Ain’t gonna lie. My favorite time of year—summer—is upon us, and that means the Live Oak Music Festival is right around the corner during Father’s Day weekend, Friday, June 19, to Sunday, June 21. The fest’s final day is actually summer solstice (at 1:24 a.m. Sunday morning). By the time you crawl out of a tent or trailer, it will be summer for real. If you haven’t bought tickets yet for the event held annually at El Chorro Regional Park, time’s a-wastin’!
Over the next three weeks, I’m going to tell you about the acts I’m most looking forward on each day of the festival. Tickets, including day passes, are available online at liveoakfest.org.
The headliner on Friday is Neal Francis (9 p.m.), a super cool singer-songwriter and pianist influenced by classic New Orleans artists and old-school soul and R&B performers. His most recent album is 2025’s Return to Zero, on which he “immersed himself in creating a beautifully strange entangling of timeless rock ’n’ roll and ’70s-era dance music, merging supremely heavy guitar riffs with lush and pulsating grooves—all constructed sans digital programming, in keeping with his devotion to all things analog,” press materials explained.
‘I’ve always been intrigued by music that toes the line between funk and rock. … In the past, I’ve asked myself things like, “What would it sound like if Thin Lizzy cut a disco record?” It’s something I’ve been fascinated with for a very long time, so I finally decided to really go for it.’
—Neal Francis
His current sound is funky, hip, psychedelic, and supremely cool. His voice easily moves into falsetto, and he’s backed by incredible players. This set’s going to get butts out of seats.
“I’ve always been intrigued by music that toes the line between funk and rock,” Francis said. “In the past, I’ve asked myself things like, ‘What would it sound like if Thin Lizzy cut a disco record?’ It’s something I’ve been fascinated with for a very long time, so I finally decided to really go for it.”
Before Francis hits the main stage, I’m also looking forward to Americana act The Sam Chase & The Untraditional (4 p.m.), honky-tonk and country singer Emily Nenni (5:30 p.m.), and Afro-Mexican fusion act Las Cafeteras (7 p.m.).
Uncle Richard
In case you haven’t heard, Vina Robles Amphitheatre has sold to Nederlander Concerts (more on this coming soon to a New Times newsstand near you). The next Nederlander show at the venue is perennial favorite Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band, who returns on Saturday, June 6 (doors at 6:30, show at 8 p.m.; all ages; $104.94 to $529.80 at ticketmaster.com).
Former Beatle, two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, and nine-time Grammy Award winner Ringo Starr (née Richard Starkey) has been back in the studio with T Bone Burnett and plans to release another album this year to follow the success of his country album, Look Up, released in 2025. His current stable of All Starrs includes Steve Lukather, Colin Hay, Warren Ham, Hamish Stuart, Gregg Bissonette, and Buck Johnson.
SoCal stalwarts
Numbskull and Good Medicine only have one local show this week, but it’s a barn burner for old-school SoCal punk fans because Agent Orange is coming to The Siren on Thursday, June 4 (7 p.m.; 21-and-older; $24.93 at goodmedicinepresents.com). These guys are the OGs of punk and surf rock, formed in 1979 by frontman and guitarist Mike Palm, the only remaining original member.
They were the originators of combining melodic surf guitar with punk energy, and their first two studio albums, Living in Darkness (1981) and This Is the Voice (1986), remain absolute classics. The Drowns open.
Tribute and reggae legends
The Siren booked a favorite back in the club: Stevie Nicks Illusion plays on Friday, May 29 (doors 7:30 p.m.; 21-and-older; $31.71 at tixr.com), and this band always brings a crowd in. Featuring Diana Grace backed with a live band, she delivers Nicks’ haunting vocal sounds to a T. Keyboardist Laurie Richardson captures the Christine McVie sound. Guitarist Monty Sommer mirrors Lindsey Buckingham’s vocals and guitar work. Good stuff!
Kingston, Jamaica-born Third World plays on Saturday, May 30 (8 p.m.; 21-and-older; $41.08 at tixr.com). Formed in 1973, they’ve been active in one form or another for half a century!
“Third World is more than just one of the top reggae bands of all time, it is an institution that stands for producing and performing music that, while holding firm to the cultural and ancestral roots of its members, still pushes forward the cutting edge of music worldwide. It is an institution whose themes are positive, progressive, and internationally relevant,” their bio explains.
