The Santa Barbara Bowl is a 4,562-seat

amphitheater An amphitheatre ( U.S. English: amphitheater) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ('), meaning "place for vie ...

, located in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara (, meaning ) is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States excepting A ...

. The amphitheater is open for concerts from approximately April through approximately October with an average of about 27 concerts per season. Booked exclusively by Goldenvoice in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, the Bowl hosts primarily popular music concerts. Since 1991, the Santa Barbara Bowl has been managed by the not-for-profit Santa Barbara Bowl Foundation.

History

In the 1920s, La Primavera pageant used the location of what is now Peabody Stadium. In 1924, fiesta week, 'Old Spanish Days,' began. In 1935, Santa Barbara Bowl was carved into the hillside, a dry creek bed, as a WPA project. It was originally built to serve as a venue for the annual pageant of Old Spanish Days — Fiesta. The amphitheater's original stage was a revolving wooden stage, but this was washed out during

El Niño EL, El or el may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities * El, a character from the manga series ''Shugo Chara!'' by Peach-Pit * Eleven (''Stranger Things'') (El), a fictional character in the TV series ''Stranger Things'' * El, fami ...

rains in 1939. The stage was replaced with a concrete slab that remained in place until renovation work in 2001. In the 1970s, Sepp Donahower, of Pinnacle Dance Concerts promoted pop music concerts, (Little Feat, Loggins & Messina, Average White Band, Beach Boys, and others).

Prominent concerts

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan Mitchell (née Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and painter. As one of the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitch ...

's 1980

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...

and concert film, '' Shadows and Light'', was recorded at the venue in September 1979 on her tour in-support of the '' Mingus'' album. Her all-star backing band was made up of prominent

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric gui ...

musicians

Pat Metheny Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer. He was the leader of the Pat Metheny Group (1977–2010) and continues to work in various small-combo, duet, and solo settings, as well as other side pr ...

Lyle Mays Lyle David Mays (November 27, 1953 – February 10, 2020) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and member of the Pat Metheny Group. Metheny and Mays composed and arranged nearly all of the group's music, for which Mays won eleven Grammy Awar ...

Jaco Pastorius John Francis Anthony Pastorius III, also known as Jaco Pastorius (; December 1, 1951 – September 21, 1987), was an American jazz bassist, composer, and producer. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential bassists of all time, ...

Don Alias Charles "Don" Alias (December 25, 1939 – March 28, 2006) was an American jazz percussionist. Alias was best known for playing congas and other hand drums. He was also a capable drum kit performer. He played drums on the song "Miles Runs the V ...

, and

Michael Brecker Michael Leonard Brecker (March 29, 1949 – January 13, 2007) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was awarded 15 Grammy Awards as a performer and composer, received an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music in ...

. British band

Tears For Fears Tears for Fears are an English pop rock band formed in Bath in 1981 by Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal. Founded after the dissolution of their first band, the mod-influenced Graduate, Tears for Fears were associated with the synth-pop bands o ...

performed at the amphitheatre in May 1990, which was filmed for their '' Going To California'' concert video. In 1979, on his ''

Survival Survival or survivorship, the act of surviving, is the propensity of something to continue existing, particularly when this is done despite conditions that might kill or destroy it. The concept can be applied to humans and other living things ...

'' tour,

Bob Marley and The Wailers Bob Marley and the Wailers (previously known as the Wailers and prior to that the Wailing Rudeboys, the Wailing Wailers and the Teenagers) were a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae band. The founding members, in 1963, were Bob Marley (Robert ...

performed at the Bowl. During

Pearl Jam Pearl Jam is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. One of the key bands in the grunge, grunge movement of the early 1990s, Pearl Jam has outsold and outlasted many of its contemporaries from the early 1990s, ...

's benefit for the Louis Warschaw Prostate Cancer Center on October 28, 2003,

Chris Cornell Christopher John Cornell ( Boyle; July 20, 1964 – May 18, 2017) was an American musician, best known as the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and the primary lyricist for the rock music, rock bands Soundgarden and Audioslave. He also had a ...

joined the band on-stage, effectively reuniting

Temple of the Dog Temple of the Dog was an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. It was conceived by vocalist Chris Cornell of Soundgarden as a tribute to his friend, the late Andrew Wood, lead singer of the bands Malfunkshun and M ...

for the first time since 1992. Their performance of "Reach Down" as well as their cover of “I Believe in Miracles” by the

Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band formed in the New York City neighborhood Forest Hills, Queens in 1974. Known for helping establish the punk movement in the United States and elsewhere, the Ramones are often recognized as one of th ...

from that night later appeared on Pearl Jam's 2003 Ten Club Christmas single.

Maroon 5 Maroon 5 is an American pop rock band from Los Angeles, California. It consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Adam Levine, rhythm guitarist and keyboardist Jesse Carmichael, lead guitarist James Valentine (musician), James Valentine, d ...

’s performance, on May 13th 2005, was recorded for their Live - Friday the 13th live album and DVD. On Wednesday, October 20, 2010, Colombian musician

Shakira Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( , ; born 2 February 1977) is a Colombian singer-songwriter. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Latin Music", she has had a Cultural impact of Shakira, significant impact on the ...

performed a show at the Bowl during her ''Sun Comes Out World Tour''. On Saturday, May 19, 2018, pop star and Santa Barbara native

Katy Perry Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. She is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists in hist ...

performed a benefit concert at the Bowl as a part of ''WITNESS: The Tour'', calling the show ''WITNESS'': ''Coming Home''. The concert was organized after the local Montecito fire evacuations and

mudslide A mudflow, also known as mudslide or mud flow, is a form of mass wasting involving fast-moving flow of debris and dirt that has become liquified by the addition of water. Such flows can move at speeds ranging from 3 meters/minute to 5 meters/ ...

disasters. Olivia Rodrigo performed a sold-out show at the amphitheater on May 21, 2022 as part of her '' Sour Tour''.

Renovations

The Santa Barbara Bowl has undergone over $42 million in renovations since the establishment of the Foundation in 1991.

References

External links

Santa Barbara Bowl Official Website
{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Santa Barbara, California Amphitheaters in California Music venues in California Outdoor theatres Works Progress Administration in California Tourist attractions in Santa Barbara, California Music venues completed in 1936 1936 establishments in California

History

Prominent concerts

Renovations

See also

References

External links