

Finally, out in Malibu, Aviator Nation is hosting the Souls of Mischief with the Gaslamp Killer, presented by Desert Daze. This is how we chill from 93 til…

Saturday 6/21/25
Believe it or not, June 21st might be one of the biggest days of the year for music. There are a ton of great shows going on today, and that’s without mentioning the international open-source musical festival, Fête De La Musique, or Make Music Day.

Started in France in 1982, it has grown year after year, to the point where it now takes place in 120+ countries and 1200+ cities around the globe.
Unfortunately, Los Angeles has been removed from the interactive map that says where all the events are happening. Maybe NAMM and ICE have partnered up to prevent any sort of community-strengthening events? Maybe LA “founder” Dorsay Dujon fumbled the ball this year? Or maybe Make Music LA will post the setlist for all of LA the night before? (Fingers crossed)

Well, even if LA didn’t make it onto the official calendar, we know that there will be a day of musical merriment in Topanga, with festivities at the Topanga Community Club from 11-6pm, and probably some stuff in town til 8 or later (still TBD). Who doesn’t love a free festival?

We’ve also got Token Rhyme playing Dead standards at Grateful Brunch at Venice West from 12-3pm. Power Heads that want to round out the Grateful vibes can Head down to Pedro after that to catch Wall of Sound christen the old Brouwerij West into the new Warehouse 9, which promises to still throw concerts even though the brewery is gone…

If you’re into Euro psych-rock, maybe you want to catch legacy act Gong over at the Baked Potato in North Hollywood. They are playing double headers at 8 and 10 tonight and tomorrow, so that’s four chances to catch these dragons of rock.

Finally, in case you’re aching for some horny instrumental funk in Ventura, grab a ticket for the Sure Fire Soul Ensemble at the Grape. They’ll be releasing their album Gemini, which is several years in the making. 30 bucks at the door if there’s any seats left!
Sunday 6/22/25

From Noon til 4, Ventura locals Dead and Kickin are playing a free show at the Crowne Plaza, in preparation for July’s Summer Dead Fest, which likely aims to fill the hole left by Skull and Roses’ unfortunate demise.

In Pasadena, Healing Force of the Universe is hosting a Sunday Saloon with Dave and Zach from Taper’s Choice, with Mathias Kunzli on drums. Dave Harrington was also one half of Darkside, the live-electro collab with Nicolas Jaar. These dudes have been playing all sorts of shows, and they’ve been getting deep into experimental jazz territory. What to expect here is anyone’s guess, maybe melodic, maybe straight to the drone zone… only one way to know for sure. But yeah, look for these guys around town, playing the Townhouse or Gold-Diggers or wherever else they pop up.

It’s a Sunday, so that means things will be getting Grand and Ol’ at the Echo. Regina Ferguson has been making her way up and down the coast, with Will Worden subbing in for Tristan Lake Leabu on a few dates. Sounds like Tristan will be back to close out the Double or Nothin’ tour for the homies in Echo Parque.
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