SambaDá opens.
Emo and local heroes
The Emo Night Tour is clearly popular with the SLO Town crowd because Good Vibez keeps bringing them back to the Fremont Theater, as they will on Friday, May 29 (8 p.m.; 18-and-older; $27.78 to $31.38 at prekindle.com). They play all your faves from Taking Back Sunday, Fall Out Boy, Panic! At The Disco, My Chemical Romance, and many more.
Homegrown indie rock act Margot Sinclair plays on Thursday, June 4 (doors at 7, show at 8 p.m.; all ages; $20.57 at prekindle.com). They formed in fall of 2022 in SLO, though the group’s members were raised up and down the coast of California. “Each member’s unique taste of music makes it difficult to confine their sound into one singular genre,” the band admits. The Kilans open.
Calling all Deadheads and rock harp fans
SLO Brew Live at Rod & Hammer Rock presents Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia Band tribute act Cubensis on Sunday, May 31 (doors at 6 p.m.; all ages; $29.27 at ticketweb.com). They draw from all eras and “retain all the spontaneous exploratory jamming for which the bands were renowned,” their bio explains. “However, the music produced is uniquely Cubensis.” Stu Allen opens.
Rock harpist Mikaela Davis plays on Thursday, June 4 (doors at 7 p.m.; all ages; $27.21 at ticketweb.com). She’s touring in support of her new album, Delivery, of which she said, “A lot of these songs came from feeling stuck and also, like, people were pulling me in a bunch of different directions. I wanted to say, ‘Just wait for me. I’ll figure it out.’” The 10-track album offers folk rock, ’70s and ’80s pop experimentation, and muscular funk. The Cormorants open.
Almost Petty
We lost Tom Petty in 2017, but Petty Party: Celebrating the Music of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers carries on his legacy at the Clark Center on Saturday, May 30 (7:30 p.m.; all ages; $49.99 to $59.99 at clarkcenter.org). Expect to hear iconic songs like “American Girl,” “Breakdown,” “Don’t Do Me Like That,” “Free Fallin’,” “I Won’t Back Down,” “Refugee,” and many more.
Jazz icon
The intimate and classy Anderson Social has scored a killer show when The Scott Amendola Trio plays this Friday, May 29 (6:30 to 9:30 p.m.; $33.98 at my805tix.com). Seating is very limited, and people are encouraged to get on the waiting list if tickets sell out.
Amendola is a masterful drummer who’s worked with jazz luminaries such as guitarists Charlie Hunter, Nels Cline, and Jeff Parker; Hammond B-3 organist Wil Blades; violinist Jenny Scheinman; saxophonist Phillip Greenlief; clarinetist Ben Goldberg; and bassists Trevor Dunn and Todd Sickafoose.
As a sideman, Amendola has performed and recorded with Bill Frisell, Pat Metheny, John Zorn, Mondo Cane, John Scofield, Pat Metheny, Laurie Anderson, Cibo Matto, Bruce Cockburn, Madeleine Peyroux, and many more.
His current trio includes clarinetist Ben Goldberg and bassist Mat Muntz.
More jazz
Make it a jazz doubleheader when the Basin Street Regulars Hot Jazz Club presents Ventura powerhouse octet The Barrelhouse Wailers at the Pismo Vets Hall on Sunday, May 31 (11 a.m. jam session, 12:30 to 4 p.m. dance concert; all ages; $15 general admission with discounts for jammers, members, and students at my805tix.com).
The Wailers’ two sets of hot jazz and vintage blues will be interrupted by a set from Channel Islands High School’s newly formed Raider Jazz Ensemble.
Keep the jazz flame alive by heading to SLO Town for SLO County Jazz Fed’s 41st annual Jazz Piano Showcase at Mt. Carmel Lutheran Church on Sunday, May 31 (doors at 3:30, show at 4 p.m.; all ages; $40 general with member and student discounts available at my805tix.com). Hear Jim Barnett, Marshall Otwell, Jamaal Baptiste, Dawn Lambeth, Mark Bocchicchio, and Andrew Sedley accompanied by Dylan Johnson (bass) and Darrell Voss (drums). Proceeds fund the Jazz Fed’s student scholarships. ∆
Contact Arts Editor Glen Starkey at gstarkey@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Summer Guide 2026.