Santa Barbara, it’s time to dig out your bell-bottoms and leisure suits once again. On November 7th, the Santa Barbara Symphony and Double Wide Kings invite you to get your groove on as they take you back to the 1960s and 1970s with Psychedelic Symphony 2: Take Another Trip at The Granada Theatre. Presented by The Granada and Earl Minnis, the evening will bring the music of the era to life with a symphonic twist.
New Year, New Songs
Last year, the interactive collaboration sold out, and a full house is expected once again.
The lively show combines The Doublewide Kings’ classic rock sound with the power of The Santa Barbara Symphony, giving the era’s iconic songs an intense, new spin. With so many artistic greats to choose from, audiences can expect a totally different show than last year.
“We feel like it’s a well-received theme,” said Doublewide Kings’ Bassist Robert TenEyck. “It’s hard to narrow down so much great music, but we like to keep the set list a mystery. All I can say is the audience is going to hear the greatest bands in rock and roll history.”
Palmer Jackson Jr., Lead Guitarist for the band and CEO of The Granada Theatre, shared that Jimi Hendrix covers will be part of the mix, and that Miriam Dance will perform an iconic “barn burner” song. The evening will also feature the worldwide premiere of an original song that The Doublewide Kings wrote that echoes the sounds of the 1960s.
Whichever artists are featured, Jackson Jr. said audiences should expect the same variety and emotional intensity that defined last year’s performance.
This year’s show will be more immersive and filled with visual and auditory surprises. Guests are encouraged to wear their grooviest 60s and 70s attire for a costume contest, with a winner to be crowned for the best ensemble. According to Jackson Jr., during the show, audiences should scan the entire theater and look up to catch some of the visual surprises the band has in store.
Classic Rock Meets Classic Music
Psychedelic Symphony 2 marks the fourth time that The Doublewide Kings and the Santa Barbara Symphony have shared The Granada stage.
The collaboration came about after Santa Barbara Symphony’s Nir Kabaretti, Music and Artistic Director, heard The Doublewide Kings play a concert in the park.
“I told Palmer we had worked with other pop bands and proposed working with him, but he said they couldn’t because the band doesn’t read music,” said Kabaretti. “I told him most pop musicians don’t, but that doesn’t mean they can’t play with an orchestra; we just had to find a way to communicate. We speak the same language, just with different letters.”
And with that, the successful partnership was born.
“We were so damn nervous the first time,” TenEyck said with a laugh. “We didn’t know how it would work and could think of 100 ways it could go bad. Nir is a dream to work with. He knew we were nervous and kept telling us not to worry. Now we know how it will happen, and it’s much less stressful.”
The nerves are understandable when you learn the band and the symphony only have two rehearsals before the show.
That may seem thin, and the band certainly felt that the first time, but surprisingly, it works, despite a show where the raw energy of classic rock is reimagined through orchestral arrangements.
“Some tunes have some symphonic music in it to begin with,” explained John Simpson, Lead Vocalist with the Doublewide Kings. “We just improve on what’s already there. You change a garage solo to an entire symphony doing that Hendrix stuff, and it’s an incredible opportunity to blow out the original song.”
According to Jackson Jr., they also work with two music arrangers, Brett Strader and Carl Rydlund, who help reimagine the music.
“They are incredibly talented and know how to take a song and add an orchestra to it,” said Jackson Jr. “It’s one of our top three success factors.”
Kabaretti echoed the importance of a great arrangement to the success of the show.
“This music was conceived and performed for years in a very specific format, so when you add a huge group of musicians you need to ask what they can give to make the music stronger,” he said. “The challenge for the arranger is to make it sound richer and more interesting when you add in strings, woodwinds, and more percussion. The Kings and the orchestra also both have to give each other the space for each other’s sound.”
Bringing New Audiences to the Symphony
Shows like Psychedelic Symphony 2 serve a dual purpose. They bring new guests to The Granada while continuing to engage its existing audience.
With audiences for traditional performing arts changing, collaborations like this offer an opportunity to bridge different musical worlds. By bringing rock and classical music together, Psychedelic Symphony 2 creates an experience that is both familiar and unexpected.
“That’s certainly the goal,” said Kabaretti. “The majority of people who come to the Psychedelic Symphony probably don’t have a subscription to the symphony. After our past shows, I’ve heard audience members say they didn’t know that Santa Barbara had such a good symphony or that they had no background with the symphony, but this show was so cool they want to learn more. It helps people see that the symphony is relevant to them.”
The Psychedelic Symphony format has even grabbed the attention of a promoter interested in having the Doublewide Kings take their show on the road, performing with a host of other symphonies across the country.
Limited tickets are still available here for Psychedelic Symphony 2. In the meantime, get a taste of the Psychedelic Symphony with this playlist here, featuring music from last year’s show.